Scripture tells us...
Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on
the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” [
g]says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
In regard to Hebrews 10:26, to "sin willfully" here carries the idea of deliberate intention that is habitual, which stems from
rejecting Christ deliberately. This is
continuous action, a matter of practice. Now we don't walk along our daily life and "accidentally" fall into a pit called sin. We exercise our will but, the use of the participle clearly shows continuous, willful, habitual action. The
unrighteous practice sin (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21);
not the righteous, who are born of God. (1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 John 3:9)
If the word 'sanctified' in Hebrews 10:29 is used to describe saved people who lost their salvation and became unsanctified, then we have a
contradiction because the writer of Hebrews in verse 10 said
"sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10) and in verse 14, we read,
"perfected for all time those who are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:14) In Hebrews 10:10, we clearly read
..WE have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. In Hebrews 10:14, we read -
For by one offering He has perfected for all time THOSE who are sanctified. *So to go from sanctified back to un-sanctified would be in
contradiction here.
*NOWHERE in the context does it specifically say the person who "trampled underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant" was "saved" and/or "lost their salvation." The reference to "the blood of the covenant that sanctified him" in verse 29 "on the surface" appears to be referring to a Christian, but this overlooks the fact that the word translated "sanctified" (which is the verb form of the adjective "holy") which means "set apart," and doesn't always necessarily refer to salvation.
Strong's Concordance
hagiazó: to make holy, consecrate, sanctify
Original Word: ἁγιάζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: hagiazó
Phonetic Spelling: (hag-ee-ad'-zo)
Definition: to make holy, consecrate, sanctify
Usage: I make holy, treat as holy, set apart as holy, sanctify, hallow, purify.
In 1 Corinthians 7:14, Paul uses the term "sanctified" to specifically refer to non-Christians who are "set apart" by their believing spouse
(and by this Paul does not mean that they are saved). A non-Christian can be "set apart" from other non-Christians without experiencing salvation as Paul explained. So, the word "sanctified" means to be "set apart." If the word "sanctified" simply meant saved in every case, then you would have to say that the seventh day was saved (Genesis 2:3), the tabernacle was saved (Exodus 29:43), Moses saved the people after coming down off the mountain (Exodus 19:14), the priests and the Levites saved themselves (1 Chronicles 15:14), the Father saved the Son (John 10:36), the Son saved Himself (John 17:19) and many other things that do not line up with Scripture.
In verse 39, the writer of Hebrews sets up the
CONTRAST that makes it clear to me that he was referring to make believers/nominal Christians, not saved people: But
WE are not of those who draw back to perdition, but
OF THOSE who believe to the saving of the soul. Those who
draw back to perdition do not believe to the saving of the soul and those who
believe to the saving of the soul do not draw back to perdition.
So, after considering the
CONTEXT, it seems most likely that "he was sanctified" should be understood in the sense of someone who had been "set apart" or identified as a professing believer in this Hebrew Christian community of believers, but later renounces his identification with these believers, by rejecting the "knowledge of the truth" that he had received and trampling underfoot the work and the person of Christ himself. This gives evidence that his identification with these Hebrew Christians was only superficial and that he was not a genuine believer.
Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
In regard to Matthew 7:21-23, (I will never forget, prior to my conversion several years ago while still attending the Roman Catholic church) I read Matthew 7:22 and was astonished! I remember thinking to myself, these many people accomplished all of that, "prophesied in His name, cast out demons, and did many wonderful works" but that still was not "good enough?" Then I thought to myself at that time, how am I going to "top that" and be "good enough?" Such is the mindset of the natural man who believes that obtaining salvation is based on works.
Jesus
never new these many people in Matthew 7:22-23 which means they were
never saved. These many people in Matthew 7:22 had the
wrong foundation. They were
trusting in their works to save them and not in Christ alone. Sound familiar?
Their hearts were not right with God, so their "attempted external obedience" (apart from the righteousness of God which is by faith and the blood of Christ - Romans 3:24-28; Philippians 3:9) was still stained with sin.
Notice that verse 23 says
practice lawlessness. In 1 John 3:10, we read - In this the
children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever
does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. It's children of the devil who practice lawlessness and not children of God.
Matthew 7:21 - Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Seeking salvation by works is not the will of the Father.
*John 6:40 - For
my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and
believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. This is God's will for us
unto salvation. Not to be confused with God's will for us
after salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 for example)
Instead of Lord, Lord, didn't WE, the correct answer for these many people in Matthew 7:22 would have been Lord, Lord, didn't YOU die for our sins, were buried and rise again the third day to provide for us eternal life? We trust in you alone as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation. (John 10:9; 14:6; Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
Jesus has given us everything and asks for so little in return, many do not accept His free gift of salvation but repenting and receiving God's sanctification of all sin and unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 Our salvation is from sin, not in sin Mat 1:21
Many will not accept His free gift of salvation, which is by grace through faith, not works. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Sadly, for many their hands are full of their works and they will not let go in order to receive Christ through faith. Those who repent (change their mind) and place their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. (Acts 20:21) Receiving the free gift of salvation is not about obtaining it through sinless perfection.
Notice that - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9) is in
contrast to - If we
say that we
have no sin, (present tense) we
deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8) and - If we
say that we
have not sinned, (past tense) we
make him a liar, and
his word is not in us. (1 John 1:10) Those who believe they live a sinless, without fault or defect, flawless, absolute perfect life 100% of the time (exactly as Jesus lived) are suffering from a terminal case of self-righteousness.
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