The Scariest Part of the Bible
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire…It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:26,27,31
I have to admit, I have known this passage was coming and I have been dragging my feet in getting to it. I do not like it. I wrote a few days ago about the most comforting words in scripture. Today’s passage is the antithesis of those soothing words. This passage is the terror in the night.
I met, in treatment, a young man who, on his seventh or eighth treatment, asked, Am I a Christian? How can I do the same thing over and over if I am a Christian? Christians don’t act like this… I wanted to comfort him, but he knew what I knew and his question was my question. The words of Hebrews echoed in our minds. If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth…
We have all been there I think. We know what is right but we do the opposite. We follow self and we do what we want. Sure, we feel bad and we say we are sorry, but then we do it again, and again… Then, if you are like me, you come across Hebrews 10 and read of fear, fire, and judgment in the hands of an angry God. We read and we are terrified.
I believe that is the point of the passage. When we profane the name of God and trample underfoot the mercy of Christ by flaunting our right to do whatever we want, we should be terrified. If I feel no guilt or concern about the consequences of following self, then I have a calloused conscience and am in serious trouble.
If I know of God and say that I believe in God but I never actually change, do I have any authentic faith in God? Am I a Christian or an impostor? True faith should have an impact on how I live and if it has not, I am fooling myself.
The terror of those questions was just what I needed. I was abusing God’s grace and I needed a painful, terrifying wake up call. It was that dread that drove me to answer those tough questions. I desperately needed to stop following self and to follow God. I still do. I do of course still fail, but I find God infinitely graceful when I follow him.
When we make a genuine effort to follow God instead of self, his grace comforts us even in our failures. It is in turning our back on God and pursuing self, that we feel that terror.
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Scott, I have loved so many of your posts. Your writings show such true evidence of a transformed life through Christ. They have often had me open my Bible and read a passage again. Today I did the same. The only other thing I want to say about today is that I believe that there are still some sins that we will struggle with until the day we die and even though we want to honor Christ we know That we can’t do it on our own and that’s why he died. Only he could live perfectly. There are some sins that I constantly have to lay down because I love them but I want to love Christ more. Because of God’s grace, that makes me want to obey him but I don’t always do it and quite honestly sometimes I don’t always want to but that’s where his grace comes in. Because of God’s grace it makes me want to obey him but I don’t always do it and quite honestly sometimes I don’t always want to but that’s where his grace comes in. Not that I want to keep on sinning and say don’t worry about it because his grace will cover it but is it is a constant battle to deny myself and want him over a certain sin and say don’t worry about it because his grace will cover it but is it is a constant battle to deny myself and want him over a certain sin. I also don’t want the mindset that I have to work harder so that I will get to heaven when the price has been paid . I’m sorry if I’m rambling but that is where I have come from over the last couple years. I spent many years working so hard and became so prideful and my Christian life was more about what I have done instead of what Christ has done in me and for me. I enjoy Reading your blog so much because it makes me still think through that fine line of grace and my responsibility. Love you and your family !
Well said, Kelli, ramblings and all! 🙂
His judgement is true, and will hit the mark every time…that’s the scary part! We are not familiar with true judgement.