How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me;” says the Lord, “I will repay.” Again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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Hebrews 10:29-31 sits inside this longer paragraph.
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me;” says the Lord, “I will repay.” Again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Parallel Translations
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How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me;” says the Lord, “I will repay.” Again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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Of how moche sorer punyshment suppose ye shall he be counted worthy which treadeth vnderfote the sonne of god: and counteth the bloude of the testament as an vnholy thynge wherwith he was sanctified and doth dishonoure to the sprete of grace.
For we knowe him that hath sayde vengeaunce belongeth vnto me I will recompence sayth the lorde. And agayne: the lorde shall iudge his people.
It is a fearfull thynge to faule into the hondes of the livynge God.
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Of howe much sorer punishment suppose ye shall hee be worthy, which treadeth vnder foote the Sonne of God, and counteth the blood of the Testament as an vnholy thing, wherewith he was sanctified, and doeth despite the Spirit of grace?
For we know him that hath sayd, Vengeance belongeth vnto mee: I will recompense, saith the Lord. And againe, The Lord shall iudge his people.
It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God.
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Cross-references (52)
- Deuteronomy 32:35-36 (v30) Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at…
- Matthew 10:28 (v31) Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body…
- Luke 12:5 (v31) But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
- Romans 12:19 (v30) Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the…
- Hebrews 12:29 (v31) for our God is a consuming fire.
Show all 52 cross-references
- Isaiah 33:14 (v31) The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live…
- Nahum 1:2 (v30) Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath…
- Psalms 76:7 (v31) You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
- Ephesians 4:30 (v29) Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
- Psalms 50:4 (v30) He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that he may judge his people:
- Hebrews 6:6 (v29) and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put…
- Psalms 90:11 (v31) Who knows the power of your anger, your wrath according to the fear that is due to you?
- 2 Corinthians 5:10 (v30) For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has…
- Isaiah 63:10 (v29) But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
- Matthew 16:16 (v31) Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
- Psalms 96:13 (v30) before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
- Psalms 135:14 (v30) For Yahweh will judge his people and have compassion on his servants.
- Luke 12:10 (v29) Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
- 1 Corinthians 11:27 (v29) Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the…
- Hebrews 10:27 (v31) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.
- Psalms 50:22 (v31) “Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.
- Psalms 98:9 (v30) Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
- Isaiah 61:2 (v30) to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
- Romans 13:4 (v30) for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a…
- Psalms 94:1 (v30) Yahweh, you God to whom vengeance belongs, you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine out.
- Ezekiel 18:30 (v30) “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Return, and turn yourselves from all…
- Matthew 12:31-32 (v29) Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Whoever…
- Acts 7:51 (v29) “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.
- Hebrews 2:3 (v29) how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those…
- Isaiah 59:17 (v30) He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad…
- Isaiah 63:4 (v30) For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come.
- Ezekiel 34:17 (v30) “As for you, O my flock, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
- Luke 21:11 (v31) There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
- 1 Corinthians 11:29 (v29) For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.
- Hebrews 9:13 (v29) For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the…
- Hebrews 12:25 (v29) See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we…
- Zechariah 12:10 (v29) I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom…
- Matthew 7:6 (v29) “Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and…
- John 17:19 (v29) For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
- Hebrews 2:11 (v29) For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
- Hebrews 6:4 (v29) For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
- 2 Kings 9:33 (v29) He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses. Then he trampled her…
- Isaiah 14:19 (v29) But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down…
- Micah 7:10 (v29) Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, where is Yahweh your God? Then my enemy will see me and will cover her…
- John 10:36 (v29) do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’
- Hebrews 13:20 (v29) Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord…
- Psalms 143:10 (v29) Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
- Lamentations 1:15 (v29) “The Lord has set at nothing all my mighty men within me. He has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has…
- Matthew 26:28 (v29) for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.
- Romans 16:20 (v29) And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
- 1 Corinthians 15:25 (v29) For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
- Hebrews 9:20 (v29) saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv29–30 29. Who has trodden under foot the Son of…
29. Who has trodden under foot the Son of God, etc. There is this likeness between apostates under the Law and under the Gospel, that both perish without mercy; but the kind of death is different; for the Apostle denounces on the despisers of Christ not only the deaths of the body, but eternal perdition. And therefore he says that a sorer punishment awaits them. And he designates the desertion of Christianity by three things; for he says that thus the Son of God is trodden under foot, that his blood is counted an unholy thing, and that despite is done to the Spirit of grace. Now, it is a more heinous thing to tread under foot than to despise or reject; and the dignity of Christ is far different from that of Moses; and further, he does not simply set the Gospel in opposition to the Law, but the person of Christ and of the Holy Spirit to the person of Moses.
The blood of the covenant, etc. He enhances ingratitude by a comparison with the benefits. It is the greatest indignity to count the blood of Christ unholy, by which our holiness is effected; this is done by those who depart from the faith. For our faith looks not on the naked doctrine, but on the blood by which our salvation has been ratified. He calls it the blood of the covenant, because then only were the promises made sure to us when this pledge was added. But he points out the manner of this confirmation by saying that we are sanctified; for the blood shed would avail us nothing, except we were sprinkled with it by the Holy Spirit; and hence come our expiation and sanctification. The apostle at the same time alludes to the ancient rite of sprinkling, which availed not to real sanctification, but was only its shadow or image.
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The Spirit of grace. He calls it the Spirit of grace from the effects produced; for it is by the Spirit and through his influence that we receive the grace offered to us in Christ. For he it is who enlightens our minds by faith, who seals the adoption of God on our hearts, who regenerates us unto newness of life, who grafts us into the body of Christ, that he may live in us and we in him. He is therefore rightly called the Spirit of grace, by whom Christ becomes ours with all his blessings. But to do despite to him, or to treat him with scorn, by whom we are endowed with so many benefits, is an impiety extremely wicked. Hence learn that all who willfully render useless his grace, by which they had been favored, act disdainfully towards the Spirit of God.
It is therefore no wonder that God so severely visits blasphemies of this kind; it is no wonder that he shows himself inexorable towards those who tread under foot Christ the Mediator, who alone reconciles us to himself; it is no wonder that he closes up the way of salvation against those who spurn the Holy Spirit, the only true guide.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v30 The reason of all these things is, because God…
The reason of all these things is, because God is a revenger of such as despise him: otherwise he should not rightly govern his Church. Now there is nothing more horrible then the wrath of the living God.
Rule or govern.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv29–31 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall…
29 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?
