Lesson 203 – When the Spirit Is Insulted

Hebrews 10:29-33

"Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Through a rhetorical question, God issues a strong warning to those who have stomped on the gospel of Jesus Christ, ignored his sacrifice, and insulted the Spirit of grace. God won't leave alone his people who do these things, and in response to this truth, the author of Hebrews asks us to consider the punishment deserved by those who have done these things.

Almost every parent can relate to this same technique. We've asked our teenagers to determine the punishment to be meted out for their disobedient acts, usually related to how long they should remain grounded. Our intent is not simply to determine the length of punishment, but for the teen to internalize what they've done by judging for themselves the rightful consequences of their actions. We hope this will help them learn a moral lesson from the punishment we direct. And here, God does the same.

Whereas Christ spoke of the unpardonable sin as a rejection of the Spirit's touch, I think this passage implies that those of the family of God also find themselves rejecting the Spirit, though not unto salvation, for this is permanent position we're we've been adopted into the family of Christ. We're said to be insulting the Spirit.

While we're not specifically told how we do this, it would seem that any action of disobedience towards God's sovereignty should be considered an insult. We do this when we reject the Spirit's leading or when we turn from the Spirit's conviction and choose sin. We also insult the Spirit when we refuse to believe or obey his word.

Few would doubt that the most heinous sin which we could do as God's people would be to worship another god, for this is idolatry. And insulting the Spirit is doing exactly this. We insult the Spirit when we make ourselves out to be god over our own lives.

Notice that in response to this insulting of the Spirit, the Lord promises to judge His people. We will fall into God's hands. He places his Spirit upon us, though no longer as the Comforter, but as the One who Disciplines. This is what we see with Israel throughout the Old Testament, and this is what we see with believers, nations, and churches today.

Although God will not leave his people alone, even when we insult him, he uses his discipline to cause us to return to his fold.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for your righteous wrath upon the church today, refusing to allow us to insult your Spirit, desiring us to be made holy again by your presence. Amen.