Willfully (1596) (hekousios from hekousios = voluntary) means willing to do something without being forced or pressured. Doing something of one's own free will = voluntarily, deliberately, willfully, intentionally. Newton observes that... "Willfully" stands at the front of the sentence (Ed: In the original Greek text) in an emphatic position as a reminder that the ones he addresses are not the weak or immature or ignorant or occasional doubters that are true believers but struggling with their perseverance. It is the deliberate, intentional, voluntary rejection of the sufficiency of Christ that he refers to. (The Peril of Playing Christian) Hekousios conveys the idea of deliberate intention that is habitual without being forced or pressured. In other words, in context this adverb modifies the present tense verb sinning indicating that this is a personal choice to deliberately rebel against the truth God has graciously revealed! The only other NT use of hekousios is in a positive context where Peter exhorts the elders to... shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness (1Pe 5:2-note) This description is not referring to "sins of ignorance" (Heb 9:7) or weakness, but to those that are planned out, determined, done with forethought (cp Paul's command in Ro 13:14-note to "make no provision [pronoia] for the flesh in regard to its lusts."). A similar warning against defection from the faith (falling away from the truth about the great High Priest Jesus) is presented in Heb 2:1-note, He 2:3-note where it is described as letting truth slip away, in Heb 3:7, 8-note where it is described as hardening the heart against the Holy Spirit, in He 6:4, 5-note, He 6:6-note where it is described as falling away and crucifying the Son of God and lastly in Heb 12:25-note where it is described as a refusal to hear and heed God's warning from heaven. Clearly, the writer of Hebrews viewed apostasy as a very real and serious possibility for his Jewish audience who had heard the good news about their Messiah, Jesus. Henry Morris notes that... There is probably an allusion here to such Old Testament passages as Nu 15:30,31; Dt 17:2-7; etc. The presumptuous sins (Ps 19:13), especially of deliberate apostasy into idolatry and paganism, were punishable by death. In similar fashion, the deliberate rejection of Christ and His sacrifice for one's sins, after one fully understands its significance and may even have made profession of faith therein, is without remedy. This is the only means God has provided, and there is nothing more that can be said or done to save such a person. That person already knows and understands it all and has rejected it (Heb 6:4-6). Such a person, regardless of outward appearances, had never truly committed his faith and life to Christ in the first place (1Jn 2:19). This verse does not, in context, apply to other sins of a true Christian (He 10:39). The remedy for these is repentance and confession, for the blood of Christ has already paid for them (1Jn 1:7, 8, 9). W A Criswell adds that to... "Sin willfully" is similar to the rebellion against God that is described in the O.T. as sinning "with a high hand" or "presumptuously" (Nu 15:30, 31; defiantly, literally "with a high hand"). This sin is a sin of premeditation, committed only by those who have had the advantage of great light. In the rejecting of Christ's sacrifice, they discover that there is no other acceptable sacrifice for sin. Moses records... 'You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. 30 'But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 'Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be on him.'" (Nu 15:29, 30) Comment: "Defiantly" is a vivid picture in Hebrew as the words "yad ramah" literally describe "a hand exalted" or "a high hand". The Septuagint translates it similarly (en cheiri huperephanias), this Greek phrase meaning "with a raised fist so to speak". NET Bible note adds that "The expression ("a high hand") means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the LORD said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the LORD is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Ex 14:8, Nu 33:3). Note that these are not those willful sins most believers commit daily, but the immediate context defines this sin as one of the continually forsaking the only means of grace God provides for salvation. Most believers either commit willful sins or can even lapse into a season of sin and will experience broken fellowship and intimacy with the Lord and with His people, but they will not be guilty of the sin which this passage is describing. Believers who commit such willful sins, will return to the Lord, for they are under too great a conviction to stay away permanently. In the meanwhile, they will be robbed of the Spirit given joy and peace, spiritual power, intimacy, etc. For a believer the price of unconfessed sin is "steep". Ponder these relevant passages... Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals (intentionally, actively covering over sin so as to keep secret, cp Adam and Eve in Ge 3:7, 8, 10!) his transgressions will not prosper (Be profitable, succeed. Root word means to accomplish satisfactorily what is intended), but (O, the mercy of God) he who confesses and forsakes (leaves it in a lurch = not only giving it up but also actually "forgetting" it, so there is no longer desire for it) them will find compassion. Comment by J Vernon McGee - This is a great proverb. It seems a common practice today for Christians to try to cover their sins. You will find in the average church that there is a Band-Aid of silence wrapped over the cancer of sin. People don’t like to talk about it; in fact, they don’t admit its existence. They like to think they are very good. There are two kinds of forgiveness, judicial and parental. When we trust Christ as Lord and Savior, we receive forgiveness from the penalty of sins; that is judicial forgiveness. When we, as believers, confess our sins, we receive parental forgiveness (1Jn 1:9); this maintains fellowship with God our Father. Anyone who confesses and forsakes his sins has the assurance that God not only forgives but forgets (Heb 10:17). Illustration: In a conservative southern church, the pastor's wife found pornography on her husband's computer. After confronting him with the evidence, he admitted downloading the images off the internet, even using the computer in his study which was located in the church itself. Somehow he had separated his ongoing sexual sin from his responsibilities and duties as a man of God. He who covers his sin will not prosper... Illustration: In an August 2000 poll conducted by Christianity Today on internet pornography, 33% of active ministers admitted having visited porn sites. Over half of those ministers said that they had visited those sites more than once. A total of 18 percent of clergy said they visit sexually explicit Web sites between a couple of times a month and more than once a week. This poll includes many liberal and 'mainstream' ministers, but it would be naive to think that porn was not a problem for some Bible-believing ministers. He who covers his sin will not prosper... Illustration: A nice Christian family joined the church by letter from another city. Brad and Susan had four wonderful little boys ranging in age from two years up to ten years. Susan had a beautiful voice and sang specials in the church. Brad was a bible teacher and had taught Sunday school at their former church. But Brad and Susan had a terrible secret. He had a terrible temper that caused him to abuse Susan both physically and emotionally. No one in the church had any idea until she took her boys and left to return to her hometown. Brad followed her back and tried to reconcile with her. But his secret was now public and there was no turning back. He who covers his sin will not prosper... Spurgeon "You say that you can handle your secret sins, that there is no one hurt by them. But you may as well ask the lion to let you put your head into his mouth. You cannot regulate his jaws: neither can you regulate sin. Once done, you cannot tell when you will be destroyed. You may put your head in and out a great many times; but one of these days it will be a costly venture. " Christian friend, do not continue to hide your sin. Don't harbor that sin, buried deep in the tent floor of your heart. It will affect your family, your home, your spiritual inheritance, and your purpose in life. There is no sin worthy of separating us from our Father. It is not necessary to confess your secret sins to everyone, for it is none of their business. Do business with God. Repent and let God restore you to fellowship. Don't sweep sin under the rug. Instead put it under the blood! Psalm 32:3-5 (David when he sinned with Bathsheba) When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; and Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. Selah. C H Spurgeon on Psalm 32:3-5 When I kept silent. When through neglect I failed to confess, or through despair dared not do so, my bones, those solid pillars of my frame, the stronger portions of my bodily constitution, waxed old, began to decay with weakness, for my grief was so intense as to sap my health and destroy my vital energy. What a killing thing is sin! It is a pestilent disease! A fire in the bones! While we smother our sin it rages within, and like a gathering wound swells horribly and torments terribly. Through my groaning all the day long. He was silent as to confession, but not as to sorrow. Horror at his great guilt, drove David to incessant laments, until his voice was no longer like the articulate speech of man, but so full of sighing and groaning, that it resembled to hoarse roaring of a wounded beast. None knows the pangs of conviction but those who have endured them. The rack, the wheel, the flaming fagot are ease compared with the Tophet which a guilty conscience kindles within the breast: better suffer all the diseases which flesh is heir to, than lie under the crushing sense of the wrath of almighty God. The Spanish inquisition with all its tortures was nothing to the inquest which conscience holds within the heart. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. God's finger can crush us -- what must His hand be, and that pressing heavily and continuously! Under terrors of conscience, men have little rest by night, for the grim thoughts of the day dog them to their chambers and haunt their dreams, or else they lie awake in a cold sweat of dread. God's hand is very helpful when it uplifts, but it is awful when it presses down: better a world on the shoulder, like Atlas, than God's hand on the heart, like David. My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. The sap of his soul was dried, and the body through sympathy appeared to be bereft of its needful fluids. The oil was almost gone from the lamp of life, and the flame flickered as though it would soon expire. Unconfessed transgression, like a fierce poison, dried up the fountain of the man's strength and made him like a tree blasted by the lightning, or a plant withered by the scorching heat of a tropical sun. Alas! for a poor soul when it has learned its sin but forgets its Saviour, it goes hard with it indeed. Selah. It was time to change the tune, for the notes are very low in the scale, and with such hard usage, the strings of the harp are out of order: the next verse will surely be set to another key, or will rehearse a more joyful subject. I acknowledged my sin unto Thee. After long lingering, the broken heart bethought itself of what it ought to have done at the first, and laid bare its bosom before the Lord. The lancet must be let into the gathering ulcer before relief can be afforded. The least thing we can do, if we would be pardoned, is to acknowledge our fault; if we are too proud for this we double deserve punishment. And my iniquity have I not hid. We must confess the guilt as well as the fact of sin. It is useless to conceal it, for it is well known to God; it is beneficial to us to own it, for a full confession softens and humbles the heart. We must as far as possible unveil the secrets of the soul, dig up the hidden treasure of Achan (Josh 7:20, 21), and by weight and measure bring out our sins. I said. This was his fixed resolution. I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. Not to my fellow men or to the high priest, but unto Jehovah! Even in those days of symbol the faithful looked to God alone for deliverance from sin's intolerable load, much more now, when types and shadows have vanished at the appearance of the dawn. When the soul determines to lay low and plead guilty, absolution is near at hand; hence we read, And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. Not only was the sin itself pardoned, but the iniquity of it; the virus of its guilt was put away, and that at once, so soon as the acknowledgment was made. God's pardons are deep and thorough: the knife of mercy cuts at the roots of the ill weed of sin. Selah. Another pause is needed, for the matter is not such as may be hurried over. The sins that would entangle us Must never be ignored; For if we try to cover them They'll pierce us like a sword. AFTER RECEIVING THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH: meta to labein (AAN) ten epignosin tes aletheias ouketi peri hamartion apoleipetai (3PPPI) thusia: Vincent - The truth is the revelation through Christ. The same phrase (the knowledge of the truth) appears in the pastoral epistles... 1Timothy 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2Timothy 2:25-note with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 2Timothy 3:7-note always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Titus 1:1-note Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, Note above that in Titus Paul links the phrase knowledge the truth and to godliness, which is what knowledge of the truth can and should produce. The failure of the knowledge of the truth to produce godliness in the present context does not denigrate the efficacy of truth but does disclose the evil of the hearer's heart! The knowledge the truth - The "full" knowledge of the truth about Jesus the Great High Priest and His better covenant promises. In short, these individuals have not been "short changed". The cannot claim ignorance and so God is unjust in "His austere dealing with them." They have not been given a "watered down" version of the good news. They have received the unadulterated truth! They clearly understood the truth they had heard about Jesus. It was their overt rejection of that truth which defined their apostasy which in turn warranted such a severe "judicial sentence" by God. Exposure to such great light, makes them guilty of even greater condemnation! (cp Jesus' teaching of "degrees" of punishment proportional to the amount of light - Mt 11:21, 22, 23, 24) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/hebrews_1026-27.htm#w