Re: Sin no more

It deals with complete apostasy.

Verse 26: “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins”

The willful sin described here is generally understood to be the sin of apostasy (the same as in Heb. 2:1; 3:12; 6:6 and 12:25). It is the decisive act of repudiation of the faith.

“Because of the severity of the rest of this verse, we understand sinning “deliberately” as indicating a deliberate renunciation of one’s faith rather than speaking generally of intentional sin."

The words if we deliberately keep on sinning do not refer to ordinary sins, but to the most grievous and final sin, apostasy. (NIV’s keep on sinning is an interpretive addition intended to reflect the present participle of the Greek; here, however, it may be that the KJV’s and the RSV’s straightforward “if we sin” is a more appropriate translation.) (NIBC: Hebrews, pg. 169)
The parallel with the other warning passages in Hebrews would support this interpretation. The use of the present participle could also have reference to the continuing rebellion which hardens the heart to point of outright apostasy, while it is the repudiation which results from this hardening that is specifically in view in the rest of the passage.

The second part of the passage tells us that this repudiation takes place “after receiving the knowledge of the truth”. This is a significant phrase especially in light of the use of the Greek epignosis for “knowledge."
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