"We have no hope: Hebrews 10:26-27"
Hebrews 10:26-27 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
We have no hope, if we misinterpret Hebrews 10:26-27.
If we continue sinning, after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice. What is the truth that they received, and needed to accept, or be destroyed by the fire of God's judgement?
To understand the letter to the Hebrews, we need to understand that this letter was to the Jews. The Jewish audience were being introduced to the reality of their Messiah, who was sent to take away their sins, not just cover them up.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
The truth they received, and needed to personally accept, was the truth of their Messiah. To refuse to accept their Messiah, would mean they were keeping themselves under the old sacrificial system, which was a system that had no power to take away sin.
Hebrews 1:4 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
If a Jew refused to accept Yeshua, as his offering for sin, and then sinned, the blood of animals would not help him in the judgment.
John 8:23-24 Then Jesus said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am the Messiah, the Son of God, you will die in your sins.”
Hebrews 10:9-12 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
If a Jew rejected the sacrifice of Messiah, and sinned thereafter, there is no longer an acceptable sacrifice for that sin, only the fearful judgement for his sin. Why? Because they received the knowledge of truth of Messiah being the final sacrifice, but they didn't accept it. By doing this, they are insulting God’s grace.
Hebrews 10:26-29 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 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?
We need to hear the Gospel, and personally accept it. When we do, all our past sins are removed, and cleansing for future sin can be received through confession and repentance.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the R28ighteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
The blood of bulls and goats have no power to take away sin, or cleanse the conscience, so there is no hope for those who sin, and then look to that old system to save them.
Remember, it’s the guilty conscience that causes the fire of God’s judgement to consume us.
Acts 24:15-16 I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.
This is why the very first thing we need to do is to ask God to cleans our conscience of the effects of our past sin.
1 Peter 3:21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Once our conscience has been cleansed, and we're made holy, it's our responsibility to keep our conscience clean, and our lives holy. We do this by avoiding sin or confessing it, and repenting when we do sin.