Ver. 29. Who hath trodden under foot] Respecting him no more than the vilest and filthiest dirt in the street, or the most abject thing iu the world, as Ambrose expounds it; he disdains to receive benefit by Christ’s propitiatory and expiatory sacrifice, he would not if he might, he is so Satanized. King Henry VI, going against Richard Duke of York (that ambitious rebel), offered them a general pardon. (Speed, 898.) This was rejected by them, and called "A staff of reed," or "glass-buckler." In Ket’s conspiracy, when King Edward VI’s pardon was offered to the rebels by a herald, a lewd boy turned toward him his naked posteriors, and used words suitable to that gesture. (Sir John Hayward.) Desperate apostates deal as coarsely with Christ; they hold him for a scorn, as an offender that is carted, Heb 6:6.
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The blood of the covenant] That is, the blood of Christ, whereby the covenant is sealed, the Church purchased, the atonement procured, and heaven opened for our more happy entrance.
Wherewith he was sanctified] By external profession, and by participation of the sacraments.
An unholy thing] Gr. A common profane thing, as if it were the blood of a common thief, or unhallowed person, yea, or of a dead dog. In the Passover they sprinkled the door and lintel with blood, but not the threshold, to teach them that they must not tread upon the blood of Jesus, as they do in a high degree that sin against the Holy Ghost.
And hath done despite, &c.] Spitting at him their hellish venom, persecuting and blaspheming his immediate effect, work, and office; and this out of desperate malice and desire of revenge, without any colour of cause or measure of dislike. One that had committed this sin, wished that his wife and children and all the world might be damned together with him.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv29–31 Of how much sorer punishment: the expostulation aggravates both…
Of how much sorer punishment: the expostulation aggravates both the sin and the punishment in the consequent on the former assertion; a punishment heavier, bitterer, sorer, more grievous, and unexpressibly greater, than death.
Suppose ye; you yourselves being judges, to whom I appeal about it; what can you suppose, think, or determine of it?
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Shall he be thought worthy; doth he fully deserve, and is liable to, by the judgment of man, but much more by the righteous and inexorable judgment of God?
Who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God; who sinneth at a higher rate than a Jew against Moses’s law, being an apostate from the gospel, a revolter from and a rebel against it, discovering it by as much as in him lieth, tearing from his throne God the Son incarnate, and treading him under his feet, wickedly undervaluing and horribly vilifying him, treating him with the greatest contempt that can be expressed by such an action, as if he were the vilest malefactor. A person so much greater and more excellent than Moses, to be so used; so as, if he were here on earth, he would tread him (who is higher than the heavens, and had done and suffered so much for him) as the dust and dirt under his feet; and this by a contemptuous forsaking his church assemblies, wherein he was set out in all his excellencies.
And hath counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing; accounting and so deserting the blood of Christ, (which ratified the everlasting covenant of grace, by whose virtue was made unalterable, firm, and effectual in all the promises of it of pardon, righteousness, holiness, grace, and glory, unto penitent believing sinners), as either the common blood of men, or the blood of a malefactor, to have not so much excellency in it as the blood of bulls, or goats, or rams, or birds, under the law; as not sanctifying souls, but polluted.
Wherewith he was sanctified; en w hgiasyh, in or by which he was sanctified, is by most interpreters referred to the apostate, as aggravating his sin, to despise that blood by which he thought he was so, and boasted of it, and was so reputed by the church upon his baptism and profession of his faith, and, as a member of the church, had a visible relation to it, partaking of those ordinances wherein its fruits were conveyed, and enjoying the external privileges purchased by it. Others refer it unto Christ himself, the blood whereby he was consecrated to God as a holy sacrifice, Joh 17:19. All this was discovered by his forsaking the church assembly, wherein this was declared to be the only way and means to justification of life and salvation.
And hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace; injuring, wronging, despising, greatly grieving, not a creature, but God the Spirit, the quickening Spirit of dead sinners, who fits them for union to God, and in order to it, uniteth him to Christ and his God, animateth it; who graciously communicated to these apostates the knowledge natural and supernatural which they had and abused, Heb 6:5, by the desertion of the assemblies, where he manifested his gifts and graces. They reject him with them, and treat his gifts and motions as if they were the delusions and impostures of an evil spirit; and this wilfully done out of malice to Christ, and abhorrence of his church and religion. A sin like the devil’s, for them to forsake God loving, Christ redeeming, his blood justifying, his Spirit renewing, and so wilfully refuse to be saved, and expose themselves to the severest punishment God can inflict on such sinners, and they do deserve.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv30–31 The apostle had declared in the verses before, the…
The apostle had declared in the verses before, the certain judgment of apostates: Here he declare the Judge, the Lord; and the judgment, vengeance; Vengeance is mine saith the Lord: Where, by vengeance, is meant vindictive justice in punishing sinners. The apostle’s arguments seems to lie thus:
"If God professes himself an avenger of all sin and injury done to his people, as he certainly doth, Deu 32:36. Much more will he show himself an avenger of so horrible an indignity offered to his Son and his Holy Spirit."
