Insulting the Spirit of Grace

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to the land of Israel: The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. The end is now upon you and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will surely repay you for your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Disaster! An unheard-of disaster is coming. The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. It has come! Doom has come upon you—you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near; there is panic, not joy, upon the mountains. I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow.”

“The hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 7:1–9, 27, NIV 1984). 

My Musings – Not a pleasant picture.  How did it come to this? “This [was] Jerusalem, which [God] set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. Yet in her wickedness she rebelled against [His] laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She rejected [God’s] laws and not followed [His] decrees.” (Ezekiel 5:5–6, NIV 1984).  Think about that for a bit, “more than the nations and countries around her.” 

Could there be any more deserving of God’s wrath?  How about those in the age of grace that reject the cross?  “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?”  (Hebrews 10:28–29, NIV 1984).

“He will deal with [these] according to their conduct.”  What conduct? “[trampling] the Son of God underfoot” — by rejecting Him).  “By their own standards [He] will judge them.”  What standards?  “Treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant” — by substituting their own “righteousness” for the cross.

My Advice – It need not be this way for anyone.  The way of the cross is open to all.  Do not trample on it.  Do not treat it as unholy.  For, “if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”  (Hebrews 10:26–27, NIV 1984).  “Then [they] will know that it is the LORD who strikes the blow.”

It much more agreeable to muse about God’s grace and mercy than it is about God’s wrath and judgment.  But both are true.  Wrath and judgment is there because of our wickedness and rebellion.  Grace and mercy is there because of Christ’s righteousness and obedience. Only “the blood of the covenant” can take us from wrath to grace.

Author: thebrewisamusing

I was raised in a Christian family and my earliest childhood memories include regular Sunday school and Church attendance as a family. I was taught that our Judeo-Christian values were not just a part of our Sunday routine they should be part of our character and influence all aspects of our lives. I was also taught that as important as these values were they could not save us. We must also be “born again” by accepting Christ. View all posts by thebrewisamusing