Treating God's Grace as Insignificant

Hebrews 10:29: “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of Grace?”

Chapter 10 of the book of Hebrews is a celebration of the mighty redemptive work of Jesus Christ in making holy those who would respond to His offering of grace. Because of His amazing love for us, the Savior through His salvation is making perfect forever those who have been called to be holy (Hebrews 10:14). And this gift of spiritual purification grants us the privilege of approaching God “in full assurance of faith” (10:22).

Tragically, there will be those who will hear the gospel message and perhaps respond to it with some level of emotive assent; yet their presumed faith is short-lived as they begin to treat the blood of Christ as unholy. The word for unholy is koinos, where we get the word common. This lack of awe is made manifest in the person who goes through the motions of spirituality and its ritual observances, yet he fails to surrender to the One True God and the power of His transforming grace. Submission to God as one’s Lord and Savior has been forsaken for self, and this lack of surrender is evidenced in the insatiable desire to satisfy one’s personal will above God and His offering of grace. Whereas this person would proclaim himself a follower of Christ, his spirituality is consumed with the pursuit of his own godhood.

This contemptuous attitude toward the Son of God (i.e. treating Him and His salvation as nothing special) results in no bestowal of grace; rather that person can expect God’s judgment, made manifest by His eternal raging fire of wrath upon the reprobate for all eternity (10:27). This is why the Scripture declares that “it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (10:31). God’s offering of grace through His own sacrificial death and resurrection in effect protects us from God Himself, and those who treat His offering as insignificant will receive the full measure of His Divine retribution.

May we all, through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, appreciate the preciousness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and may we respond to this amazing grace with a heart of sincere allegiance and appreciation.