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Learn hence, That the consideration of the righteous nature of God, and that inclosure he has made of vengeance, to himself under an irrevocable assurance of the unavoidable purpose for its execution, gives undubitable assurance of the unavoidable destruction of all wilful apostates.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv29–31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the…
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. For this is to be understood not in a good sense; so in general all mankind may be said to fall into, or be in the hands of God, as they are the work of his hands, the care of his providence, and are subject to his sovereignty; and in especial manner, believers, whose times and persons are in God's hand, which bespeaks his great affection for them, their nearness to him, the support they have by him, and protection from him; and they choose to fall into the hands of him as a chastising Father, rather than into the hands of men, and at death commend themselves into his hands: but here it is taken in a bad sense, and signifies to be arrested by justice as a criminal, and be brought to the bar of God, and receive the sentence of condemnation; when such will feel the weight of his hand, and the fierceness of his wrath; and this is "a fearful thing": it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of men, injured and affronted, and that have power, and will show no mercy; it is very tremendous to fall into the hands of God, in the way of his judgments in this world; the apprehensions of a future judgment are terrible before hand; and the apparatus of the judgment, when it comes, will be very striking and surprising; but to stand before the Judge, charged with sin, naked, and without righteousness, speechless, and no one to speak in favour of them; to hear the dreadful sentence pronounced, and feel the wrath of God to the uttermost, how horrible must this be! the aggravations of this are, that it is into the hands "of God" that such fall, and not into the hands of men, or mere creatures; but of God, who is omniscient, and sees through all pretences; omnipotent, and none can rescue out of his hands by force; omnipresent, and so no escaping from him; just and faithful, and not to bribed, inexorable, immutable, and unalterable: and that he is "the living God"; in opposition to the lifeless deities of the Gentiles, and to mortal men; and is expressive of his eternity, and so of the duration of the sinner's punishment, that falls into his hands.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. For this is to be understood not in a good sense; so in general all mankind may be said to fall into, or be in the hands of God, as they are the work of his hands, the care of his providence, and are subject to his sovereignty; and in especial manner, believers, whose times and persons are in God's hand, which bespeaks his great affection for them, their nearness to him, the support they have by him, and protection from him; and they choose to fall into the hands of him as a chastising Father, rather than into the hands of men, and at death commend themselves into his hands: but here it is taken in a bad sense, and signifies to be arrested by justice as a criminal, and be brought to the bar of God, and receive the sentence of condemnation; when such will feel the weight of his hand, and the fierceness of his wrath; and this is "a fearful thing": it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of men, injured and affronted, and that have power, and will show no mercy; it is very tremendous to fall into the hands of God, in the way of his judgments in this world; the apprehensions of a future judgment are terrible before hand; and the apparatus of the judgment, when it comes, will be very striking and surprising; but to stand before the Judge, charged with sin, naked, and without righteousness, speechless, and no one to speak in favour of them; to hear the dreadful sentence pronounced, and feel the wrath of God to the uttermost, how horrible must this be! the aggravations of this are, that it is into the hands "of God" that such fall, and not into the hands of men, or mere creatures; but of God, who is omniscient, and sees through all pretences; omnipotent, and none can rescue out of his hands by force; omnipresent, and so no escaping from him; just and faithful, and not to bribed, inexorable, immutable, and unalterable: and that he is "the living God"; in opposition to the lifeless deities of the Gentiles, and to mortal men; and is expressive of his eternity, and so of the duration of the sinner's punishment, that falls into his hands.
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Hebrews 10:32
heb 10:32
heb 10:32
heb 10:32But call to remembrance the former days,.... The words may be considered either as a declaration of what they had done, and be read, "but ye do call to remembrance", &c. or as an exhortation to remember the days of their espousals, the times of their first conversion: and the apostle's design in this is, to mitigate the terror the preceding words might strike them with; and to aggravate the disgrace of turning back, when they had behaved so bravely in former times; and to encourage their faith and trust in God:
in which after ye were illuminated, by the Spirit of God, to see their impurity, impotence, and unrighteousness, and their lost and miserable state by nature; and to behold Christ and salvation by him; and to have some light into the doctrines of the Gospel; and some glimmering of the glories of another world. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions render it "baptized"; now such as are converted, and are brought to make a public profession of their faith, and submit to the ordinances of Christ, are, in common, immediately called to suffer reproach and persecution of one kind or another; so Christ, after his baptism, was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil: Satan is spiteful and malicious, and God suffers afflictions to befall his people to try their graces, and to inure them to troubles early, as follows;
ye endured a great fight of afflictions; meaning some violent persecution from their own countrymen, either at the death of Stephen, in which the apostle, being then unconverted; was concerned himself; or rather some other time of trouble, after the apostle was converted, to which he seems to have respect in Th1 2:14, these Hebrews, being enlisted as soldiers under Christ, the Captain of their salvation, were quickly engaged in a warfare, and were called forth to fight a fight of afflictions, and a very great one; and which they endured with patience, courage, and intrepidity.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv29–31 Of how much sorer punishment is he worthy, who…
Of how much sorer punishment is he worthy, who - By wilful, total apostasy. It does not appear that this passage refers to any other sin. Hath, as it were, trodden underfoot the Son of God - A lawgiver far more honourable than Moses. And counted the blood wherewith the better covenant was established, an unholy, a common, worthless thing. By which he hath been sanctified - Therefore Christ died for him also, and he was at least justified once. And done despite to the Spirit of grace - By rejecting all his motions.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv29–31 Verse 29. Of how much sorer punishment] Such offences…
Verse 29. Of how much sorer punishment] Such offences were trifling in comparison of this, and in justice the punishment should be proportioned to the offence.
Trodden under foot the Son of God] Treated him with the utmost contempt and blasphemy.
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The blood of the covenant-an unholy thing] The blood of the covenant means here the sacrificial death of Christ, by which the new covenant between God and man was ratified, sealed, and confirmed. And counting this unholy, or common, κοινον, intimates that they expected nothing from it in a sacrificial or atoning way. How near to those persons, and how near to their destruction, do they come in the present day who reject the atoning blood, and say, "that they expect no more benefit from the blood of Christ than they do from that of a cow or a sheep!" Is not this precisely the crime of which the apostle speaks here, and to which he tells us God would show no mercy?
Despite unto the Spirit of grace?] Hath insulted the Spirit of grace. The apostle means the Holy Spirit, whose gifts were bestowed in the first age on believers for the confirmation of the Gospel. See Heb 6:4-6. Wherefore, if one apostatized in the first age, after having been witness to these miraculous gifts, much more after having possessed them himself, he must, like the scribes and Pharisees, have ascribed them to evil spirits; than which a greater indignity could not be done to the Spirit of God. Macknight. This is properly the sin against the Holy Ghost, which has no forgiveness.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v30 Heb 10:30-31. For we know him — As if…
Heb 10:30-31. For we know him — As if he had said, We may well think that such shall be punished very severely, because God has declared as much, saying, Vengeance belongeth unto me, Deu 32:35; Psa 94:1-2. Though this was originally said of the idolatrous nations who oppressed the Israelites, it was very properly applied by the apostle to apostates, being a general maxim of God’s government, according to which he will act in all cases where vengeance or punishment is due. I will recompense — Recompense is the actual exercise of vengeance, and vengeance is the actual execution of judgment on sinners, according to their desert, without mitigation by mercy. He however oftentimes exercises great patience and forbearance even then, when vengeance might justly be expected. And this commonly adds to the security of wicked men, who take occasion from it to despise all the threatenings of the divine judgments which they have deserved; concluding from it, that either vengeance doth not belong to God, or that it shall be executed when and where they are not concerned. And the Lord will judge his people — If they rebel against him; and that far more rigorously than he will judge the heathen. It is a fearful thing — A thing above all others the most to be dreaded; to fall into the hands — To be exposed to the avenging justice; of the living God — Who, living for ever, can for ever punish, in what degree he pleases, the wretched creatures who have made themselves the objects of his final displeasure.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv29–31 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he…
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy - That is, he who renounces Christianity ought to be regarded as deserving a much severer punishment than the man who apostatized from the Jewish religion, and if he ought to be so regarded he will be - for God will treat every man as he ought to be treated. This must refer to future punishment, for the severest punishment was inflicted on the apostate from the Jewish religion which can be in this world - death; and yet the apostle here says that a severer punishment than that would be deserved by him who should apostatize from the Christian faith. The reasons why so much severer punishment would be deserved, are such as these - the Author of the Christian system was far more exalted than Moses, the founder of the Jewish system; he had revealed more important truths; he had increased and confirmed the motives to holiness; he had furnished more means for leading a holy life; he had given himself as a sacrifice to redeem the soul from death, and he had revealed with far greater clearness the truth that there is a heaven of glory and of holiness. He who should apostatize from the Christian faith, the apostle goes on to say, would also be guilty of the most aggravated crime of which man could be guilty - the crime of trampling under foot the Son of God, of showing contempt for his holy blood. and despising the Spirit of grace.
