The first half of Heb 10:25 along with verses 26 and 27 represent one of the most misquoted and misapplied passages of all Scripture that cult-like churches use to keep countless souls trapped in their grip.

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is…” Heb 10:25a

The full passage reads:

²⁵Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching. ²⁶For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, ²⁷But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. Heb 10:25-27

By also misapplying the last half of this passage (which by the way sounds quite alarming to those who do not understand the context), control-based leaders are able to scare many Christians into never missing a meeting or at least never even daring to move on from their church. But the true context of verses 26 and 27 here demonstrates a change of subject, in fact this is just a general reminder stated in passing, a reminder of the need for Christ. While verse 25 applies strictly to believers, these two verses are referring only to unbelievers, those who have outright rejected Christ and who have consciously and knowingly denied the Gospel message.

That is why they are still caught in the grips of a lifestyle of sin, therefore sinning willfully, which obviously includes sinning habitually and unrepentantly. This is why there is no more sacrifice for their sin, because they have rejected the one and only sacrifice, Jesus Christ. How do we know that they rejected Christ? Because verse 26 says that they received the knowledge of the truth meaning they heard the Gospel. This is not referring to a Christian who wisely believed based on that knowledge. In fact, there is no way that this passage could be referring to Christians. If a Christian could lose their salvation by committing any sin, then that would mean that the sacrifice of Christ was not enough to save us and that of course would be blasphemy. Why does Paul use the word "we" instead of "they" in verse 26. Probably because it is common to say "we" in reference to we as humans, not necessarily always as we as Christians.

Forsaking even a true assembly (or committing any sin for that matter) cannot keep a Christian from heaven, but such can affect their specific heavenly rewards and of course can negatively impact their earthly life. If forsaking the assembly could keep a Christian from heaven, then Christ died in vain and this would be the unforgivable sin. We know that is not the case. The only unforgivable sin is rejecting Christ and dying without salvation. The Gospel message is believe! in other words, put faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and you will be saved. The Gospel is not "believe and assemble and then you will be saved". Nowhere in the Bible do we see assembly listed as part of what is required for salvation. Assembling with real disciples of Christ is however an important part of healthy Christian living.

Many Christians get messed up and scared to death by listening to legalistic teachings of condemnation on this subject (and other subjects). They think that they must never ever sin or make any mistakes whatsoever for fear that they might lose their salvation or might discover that they are not really Christians in the first place. Not true. Of course the legalists who claim to be perfect and sin free are sinning by teaching this nonsense!

In Summary:

Understanding that no sin can keep a Christian from heaven is a major key to properly interpreting some difficult passages in the Bible and a major key to not falling into the grips of legalism. Failure to understand this makes Christians prey for any legalistic predator who would exploit and use them. Of course this is not a license for Christians to sin and fail to live holy. Such failure is costly in other ways, though not at the cost of eternal life.

The Real “Ourselves” 

What most Christians don’t understand is that the context of Heb 10:25 clearly reveals that the “ourselves” are disciples of Christ not disciples of men. This is the implied “given”. It is assumed that the reader knows this by the context and by what the rest of the Bible teaches on the same subject, as well as by common sense. Of course the leaders and members of these dangerous churches typically think that they are the “ourselves” that the Bible refers to. They are not.

There is no wiggle room here. All context proves this, both the proximate context and the context of the whole of Scripture. The church, both universal-worldwide and its local expressions consist exclusively of Christians, who are supposed to be followers of Christ, not followers of men. Unfortunately, most Christians have been hijacked and fooled into following men instead of Christ especially in the area of Christian living. There are certain things that are givens. It is expected that we already know these things and if not, that we will study to find out the answers. We are certainly not allowed to make wild sweeping assumptions in order to fill in any blanks in our personal knowledge. Legalists consistently to do this to their shame.

[On a quick side note, here is something to consider: If the Bible repeated itself over and over, and gave all possible pertinent information with every single verse, the Bible would be unnecessarily redundant and would be far too long and unwieldy to read in any reasonable way. If this were the case, then the Bible would probably have to span about the same number of volumes as a very large set of Encyclopedias. Thankfully, the Bible does not repeat itself unnecessarily. Therefore the Bible does not give a huge commentary on every single verse in order to clarify things. So we must be careful not to jump to conclusions after reading a verse or passage. Sometimes the Bible explains things in great depth right in the same general area of the verse or passages of interest. Other times we have to look at other parts of the Bible to get proper balance. So sometimes it is unavoidable that we must look to what the rest of the Bible teaches on whatever subject that we are studying.]

That said, let’s move on. As I have proven out in detail in previous articles, the Bible makes it abundantly clear that we are not permitted to engage in intimate spiritual fellowship with anyone outside of followers (disciples) of Christ. (Of course genuine fellowship in Christ is only possible with Christians.) This doesn’t mean that we can’t spend time discussing spiritual things with an unbeliever or try to assist the blind disciples of some out-of-control “pastor” in the hopes of helping them. But there can be no deep spiritual fellowship with these people as comrades in arms or co-workers in Christ. It’s just not possible.

In 2Cor 6:14, the Bible asks, “What fellowship does light have with darkness?” The answer is none! Although all Christians have the light of eternal life and salvation within them (otherwise they wouldn’t even be Christians), most of these same people have rejected much of the light of the written Word regarding many aspects of day-to-day Christian living. So it comes as no surprise that such people have rejected the truth regarding Christian fellowship and that is exactly what Heb 10:25  touches on, fellowship.

False Fellowship is Not an Option

It is a very debilitating and life-sapping thing to try to fellowship with the mindless followers of a control-based leadership. But it is an enriching and highly edifying thing to meet with real disciples of Christ who we can really get to know who we can grow together with in the Lord as equals in the Lord. It is a wonderful thing to work and fellowship alongside of true disciples of Christ. Finding them is another thing all together. We are plagued with disciples of men in disguise, men and women who have fallen into the very elitism and favoritism that the Bible condemns.

Just try to be an equal alongside some ungodly elitist, especially someone in “leadership”. You can’t. They will always see you and treat you as their lesser. You will never measure up. You will never be good enough unless you become their peer and become just like them. God forbid! It’s like they have ripped our equality statement (from Matt 23: 8b) right out of the Bible and threw it in the fire.

“You have one Master Christ and you are all brothers” Matt 23:8b

Standing against the unbiblical teachings and horrendous behavior of control-based leaders and their followers will almost always get you marked as spiritually immature in their eyes. It’s a cesspool. I stand wholeheartedly against meeting with such people because to do so is a very vain and foolish practice according to the Bible. If the Bible said that we had to hang out with these people, I would. Thankfully the Bible says to steer clear of them and I do. God knows what is best for us. Maybe we should start listening. 

-Paul Howey