A Fearful Thing

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Hebrews 10:31 KJV

If any verse in the Scriptures makes me shudder, it’s this verse, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Some translations say, “dreadful thing,” “terrible thing,” “terrifying thing,” and then one translation says, “fearful and terrifying thing.” God is the Almighty, the Omnipotent One (Revelation 1:8, 15:3, 19:6). God does NOT play games (Leviticus 10:2, 1 Chronicles 13:10, Psalm 50:3).

What is so terrifying about falling into the hands of the Living God? Because this verse is speaking of judgment. God is awesome, and He is holy. His righteousness is pure. The Lord warns us of sin and the consequences (Romans 6:23). He warns us what happens when we do not turn from our evil and wicked ways (Luke 13:3, Romans 2:5). By warning us, God is granting us mercy. By giving us a chance to repent, He is demonstrating His longsuffering and patience towards us; the Lord does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). Through the Scriptures, we can see He is calling people to repentance (Matthew 4:17, Acts 3:19). When someone sneers arrogantly at the Holy Spirit, when someone mocks or reviles the Holy Spirit and shows complete and utter contempt for the Holy Spirit, they are severing themselves from the Holy Spirit. In other words, they have broken themselves off from the Holy Spirit and they are unable to know the prompting of the Holy Spirit and His leading. It’s the point of no return (Deuteronomy 28:15, Isaiah 63:10). When someone falls into the hand of the Living God, at this point, is where they discover how wrong they are, but it’s too late. Judas is a great example of this. Judas betrayed Christ, and by the time, he realized how wrong he was, it was too late for him (John 13:21-30). Falling into the hands of the Living God will be frightening for the one who has rejected and scorned the Holy Spirit and committed the outright rejection of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:22-32, Hebrews 10:28-29). The true children of the Living God do not need to worry about facing God in judgment. Those who are not living lives that practice sin will be able to stand before God.

“Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God,” (1 John 3:7-10 NLT).

“In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like him. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us,” (1 John 4:17-19 BSB).

Linda A. Knowles