Who hath trodden under foot the Son of God - This language is taken either from the custom of ancient conquerors who were accustomed to tread on the necks of their enemies in token of their being subdued, or from the fact that people tread on what they despise and contemn. The idea is, that he who should apostatize from the Christian faith would act as if he should indignantly and contemptuously trample on God’s only Son. What crime could be more aggravated than this?
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And hath counted the blood of the covenant - The blood of Jesus by which the new covenant between God and man was ratified; see the notes on Heb 9:16-20; compare the notes on Mat 26:28.
Wherewith he was sanctified - Made holy, or set apart to the service of God. The word “sanctify” is used in both these senses. Prof. Stuart renders it, “by which expiation is made;” and many others, in accordance with this view, have supposed that it refers to the Lord Jesus. But it seems to me that it refers to the person who is here supposed to renounce the Christian religion, or to apostatize from it. The reasons for this are such as these:
(1)It is the natural and proper meaning of the word rendered here “sanctified.” This word is commonly applied to Christians in the sense that they are made holy; see Act 20:32; Act 26:18; 1Co 1:2; Jud 1:1; compare Joh 10:36; Joh 17:17.
(2)It is unusual to apply this word to the Saviour. It is true, indeed, that he says Joh 17:19, “for their sakes I sanctify myself,” but there is no instance in which he says that he was sanctified by his own blood. And where is there an instance in which the word is used as meaning “to make expiations?”
(3)The supposition that it refers to one who is here spoken of as in danger of apostasy, and not of the Lord Jesus, agrees with the scope of the argument. The apostle is showing the great guilt, and the certain destruction, of one who should apostatize from the Christian religion. In doing this it was natural to speak of the dishonor which would thus be done to the means which had been used for his sanctification - the blood of the Redeemer. It would be treating it as if it were a common thing, or as if it might be disregarded like anything else which was of no value.
An unholy thing - Greek common; often used in the sense of unholy. The word is so used because what was holy was separated from a common to a sacred use. What was not thus consecrated was free to all, or was for common use, and hence, also the word is used to denote what is unholy.
And hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace - The Holy Spirit, called “the Spirit of grace,” because he confers favor (grace) upon people. The meaning of the phrase “done despite unto” - ἐνυβρίσας enubrisas - is, “having reproached, or treated with malignity, or contempt.” The idea is, that if they were thus to apostatize, they would by such an act treat the Spirit of God with disdain and contempt. It was by him that they had been renewed; by him that they had been brought to embrace the Saviour and to love God; by him that they had any holy feelings or pure desires; and if they now apostatized from religion, such an act would be in fact treating the Holy Spirit with the highest indignity. It would be saying that all his influences were valueless, and that they needed no help from him. From such considerations, the apostle shows that if a true Christian were to apostatize, nothing would remain for him but the terrific prospect of eternal condemnation. He would have rejected the only Saviour; he would have in fact treated him with the highest indignity; he would have considered his sacred blood, shed to sanctify people, as a common thing, and would have shown the highest disregard for the only agent who can save the soul - the Spirit of God. How could such an one afterward be saved? The apostle does not indeed say that anyone ever would thus apostatize from the true religion, nor is there any reason to believe that such a case ever has occurred, but if it should occur the doom would be inevitable. How dangerous then is every step which would lead to such a precipice! And how strange and unscriptural the opinion held by so many that sincere Christians may “fall away” and be renewed, again and again!
(See the supplementary note on Heb 6:6. where certain principles are laid down, for the interpretation of this and similar passages, in consistency with the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance. If that doctrine be maintained, and our author’s view of the passage at the same be correct, then plainly it contains an impossible case. It is descriptive of real Christians, yet they never can fall away. The utility of the warning, in this case, may indeed successfully be vindicated, on the ground that it is the means of preventing apostasy in the saints, the means by which the decree of God in reference to their stability is effected. Most, however, will incline to the view which regards this case, as something more than imaginary, as possible, as real. The warning is addressed to professors generally, without any attempt of distinguishing or separating into true or false. Doubtless there might be some even of the latter class in the churches whose members the apostles, presuming on their professed character, addressed as “saints, “elect,” and “faithful,” without distinction.
Of course, in consistency with the doctrine of perseverance only the “false,” in whom the “root of the matter” had never existed, could apostatize; yet at the same time, when no distinction was made, when the apostle made none, but addressed all in the language of charity, when Christians themselves might find it difficult at all times to affirm decidedly on their own case, universal vigilance was secured, or at all events designed. But is not the party whose apostasy is here supposed, described by two attributes which belong to none but genuine Christians, namely, the “reception of the knowledge of the truth,” and “sanctification through the blood of the covenant?” The answer which has been given to this question is generally, that neither of these things necessarily involves more than external dedication to God. The first is parallel to the “once enlightened” of Heb 6:4, and of course admits of the same explanation; see supplementary note there.
The second thing, namely, the sanctification of the party “is not real or internal sanctification, and all the disputes concerning the total and final apostasy from the faith of them who have been really and internally sanctified from this place, are altogether vain. As at the giving of the Law, the people being sprinkled with blood, were sanctified or dedicated to God in a special manner, so those who, by baptism and confession of faith in the church of Christ, were separated from all others were especially dedicated to God thereby.” - “Owen.” Yet, this eminent writer is rather disposed to adopt the opinion of those who construe, ἐν ᾡ ἡγιασθη en hō hēgiasthē with the immediate antecedent, τον Υἱον του Θεου ton Huion tou Theou, thus referring the sanctification to Christ, and not to the apostate; see Joh 17:19. Whichever of these views we receive, the great doctrine of perseverance is, of course, unaffected. In reference to an objection which the author has urged that “the sentiment (in the Heb 10:26 and Heb 10:27 verses) would not be correct, if it referred to any but true Christians,” let it be noticed that while many may be saved, who have long resisted the Spirit, yet the assertion must appear hazardous in the extreme, that any can be saved, who do all that the apostate in this passage is alleged to do. The sin described seems to be that of a determined, insulting, final rejection of the only remedy for sin.)
