The Unforgiveable Sin of the New Arrangement

Sometimes we read New Arrangement statements through Old Arrangement ‘eyes.’  An example of this is the way some in the Early Church understood the statement in Hebrews 10:26, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins…”  They understood this to mean that if a believer in Jesus sinned after being baptized, he had no hope of forgiveness or final salvation (Bruce, Hebrews, p 260, 261). 

Admittedly the phrase “sinning willfully” is drawn from the Old Covenant itself, in Numbers 15:30, referring to the fact that the animal sacrifices did not provide forgiveness for intentional or deliberate violations of the Law (such as the cases of the Sabbath breaker in Numbers 15:36, and King David’s adultery with Bathsheba).

But clearly in the context of the letter to the Hebrews, and particularly in the paragraph context of Hebrews 10:26, this Old Testament phrase familiar to the Jews is used to refer to the sin of those who having heard and initially seemingly embraced the gospel then decisively rejected the grace offered via the self-sacrifice of Jesus.

Thus, there is only one unforgiveable sin, and that is regarding the blood of the new covenant, i.e., the death of Jesus, as no different from any other death, instead of regarding it as the basis of the New Arrangement, by which a believer’s sins are remembered no more (cf. Hebrews 10:29).

Jesus' cross death was not plan B for our connecting with the God

“The whole apparatus of worship associated with [the Old Covenant] ritual and priesthood was calculated rather to keep men at a distance from God than to bring them near” (BRUCE, Hebrews, p 149).

For one thing, only the high priest could enter into the God in the holiest place, and he only once a year.

For another thing, the animal sacrifices of the old arrangement were for UNintentional sins, or errors, not for deliberate or premeditated behavior that rejected the God’s commands and authority.  I don't know about you, but my biggest problem with sin isn't unintentional thoughts and acts, but with conscious demos of selfishness.

The point is, we were never intended to get to Abba by keeping rules (neither initially in salvation, not from day to day).  The cross was not plan “B.”  God was not surprised at a failed experiment in the old arrangement.  The old arrangement was intended to demonstrate our moral inability, and served this purpose well.

Sometimes we make it harder than it is.

I just learned today that under the New Arrangement I don't have to confess my sins before I come to God.  Practically speaking, how could I anyway, identify all the substandard attitudes from down deep?  And how would I have time to do anything else all day long?  But more to the point, the statements about "drawing near" say nothing about remembering and confessing my sins, once I've been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus.  This gives me "...a purified conscience...the one indispensable condition for offering God acceptable worship..." (F F Bruce, The Letter to the Hebrews, pxii).

New Covenant vs Old Covenant preaching

a)      Old Covenant preaching focuses on rules, and is characterized by

i)        An assumption that what people primarily need to change their attitudes and behavior patterns is KNOWLEDGE (of what is good and what is correspondingly bad)

ii)       An emphasis on EXTERNAL behavior

iii)     CONDEMNATION as the motivation for change

b)      New Covenant preaching focuses on the cross, and is characterized by

i)        A realization that knowledge (of the moral values) alone provides no power to change one’s attitudes or behaviors

ii)       An emphasis on INTERNAL attitudes or heart conditions

iii)     A love RELATIONSHIP with Yahweh and with others of his children as the driving motivation of change in attitudes and behavior patterns

which relationship is based on the non-condemnation and, in fact, ACCEPTANCE by God and the community of believers, experienced by the person who depends on Jesus’ sacrificial cross death