Day #135 - Do not Insult
The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder
“How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”
Hebrews 10:29 NIV
Have you ever been insulted?
Of course the answer I would imagine has got to be yes. Everyone in this life has been insulted. I suppose the question might be, how many times have you been insulted? Or how often do insults deeply effect you? I don’t think anyone likes being insulted. So why do we do that? I suppose the old adage is true, “hurt people, hurt people.”
The writer of Hebrews warns us of insulting the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is He, not it. The Holy Spirit is not a force and He can be insulted. The Bible says here in Hebrews 10 that we are not to insult the Spirit of grace. God has revealed to us the Holy Spirit’s function in our life is a relationship of grace.
What is grace? Well its God’s unmerited favor and divine enablement. Theologically, grace is the cardinal doctrine of Christianity. The Christian is saved by God’s grace and not by our own efforts. How are we saved by grace? Well, the author here shows us that grace comes from the sanctifying work of Jesus blood shed for us.
The warning about insulting the Spirit of grace is all about turning away from the power of the blood of Jesus. We are warned that if we turn from the power of the cross we are insulting the spirit of grace and we will come under punishment.
Now scholars are divided over Hebrews 10 and say that those who are saved can fall away from grace by rejecting the blood of Jesus after salvation and be punished by damnation. The other side of the issue would say these people mentioned as insulting the Spirit of grace and rejecting the cross were those who were close to salvation but were never actually saved in the first place. One thing I know is, let us avoid insulting the Spirit of grace altogether.
Why would someone turn away from grace and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross? There is some power of the law and living in the pride of our own self efforts that the New Testament writers warn us about repeatedly. Religion seduces us to turn from grace. The Holy Spirit’s role is to release grace in our lives and lift up the finished work of Jesus. The Spirit’s empowering presence is “the Presence” of grace. Oh, how we need the Spirit of grace to remind us and keep us in the power of the blood of Jesus.
Holy Spirit, Spirit of grace how I need You. Thank you for connecting me to the Divine life of the cross through the blood of Jesus, the Son of God. Oh how I need grace. I never want to insult you Holy Spirit and turn from this grace that was so freely given me in Christ. I repent of the vanity of my own self efforts and pride. I need You. In Jesus name, amen.
"Religion seduces us to turn from grace." What a TRUE statement! (Having been raised as a boy in Roman Catholicism)
Just read Hebrews 10 this morning because it was where I was in my morning devotions. Thanks for shedding more light on a wonderful chapter!