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v31 Man is mortal, and therefore cannot extend his vengeance…
Man is mortal, and therefore cannot extend his vengeance beyond death; God is immortal, and, as he lives eternally, can punish eternally; and he who during life despises a God who died for him, will at death experience the rigour of a God always living to punish him.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv29–31 sorer--Greek, "worse," namely, "punishment" (literally, "vengeance") than any mere…
sorer--Greek, "worse," namely, "punishment" (literally, "vengeance") than any mere temporal punishment of the body.
suppose ye--an appeal to the Hebrews' reason and conscience.
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thought worthy--by God at the judgment.
trodden under foot the Son of God--by "wilful" apostasy. So he treads under foot God Himself who "glorified His Son as an high priest" (Heb 5:5; Heb 6:6).
an unholy thing--literally, "common," as opposed to "sanctified." No better than the blood of a common man, thus involving the consequence that Christ, in claiming to be God, was guilty of blasphemy, and so deserved to die!
wherewith he was sanctified--for Christ died even for him. "Sanctified," in the fullest sense, belongs only to the saved elect. But in some sense it belongs also to those who have gone a far way in Christian experience, and yet fall away at last. The higher such a one's past Christian experiences, the deeper his fall.
done despite unto--by repelling in fact: as "blasphemy" is despite in words (Mar 3:29). "Of the Jews who became Christians and relapsed to Judaism, we find from the history of Uriel Acosta, that they required a blasphemy against Christ. 'They applied to Him epithets used against Molech the adulterous branch,' &c." [THOLUCK].
the Spirit of grace--the Spirit that confers grace. "He who does not accept the benefit, insults Him who confers it. He hath made thee a son: wilt thou become a slave? He has come to take up His abode with thee; but thou art introducing evil into thyself" [CHRYSOSTOM]. "It is the curse of evil eternally to propagate evil: so, for him who profanes the Christ without him, and blasphemes the Christ within him, there is subjectively no renewal of a change of mind (Heb 6:6), and objectively no new sacrifice for sins" (Heb 10:26) [THOLUCK].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv29–31 29. How much sorer punishment—As much sorer as the…
29. How much sorer punishment—As much sorer as the revealing Son was superior to the revealing Moses. The same argumentative aggravation as in Heb_2:3, derived from the greatness of the Son, then just unfolded.
Trodden under foot—By nothing less than most guilty apostasy. The intensity of the language implies the flagrancy of the sin.
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Blood of the covenant—That blood which inaugurates and consecrates the new covenant, as the blood of calves and goats did the old “testament,” (Heb_9:20.)
He was sanctified—The expedients adopted to avoid the fact that the apostate was once truly sanctified are worthy of compassion. Lightfoot makes he refer to Christ, who was sanctified by his own blood! “It is worthy of remark,” says Alford, “how Calvin evades the deep truth contained in the words he was sanctified: ‘Very unworthy is it to profane the blood of Christ, which is the source of our sanctification: this do they who depart from the faith:’ thus making he was sanctified into we may be sanctified.”
An unholy thing—Literally, a common thing; as if the blood of the Redeemer was no more than ordinary matter. So 1Co_11:29, “Not discerning the Lord’s body.” Justin Martyr says, in Greek of the Communion, “We receive these elements, not as common bread or common drink.” So Act_10:14-15 : “Call not thou common,” where see note.
Done despite—Insulted. Bloomfield says, that in every known instance this verb has a person for its object; and hence he infers the personality of the Spirit from this passage.
Spirit of grace—As either coming to us from God’s grace, or as dispensing his grace upon us.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv29–31 29. of how much sorer punishment] The word for…
29. of how much sorer punishment] The word for “punishment” in the N.T. is in every other passage kolasis, which means, in accordance with its definition, and in much of its demonstrable usage, “remedial punishment.” Here the word (though the difference is not observed by our A.V. which has created so many needless variations, and obliterated so many necessary distinctions) is timoria which means “vengeance” or “retribution.” It need hardly be said that “vindictive punishment” can only be attributed to God by the figure of speech known as anthropopathy, i.e. the representation of God by metaphors drawn from human passions. It is also obvious that we misuse Scripture when we press casual words to unlimited inferences. “Vengeance” is here used because (1) the author is alluding to defiant and impenitent apostates, in language derived from the earthly analogies, and (2) because he is referring to the temporal ruin and overthrow of the Jewish polity at the fast-approaching Day of Christ’s Coming. The passage which he proceeds to quote (Deu_32:35) refers directly to national and temporal punishments. The verb “to avenge” is only used twice in the N.T. (Act_22:5; Act_26:11)—both times of the persecution of Christians by Saul.
trodden under foot the Son of God] The writer could hardly use stronger language to imply the extremity of wilful rebellion which he has in view. It scarcely applies to any except blaspheming infidels and to those Jews who have turned the very name of Jesus in Hebrew into an anagram of malediction, and in the Talmud rarely allude to Him except in words of scorn and execration.
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the blood of the covenant] He uses the same phrase in Heb_13:20.
an unholy thing] Lit., “a common thing,” i.e. either “unclean” or “valueless.” Clearly such conduct as this must be the nearest approach we can conceive to “the sin against the Holy Ghost,” “the unpardonable sin,” “the sin unto death,” for which no remedy is provided in any earthly means of grace (Mat_12:31; 1Jn_5:16).
done despite unto] Lit., “insulted;” e.g. “by blasphemy against the Holy Ghost” (Mat_12:31-32). It is possible to grieve utterly that Holy Spirit (Eph_4:30) and so to become “reprobate.” The apostates whose case is here imagined despise alike the Father (Heb_5:5), the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Heb_6:4-6). They reject the very promises of their baptismal profession and abnegate the whole economy of grace. The verb for “to do despite” occurs here only in the N.T.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv29–31 (29) Shall he be thought worthy.—Better, shall he be…
(29) Shall he be thought worthy.—Better, shall he be accounted (or, judged) worthy, by God the Judge of all, when “the Day” shall come. In the act of apostasy the sinner trampled under foot the Son of God, treated with contempt and scorn Him to whom belongs this highest Name (Heb_1:1-4); and the principle of this act becomes the principle of the whole succeeding life. That “blood” by which the new covenant was established (Heb_9:15-17)—the blood in which he himself had received the sanctification which the law could not give—he has esteemed an unholy thing. There is no medium between highest reverence and utter contumely in such a case: to those who did not receive Jesus as Lord He was a deceiver (Mat_27:63), and one who deserved to die.
