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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | I have a related question for anyone... | Acts 8:13 | Hank | 69783 | ||
Dear Tim: How delightful it is to explore God's word in a spirit of harmony! -- when the issue is not promotion of denominational bias but descovery of biblical truth! -- when we can study and learn together in true Christian spirit! It is in that spirit, I surely do believe, that we come together, commonly sharing, as we look at these passages from Hebrews 10.... Now I am going to post a rather lengthy portion from Matthew Henry's Commentary, but I make no apology for its length, inasmuch as it is my considered opinion that what this old saint has to say about the difficult verses of Hebrews 10 is well worth the reading: "The apostle infers the heavy doom that will fall upon those that apostatize from Christ. [1] They have trodden under foot the Son of God. To trample upon an ordinary person shows intolerable insolence; to treat a person of honour in that vile manner is insufferable; but to deal thus with the Son of God, who himself is God, must be the highest provocation -- to trample upon his person, denying him to be the Messiah -- to trample upon his authority, and undermine his kingdom -- to trample upon his members as the offscouring of all things, and not fit to live in the world; what punishment can be too great for such men? [2] They have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing; that is, the blood of Christ, with which the covenant was purchased and sealed, and wherewith Christ himself was consecrated, or wherewith the apostate was sanctified, that is, baptized, visibly initiated into the new covenant by baptism, and admitted to the Lord's supper. OBSERVE, THERE IS A KIND OF SANCTIFICATION WHICH PERSONS MAY PARTAKE OF AND YET FALL AWAY: THEY MAY BE DISTINGUISHED BY COMMON GIFTS AND GRACES, BY AN OUTWARD PROFESSION, BY A FORM OF GODLINESS, A COURSE OF DUTIES, AND A SET OF PRIVILEGES, AND YET FALL AWAY FINALLY. (Emphasis mine). Men who have seemed before to have the blood of Christ in high esteem may come to count it an unholy thing, no better than the blood of a malefactor, though it was the world's ransom, and every drop of it of infinite value. [3] Those have done despite unto the Spirit of grace, the Spirit that is graciously given to men, and that works grace wherever it is -- the Spirit of grace, that should be regarded and attended to with the greatest care -- this Spirit they have grieved, resisted, quenched, yea, done despite to him, which is the highest act of wickedness, and makes the case of the sinner desperate, refusing to have the gospel salvation applied to him. How dreadful is the case when not only the justice of God, but his abused grace and mercy call for vengeance!" --Hank | ||||||
2 | I have a related question for anyone... | Acts 8:13 | dgregg | 69797 | ||
Hank, Sorry for misinterpreting your motives. I appreciate the time you've taken to bring outside commentary into the forum; I have learned a lot from your posts. I believe that you and Joe (in post #69767) have brought forth strong evidence to support the idea that sanctification by association does exist. As I recall, the Old Testament is filled with examples of entire cities and nations that were blessed because of the presence of a certain godly person. I have no reason to doubt you that it can and does happen. But, nowhere in the context of the Hebrews 10:29 passage do I find evidence that this kind of sactification IS what the Hebrews writer is talking about. When describing "sanctification" a few verses earlier, he gives it these qualities: -forgiveness (10:17-18) -perfection (10:14) -confidence before God (10:19-20) He does mention that some had forsaken the fellowship of the believers, but that is not the thrust of his message. It is a subordinate point to his message in verse 24 that we as Christians need to support one another. Having said all this, there are probably things that I have overlooked. If so, feel free to point them out to me. I just don't see any evidence that the Hebrew writer intended in 10:29 to mean a different kind of sanctification than the kind he had talked about a few verses earlier. -David |
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