The sons of Israel were on the threshhold of entering the Promised Land. God had proven Himself faithful without exception in delivering them from Egypt and caring for them with mighty miracles.
Their spies also confirmed all the good things about the land. “When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” Numbers 13:25-27.
But, the sons of Israel shrunk back into unbelief as they heard these words of the spies. ”Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.” Numbers 13:28.
Caleb tried to rebuild their faith. “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” Numbers 13:30.
“But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.” Numbers 13:31-32.
“Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
“Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Numbers 14:1-9.
“But all the congregation said to stone them with stones.” Numbers 14:10.
And, we know the rest of the story. God punished the sons of Israel by forcing them to wander in the desert for 40 years, and none of that generation entered the Promised Land except Caleb and Joshua. ”So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:19.
We too are on the threshhold of entering our rest. Are we going to fully trust and rest upon the work of Christ, or are we going back to trust our own works?
Another comparison can be made to Arminians who want to hang on to Arminianism and man’s free will despite receiving knowledge of the truth of Calvinism and man’s total depravity and need for a sovereign God to handle all the points of salvation.
Arminians hang on to the false doctrine that Jesus died for everyone (“Universal Atonement” – The Third Point of Arminianism) and they love to speak about the power in Christ’s blood. But, Arminians realize that their doctrine forces them to conclude that Christ’s blood (as they claim, shed for everyone) by itself did not save, “purchase”, or “redeem” anyone, because they admit that most people are not saved.
Arminians hang on to man’s free will and claim that it is up to man to generate his own faith through his own free will, and keep his own faith through his free will until death, in order to make Christ’s blood effective to save. They claim that the only difference between the saved and the unsaved is not Christ’s blood, because everyone gets the blood, but rather the only difference is whether or not a certain individual will generate and keep his own faith through his own free will to make the blood effective. According to this logic of these Arminians, man’s faith, not Christ’s blood, is the determining factor as to whether or not one will be saved.
Because Arminians talk about the blood all the time, it is true that in a sense they are trampling it, not in the sense of being hateful to it, but in the sense of treating it as ineffective by itself, like the description in Matthew 5: 13: “…if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
This Hebrews 10:26-31 Scripture does not apply to the person who steadfastly rejects Christ. That person did not receive the knowledge of truth as stated in Hebrews 10:26. That person is not sanctified, so to speak, as is stated in Hebrews 10:29. That person does not talk about the blood of Christ. Rather, this Hebrews 10:26-31 Scripture speaks about those received or were exposed to knowledge of the truth and were sanctified so to speak but nevertheless denied the power of the blood and insulted the Spirit of grace. Rather, this Scripture applies to Arminians who love to talk about Christ’s blood all the time, but who really treat Christ’s blood as ineffective by itself , that it does not actually “save”, “purchase”, nor “redeem” anyone, because they teach that most people are not saved and that it is up to man to generate his own faith through his own free will in order to make Christ’s blood effective to save.
Likewise, the Arminian can be compared to the one who insults the Spirit of Grace as is mentioned above in Hebrews 10:29. Think of a situation in which your father took you out to a very expensive dinner and even left the tip in addition. However, you did not think that the tip was sufficient so you add your $5 to the tip. Wouldn’t your father be insulted that you thought that what he did was not enough? Likewise, Arminians insult God by their doctrine that believes that the blood of Christ is not enough, they feel that they must add their own tip of faith. The Calvinist thinks of faith as a gift of God; the Arminian thinks that faith is their own gift to God which is necessary to secure salvation.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 