Hath done despite.—Hath treated with outrage and insult the Spirit of whose gifts he had been partaker (Heb_6:4), for “grace” returning arrogant scorn.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv29, 31 Vers. 29, 30. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose…
Vers. 29, 30. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing ( koinon , a word commonly denoting things unclean; cf. Mar_7:2 Act_10:14, 28 11:8 Rom_14:14; and supra, Heb_9:13; and so probably here, meaning more than common, i.e. ordinary human blood. If vilified by denial of its atoning efficacy, it was relegated into the class of unclean things themselves requiring purification. The word is used in opposition to hgiasyh), and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? It has been already remarked how these very strong expressions (answering to those in Heb_6:6) further denote the kind of sin. intended by amartanontwn in ver. 26. Three characteristics of it are given:
(1) Contumelious repudiation of Christ;
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(2) Vilification of his atonement;
(3) Despite to the Holy Spirit that has been given and enjoyed.
Citations from the Old Testament follow, according to the general plan of the Epistle, to show that there is a terrible as well as a gracious side of the revelation of the God of Israel, and especially (as intimated by the second quotation) that his own people may be the objects of his vengeance. For we know him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. Both citations are from Deu_32:35, Deu_32:36, the second being introduced also into Psa_135:14. The first is remarkable as a combination of the texts of the Hebrew and the LXX, neither being exactly followed. The Hebrew has (A.V), "To me belongeth vengeance and recompense;" the LXX, En hmera ekdikhsewv antapodwsw . And in the same form as in the text the passage is cited Rom_12:19. It may be, in this and some other cases of variation from the LXX, that a text different from ours was used by the New Testament writers. The difference here is quite immaterial with regard to the drift of the quotation.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv30–31 Vengeance belongeth unto Me
Heb_10:30
Vengeance belongeth unto Me
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I.
VENGEANCE BELONGETH TO THE LORD. By vengeance is meant vindicative justice punishing offenders, the acts whereof are condemnation and execution; and it is proper to a judge, as here it may be taken either for the power or the act and exercise of the power. The party to whom it belongs is the Lord, as He is the supreme and universal Judge; for He that is the supreme Law-giver must needs be the supreme Judge. Angels or men may have the use of it, but the propriety is in God; and that you may understand it more fully, you must know that this power of punishing is an universal, an original power, as it belongs to God and none else. It extends to all persons, to all causes, and to these in all respects; for He hath jurisdiction over angels, and the consciences and immortal souls of men, and can arrogate spiritual and eternal punishments.
II. As vengeance, so RETRIBUTION BELONGS UNTO THE LORD; and it may be considered, not only as it is a power or right to recompense, but the act and exercise of vindicative justice, and may include both the sentence and the execution, which is nothing else but a returning evil for evil, the evil of punishment for the evil of sin. The apostle in this follows the Septuagint, which turn it, I will recompense, which seems to imply, that as He is
(1) Just to punish sin.
(2) Hath a power of retribution. So
(3) He will recompense and exercise this power, and that certainly.
III. HE WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE. This may be understood two ways.
1. That God will judge the cause of His oppressed and persecuted people, by punishing and destroying their enemies; and this the context in Deuteronomy seems to imply.
2. That He will judge His people, and punish severely all apostates among them. Men may threaten and never condemn, they may condemn and never execute; but God will certainly do both.
IV. THE LORD SAITH SO. Man might have said it, and it might have been otherwise; out of ignorance he might have been deceived, or out of pravity he might deceive others; or if any earthly judge, who knew his own mind and power, should have said so, yet he might change his mind, or want power; and so recompense might fail. But it is God who is Supreme Judge, who cannot be deceived, cannot deceive, cannot change His mind; who hath almighty power that saith so, and His word is His deed. If therefore He say, I will recompense, I will judge; recompense and judgment will certainly follow, they cannot fail.
V. THEY KNEW IT WAS GOD WHO SAID SO; THAT GOD WHO COULD CERTAINLY DO AS HE HAD SAID, If any other had said it, and they had been ignorant of it, their fear had been less, though the danger had been as great as if they had known it. Seeing, therefore, it is the Lord who said it, and they knew that it was said, and that by Him, their fear should be answerable to the danger, and so much the greater, as their knowledge was more clear and certain. They knew this, and that by Scripture, which they believed to be the Word of God. Ignorance of this truth makes men secure and presumptuous, and so doth unbelief; this seems to prove the punishment to be unavoidable. (G. Lawson.)
Accurate scales
In the reign of King Charles I., the goldsmiths of London had a custom of weighing several sorts of their precious metals before the Privy Council. On this occasion they made use of scales poised with such exquisite nicety that the beam would turn, the Master of the company affirmed, at the two-hundredth part of a grain. Now the famous Attorney-General, standing by, and hearing this, replied, I shall be loath, then, to have all my actions weighed in these scales. (Baxendales Anecdotes.)
God avenges wrong:
When a Chief Justice was spoken to of showing mercy to a prisoner before him, he said, Let me remember that there is mercy due to my country. Have you travelled in the Alps? You will come to a magnificent and beautiful valley with flowing streams and exuberant foliage. A few miles--it may be a few steps--further, and you have a great mountain with its awful shadows, and threatening to hurl its mass over you. You cannot have the sunny valley without the frowning mountain. So there are changes in the scenery when you study the Divine working. There is the lowly valley where the flowers of redemption grow, and the waters of grace curl their eddies; and there is also the great white throne, glorious indeed, but great and terrible in its shadows, because of the intense light that shines upon it. The same engine that beneficently draws the train along will be an instrument of wrath and destruction to anything that crosses its path. God moves on the track of perfect holiness, not only bestowing blessing, but avenging wrong for the benefit of His universe. If the sinner throws himself across that track, the same law that moves Him to love will cause Him to punish the unrepenting sinner. (A. P.Pierson, D. D.)
