Page 78 - Hebrews- Student Textbook

Church. James 2:2 uses the term "synagogue" to refer to the Christian place of worship, as does Heb.
10:25.

spiritual night.

"after receiving the knowledge of the truth" The VERB in English, "receiving," is an AORIST ACTIVE
INFINITIVE. This is the crux

10:26 – 29 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
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remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a
fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. A man that hath set at nought Moses’ law dieth
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without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, think ye,
shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of
grace?

“For if we go on sinning willfully”

"Wilfully" is placed first in Greek for emphasis. The word is possibly analogous to the "high handed" sin
of the Old Testament. The grammatical form of the verb (PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE GENITIVE MASCULINE FIRST
PERSON PLURAL) has been used by some to suggest that this refers to believers who continue in sin. If they
would cease sinning they would avoid the judgment. However, this does not fit the ominous context of
chapter 6 and 10:26-29. This is a life or death warning, a once out, always out warning! Rejection of
Jesus in the presence of the clear light of revelation produces the darkest possible of the interpretive
problem. If they once received the full experiential knowledge (epignōskō) of the (DEFINITE ARTICLE) truth;
this sounds like believers! This is the same theological issue as 6:4-6.

It must be admitted there is no easy, clear, obvious interpretation. My personal fear is that my own
biases may dominate a very clear text. I must resist a systematic, denominational agenda which silences
this powerful, inspired text. The issue is not sinning believers. The issue is believers who cease to
believe! I cannot accept a theology that (1) makes salvation dependent on human performance or (2)
turns assurance into a dogmatic pronouncement totally unrelated to the Christian life. I reject a
theology of lost, saved, lost, saved, lost, saved! I also reject a theology of "once saved, always saved"
which is unrelated to the continuing belief and lifestyle faith. Therefore, what do I do? I exegete the
text: in its historical setting, in its literary context, in its grammatical expression, in its choice of terms, in
its genre, and its parallel passages. I must admit that if all I had to work with was 6:4-6 and 10:26-29,
there would be little option but that believers fall away from grace. However,

1. The historical setting, the Jewishness of the book, and the presence of persecution are major
issues.

2. The literary context (cf. 5:11-6:12) and the three groups (cf. "us," "you," and "those who") seem
to reveal a Jewish setting of "believing Jews" and "unbelieving Jews" worshiping and
fellowshipping in a synagogue setting.
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