Willful Sin

Willful Sin
Words of Faith 3-13-26
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2026
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Hebrews 10
[26] If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, [27] but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. [28] Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. [29] How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? [30] For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." [31] It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The great concern of the Writer was the danger of defection from the faith. Verse 26 is sobering, to say the least. If we sin willfully or go on deliberately sinning, the sacrifice for sins is vacated. This is not so much a punitive choice by Christ as it is a consequence of renouncing the work of Christ. A deliberate apostate who renounces the work of Christ is no longer shielded from the fire of God's judgment.

The Writer bases this in the Old Testament teaching in Numbers 15:30-31 - "'But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the LORD, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the LORD's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.'"

If the sacrifice of Christ is renounced, there remains no other sacrifice available to shield an apostate. A Christian who abandons the confidence they had at first puts themselves on the side of God's enemies.

Under the Old Covenant, if an Israelite spurned the law with at least two or three witnesses, they were put to death. The writer argues that the position of the apostate is even worse than this, having trampled the work of Christ under foot.

The big question is this: Why would anyone ever turn away from the work of Christ once they have known the wonder and joy of His work on the cross?

This always begs the bigger question: Did that person ever actually know Christ and the glory of His grace and mercy?

Rather than argue about eternal security, it is probably better to focus on not wandering from His mercy or straying from His care. As believers on this side of the cross, we want never to be found trampling on the work of Christ. Instead, we stand up for the truth of Jesus and proclaim this in every way.

Father God, forgive me the times I have deliberately sinned. I confess the time when , without excuse, I chose to do the things I knew were forbidden by You and destructive to me. Forgive me the times I have trampled on the work of Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2026
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2026 Jeffrey D. Hoy.