Vengeance a Divine prerogative
A person happened to complain in the hearing of a pious man of some conduct which had been manifested towards him by his neighbours, and concluded by saying that he had a large portion of vengeance in store for them. You have stolen it, then, was the answer, for I know it does not belong to you of right, because God says, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv29–31 29. Of how much sorer punishment. Where much is…
29. Of how much sorer punishment. Where much is given much is required. How great the sin of the apostate! Trodden under foot the Son of God. Despised him instead of Moses. Counted the blood of the covenant, the blood of Christ, the blood by which he was sanctified (cleansed from the guilt of sin), treated this blood as if it was unholy. Done despite unto the spirit of grace. Rejected all the work, the words, the preaching, the pleadings of the Holy Spirit.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v30
Hebrews
HOW TO OWN OURSELVES
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Heb 10:30
THE writer uses a somewhat uncommon word in this clause, which is not altogether adequately represented by the translation ‘saving.’ Its true force will be apparent by comparing one or two of the few instances in which it occurs in the New Testament. For example, it is twice employed in the Epistles to the Thessalonians; in one case being rendered, ‘God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain’ {or, more correctly, to the obtaining of} ‘salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ’; and in another, ‘called to the obtaining of glory through Jesus Christ.’ It is employed twice besides in two other places of Scripture, and in both of these it means ‘possession.’ So that, though practically equivalent to the idea of salvation, there is a very beautiful shade of difference which is well worth noticing.
The thought of the text is substantially this - those who believe win their souls; they acquire them for their possession. We talk colloquially about ‘people that cannot call their souls their own.’ That is a very true description of all men who are not lords of themselves through faith in Jesus Christ. ‘They who believe to the gaining of their own souls’ is the meaning of the writer here.
And I almost think that we may trace in this peculiar expression an allusion, somewhat veiled but real, to similar words of our Lord’s. For He said, when, like the writer in the present context, He was encouraging His disciples to steadfastness in the face of difficulties and persecutions, ‘In your patience’ - in your persistent adherence to Me, whatever might draw you away, - ‘ye shall win’ - not merely possess, as our Bible has it, and not a commandment, but a promise - ‘in your patience ye shall win your souls.’ Whether that allusion be sustainable or no matters comparatively little; it is the significant and beautiful thought which underlies the word to which I wish to turn, and to present you with some illustrations of it.
I. First, then, if we lose ourselves we win ourselves.
All men admit in theory that a self-centred life is a blunder. Jesus Christ has all moralists and all thoughtful men wholly with Him when He says, ‘He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life shall find it.’ There is no such way of filling a soul with enlargement and blessedness and of evolving new powers and capacities as self-oblivion for some great cause, for some great love, for some great enthusiasm. Many a woman has found herself when she held her child in her arms, and in the self-oblivion which comes from maternal affections and cares has sprung into a loftier new life. Many a heart, of husband and wife, can set its seal to this truth, that the blessedness of love is that it decentralises the soul, and substitutes another aim for the wretched and narrow one that is involved in self-seeking. And even if we do not refer to these sacred heights of maternal or of wedded love, there are many other noble counterpoises to the do-grading influence of self- absorption, which all men recognise and some men practise. Whoever has once tasted the joy and rapture of flinging himself into some great enthusiasm, and has known how much fuller life is when so inspired than in its ordinary forms, needs no words to convince him that the secret of blessedness, elevation, and power, if it is to be put into one great word, must be put into this one, ‘self-oblivion.’
But whilst all these counterpoises to the love of self are, in their measure and degree, great and noble and blessed, not one of them, nor all of them put together, will so break the fetters from off a prisoned soul and let it out into the large place of utter and glad self-oblivion as the course which our text enjoins upon us when it says: If you wish to forget yourselves, to abandon and lose yourselves, fling yourselves into Christ’s arms, and by faith yield your whole being, will, trust, purposes, aims, everything - yield them all to Him; and when you can say, ‘We are not our own,’ then first will you belong to yourselves and have won your own souls.
There is nothing except that absolute departure from all reliance upon our own poor powers, and from all making of ourselves our centre and aim in life, which gives us true possession of ourselves. Nothing else is comparable to the talismanic power of trust in Jesus Christ. When thus we lose ourselves in Him we find ourselves, and find Him in ourselves.
I believe that, at bottom, a life must either spin round on its own axis, self- centred and self-moved, or else it must be drawn by the mass and weight and mystical attractiveness of the great central sun, and swept clean out of its own little path to become a satellite round Him. Then only will it move in music and beauty, and flash back the lustre of an unfading light. Self or God, one or other will be the centre of every human life.
It is well to be touched with lofty enthusiasms; it is well to conquer self in the eager pursuit of some great thought or large subject of study; it is well to conquer self in the sweetness of domestic love; but through all these there may run a perverting and polluting reference to myself. Affection may become but a subtle prolongation of myself, and study and thought may likewise be tainted, and even in the enthusiasm for a great cause there may mingle much of self-regard; and on the whole there is nothing that will sweep out, and keep out, the seven devils of selfishness except to yield yourselves to God, drawn by His mercies, and say, ‘I am not my own; I am bought with a price.’ Then, and only then, will you belong to yourselves.
II. Secondly it we will take Christ for our Lord we shall be lords of our own souls.
I have said that self-surrender is self-possession. It is equally true that self- control is self-possession; and it is as true about this application of my text as it was about the former, that Christianity only says more emphatically what moralists say, and suggests and supplies a more efficient means of accomplishing the end which they all recognise as good. For everybody knows that the man who is a slave to his own passions, lusts, or desire is not his own master. And everybody knows that the man who is the sport of circumstance, and yields to every temptation that comes sweeping round him, as bamboos bend before every blast; or the man who is guided by fashion, conventionality, custom, and the influence of the men amongst whom he lives, and whom he calls ‘the world,’ is not his own master. He ‘dare not call his soul his own.’
What do we mean by being self-possessed, except this, that we can so rule our more fluctuating and sensitive parts as that, notwithstanding appeals made to them By external circumstances, they do not necessarily yield to these? He possesses himself who, in the face of antagonism, can do what is right; who, in the face of temptation, will not do what is wrong; who can dare to be in the right with one or two; and who is not moulded By circumstances, howsoever they may influence him, but reacts upon them as a hammer, and is not as an anvil. And this superiority over the parts of my nature which are meant to be kept down, and this assertion of independent power in the face of circumstances, and this freedom from the dominion of cliques and parties and organs of opinion and loud voices round us, this is best secured in its fulness and completeness by the path which my text suggests.
