The Forgiveness and Unforgiveness of Willful Sin

A fascinating three-part argument regarding the forgiveness and unforgiveness of willful sin runs through Hebrews chapters 9 and 10. It is one of those arguments that displays the sophistication of the book, but if you are not paying attention, you will miss it.

The recipients of the book of Hebrews seem to have been Christians tempted to abandon Christ and return to old covenant worship. In chapter 8, the author enters a two-and-a-half-chapter argument showing that Christ offers a better sacrifice in the true holy of holies than the priests did in the earthly Tabernacle. As he enters chapter 9, he begins by describing how God prescribed worship in the Old Testament. When he gets to the earthly holy of holies, he says this.

But into the second [the holy of holies] only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. -Hebrews 9:7.

He is reminding the readers of the Day of Atonement when the High Priest entered the holiest place and offered the blood of bulls as a sacrifice. However, did you notice that he says the sacrifice was only for unintentional sins? Other translations say “sins of ignorance” or “errors.” If you read that and think, ‘Oh no, I have a problem because I have committed willful sins,” then the author is getting the reaction he desires. He is trying to convince them not to return to the old covenant worship because it is insufficient to save them.

The old covenant worship dealt with externals and ceremonial cleanliness, but the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. A few verses later, the author tells them of the better sacrifice offered by Jesus.

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. – Hebrews 9:14

In this short verse, he offers five ways the blood of Christ is better than the blood of animals.

1. It was offered through the eternal Spirit. Through Christ, God himself dealt with sin on our behalf.
2. Jesus offered himself. This is something bulls could not do. They did not go willingly to the slaughter.
3. Our Savior was without blemish. The bulls sacrificed by the priest were without physical defect, but Jesus was also without moral and spiritual blemish.
4. Christ’s sacrifice can purify the conscience, the inner man—something the old covenant worship could not do.
5. Jesus purified us from dead works; this is more than unintentional sins—dead works include every sin worthy of death: even willful ones.

After laying out this contrast between the sacrifices offered under the old and new covenant and the kinds of sins they covered, he still wanted to discourage them from abandoning the true sacrifice for sins to return to the types and shadows of the old. To do this, he will once again bring up willful sin. He says this in chapter 10.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. – Hebrews 10:26-27

He has only one sin in mind when discussing “deliberate sin” in this verse—willfully walking away from Christ to return to the old. We know this is his meaning because he elaborates in the following two verses. I cannot help but stand in awe of the brilliance of this argument. Here it is in short form, focusing only on unintentional and willful sins.

• The old covenant only covered unintentional sins (Heb. 9:7).
• Christ’s sacrifice covers even willful sins (Heb. 9:14).
• If you abandon Christ for the old covenant, you sin willfully (Heb. 10:26).
• And the old covenant sacrifices do not cover willful sins (Heb. 9:7).
• Therefore, expect only judgment if you abandon Christ (Heb. 10:27).

The level of theological depth in this argument will be missed if you do not spend time with the book. Perhaps this is why, a few chapters earlier, the author says that many of them were not ready for what he was about to teach them. They could only handle milk, but he was about to give them meat. Never lose your taste for scripture; it will always reward you for your time. For though it had human writers, God is its author. And most importantly, never turn away from Jesus, who can present you faultless before the presence of his glory.

-D. Eaton