Verses 28-29
The point of these verses is this. Since an Israelite who spurned the Old Covenant suffered a severe penalty, we will suffer a greater penalty if we spurn the superior New Covenant. Apostasy under the New Covenant has the effect of walking roughshod over the Son of God by despising Him. Also it involves despising the superior blood of Jesus Christ that "sanctified" the apostate (who is a Christian; cf. Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews 10:14). Furthermore the apostate insults the Holy Spirit who graciously brought him or her to faith in Christ. These three parallel participial clauses in the Greek text stress the serious effects of apostasy.
"Taken cumulatively, the three clauses in Hebrews 10:29 define persistent sin (Hebrews 10:26 a) as an attitude of contempt for the salvation secured through the priestly sacrifice of Christ. Nothing less than a complete rejection of the Christian faith satisfies the descriptive clauses in which the effects of the offense are sketched." [Note: Ibid., p. 295.]
"It is an extreme case of apostasy which is being envisaged." [Note: Guthrie, p. 219.]
Willful rebels under the Old Covenant only lost their lives (cf. Deuteronomy 17:2-7; Deuteronomy 13:8), but willful rebels under the New Covenant lose an eternal reward. Not only so but God often begins to punish modern apostates in this life.
"It was commonly inferred [incorrectly] in the Early Church from this and other passages in the epistle that forgiveness for all kinds of post-baptismal sin, inadvertent as well as deliberate, was ruled out." [Note: Bruce, The Epistle . . ., p. 260.]
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