No Familiarity With Forgiveness

"He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" - Hebrews 10:28-29 KJV

What an interesting passage this is to study in the Greek. I used the KJV because the language is much closer to what is being said in the Greek. One notable difference a should point out is that 'died without mercy' should be 'dies without mercy' because it is a present active indicative (the ESV translation gets this right).

What caught my eye this morning was 'despises Moses law' atheteo (Strong's G114) in the aorist tense and 'done despite unto the Spirit of Grace' enybrizo (Strong's G1796) as also in the aorist tense.

This culture knew exactly what it was to despise the law of Moses. People were aware of the law and their culture reflected it. You had to habitually ignore or rebel against it until there were two or three witnesses who saw you and were willing to testify against you to have the penalties applied to you.

This idea is brought into the idea of having reverence for the blood of Jesus Christ. If a person has a lifestyle that discounts the work of the cross and lives in the culture and enjoys the benefits of the culture but habitually ignores forgiveness then they 'insult' (aorist tense) the Spirit of Grace. If this were past tense then it would be something that happened and is over but it is aorist so it happening in time but has lasting results into the future until there are inevitable consequences. How can you insult someone who gives unmerited favor and is not performance oriented? This is the way you do it. Familiarity with the blood of Christ by acting outside forgiveness until it is apparent and witnessed by people who are so fed up that they are willing to testify against you. Wow.

Jesus is Holy. His blood is holy. We can forgive based on His blood alone. It is in truth the only basis for true forgiveness. If we base forgiveness or unforgiveness on sorrow or apology as a practice then we are careless believers. We are like an Israelite who keeps the Sabbath if it suits him but works if he feels like working. Moses law is flimsy to this man. It is just a guideline and not a boundary that must not be crossed.

I behold the cross and the now empty tomb this morning and it reinforces my resolve. Jesus' blood is holy and I can't be familiar or conditional. I don't want the Trinity to see my life and say, 'Look He doesn't care what we have done. He walks on it like dirt.'

God forbid.

"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." - Hebrews 12:22-24 ESV

If the eternal blood of God was shed for people's sins then I want to hear what it is saying. It says 'forgive because I have forgiven'. Don't insult the giver. Take the gift and reverence it because it is a precious gift.

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