Trust in Jesus Christ, and let Him be your Commander-in-chief, and you have won your souls. Let Him dominate them, and you can dominate them. If you will give your wills into His hands, He will give them back to you and make you able to subdue your passions and desires. Put the reins into Christ’s hands and say, ‘Here, O Lord, guide Thou the horses and the chariot, for I cannot coerce them, but Thou canst.’ Then He will come and bring a new ally in the field, and cast a new weight into the scale, and you will no longer be the slave of the servile and inferior parts of your nature; nor be kicked about, the football of circumstances; nor be the echo of some other body’s views, but you will have a voice of your own, and a will of your own, and a soul of your own, because you have given them to Christ, and He will help you to control them. Such a man - and I verily believe, from the bottom of my heart, such a man only - in the fullest sense, is
‘Free from slavish bands,
Of hope to rise, or fear to fall;
Lord of himself, though not of lands;
And having nothing, yet hath all.’
What does some little rajah, on the edge of our great Indian Empire, do when troubled with rebels whom he cannot subdue? He goes and makes himself a feudatory of the great central power at Calcutta, and then down comes a regiment or two, and makes very short work of the rebellion that the little kinglet could do nothing with. If you go to Christ and say to Him, ‘Dear Lord, I take my crown from my head and lay it at Thy feet. Come Thou to help me to rule this anarchic realm of my own soul,’ you will win yourself.
III. Thirdly, if we have faith in Christ we acquire a better self.
The thing that most thoughtful men and women feel, after they have gone a little way into life, is not so much that they want to possess themselves, as that they want to get rid of themselves - of all the failures and shame and disappointment and futility of their lives. That desire may be accomplished. We cannot strip ourselves of ourselves by any effort. The bitter old past keeps living on, and leaves with us seeds of weakness and memories that sometimes corrupt, and always enfeeble: memories that seem to limit the possibilities of the future in a tragic fashion. Ah, brethren! we can get rid of ourselves; and, instead of continuing the poor, sin-laden, feeble creatures that we are, we can have pouring into our souls the gift most real -though people nowadays, in their shallow religion, call it mystical - of a new impulse and a new life. The old individuality will remain, but new tastes, new aspirations, aversions, hopes, and capacities to realise them may all be ours, so that ‘if any man be in Christ he is a new creature’; and in barter for the old garment he receives the robe of righteousness. You can lose yourselves, in a very deep and earnest sense, if, trusting in Jesus Christ, you open the door of the heart to the influx of that new life which is His best gift. Faith wins a better self, and we may each experience, in all its fulness and Blessedness, the paradox of the apostle when he said, ‘I live’ now, at last, in triumphant possession of this better life: ‘I live’ now - I only existed before - ‘yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.’ And with Christ in me I first find myself.
IV. Lastly, if by faith we win our souls here, we save them from destruction hereafter.
I have said that the word of my text is substantially equivalent to the more frequent and common expression ‘salvation’; though with a shade of difference, which I have been trying to bring Out. And this substantial equivalence is more obvious if you will note that the text is the second member of an antithesis of which the first is, ‘we are not of them which draw back into perdition.’
So, then, the writer sets up, as exact opposites of one another, these two ideas - perdition or destruction on the one hand, and the saving or winning of the soul on the other. Therefore, whilst we must give due eight to the considerations which I have already been suggesting, we shall not grasp the whole of the writer’s meaning unless we admit also the thought of the future. And that the same blending of the two ideas, of possession and salvation in the more usual sense of the word, was implied in the Lord’s saying, of which I have suggested there may be an echo here, is plain if you observe that the version in St. Luke gives the text which I have already quoted: ‘In your patience ye shall win your souls’; and that of St. Matthew, in the same connection, gives, instead, the saying, ‘he that endureth’ - which corresponds with patience - ‘he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.’
So, then, brethren, you cannot be said to have won your souls if you are only keeping them for destruction, and such destruction is clearly laid down here as the fate of those who turn away from Jesus Christ.
Now, it seems to me that no fair interpretation can eject from that word ‘perdition,’ or ‘destruction,’ an element of awe and terror. However you may interpret the ruin, it is ruin utter of which it speaks. And I am very much afraid that in this generation eager discussions about the duration of punishment, and the final condition of those who die impenitent, have had a disastrous influence on a great many minds and consciences in reference to this whole subject, by making it rather a subject of controversy than a solemn truth to be pondered. However the controversies be settled, there is terror enough left in that word to make us all bethink ourselves.
I lay it on your hearts, dear friends - it is no business of mine to say much about it, but I lay it on your hearts and on my own; and I beseech you to ponder it. Do not mix it up with wholly independent questions as to what is to become of people who never heard about Jesus Christ. ‘The Judge of all the earth will do right.’ What this verse says applies to people that have heard about Him - that is, to you and me - and to people that do not accept Him - and that is some of us; and about them it says that they ‘draw back unto perdition.’
Now, remember, the alternative applies to each of us. It is a case of ‘either- or’ in regard to us all. If we have taken Christ for our Saviour, and, as I said, put the reins into His hands and given ourselves to Him by love and submission and confidence, then we own our souls, because we have given them to Him to keep, ‘and He is able to keep that which is committed to Him against that day.’
But I am bound to tell you, in the plainest words I can command, that if you have not thus surrendered yourself to Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His intercession, His quickening Spirit, then I know not where you are to find one foothold of hope that upon you there will not come down the overwhelming fate that is darkly portrayed in that one solemn word.
Oh, brethren! let us all ponder the question, ‘ What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v29 Spirit of grace
Spirit of grace
Grace (in salvation). 1Pe 1:10; 1Pe 1:13; Rom 3:24
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(See Scofield "Joh 1:17").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v30 General Information:
General Information:
The word "we" here refers to the writer and all believers. These two quotations come from the law that Moses gave in the Old Testament. (See: Inclusive "We")
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Vengeance belongs to me
Vengeance is spoken of as if it were an object that belongs to God, who has the right to do as he wishes with what he owns. God has the right to take vengeance on his enemies. (See: Metaphor)
I will pay back
God taking vengeance is spoken of as if he were paying back the harmful things that someone has done to others. (See: Metaphor)
to fall into the hands
Receiving God's full punishment is spoken of as if the person falls into God's hands. Here "hands" refers to God's power to judge. AT: "to receive God's full punishment" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
translationWords
avenge
lord
judge
people of God
hand
life
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v30 10:30-31 “The Lord will judge his own people”: Deut…
10:30-31 “The Lord will judge his own people”: Deut 32:36; cp. 1 Pet 4:17-18. • That God will pay them back and will judge his own people shows the dreadful circumstances of those who have rejected Christ. Once God moves to judge a person, no one can rescue that person out of God’s hand (Deut 32:39).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.