Hebrews 10:39

The writer assumed hopefully that his readers, along with himself, would not apostatize. "Destruction" (or ruin) could refer either to eternal damnation in hell or to temporal punishment. In view of what has preceded, the latter alternative is probably in view (cf. Matthew 26:8; Mark 14:4; Acts 25:16). The writer did not want his readers to be the objects of God’s discipline. [Note: See Dillow, pp. 336-37.]

"I personally believe that ’waste’ is the best translation for this word ["destruction"] in Hebrews 10:39. A believer who does not walk by faith goes back into the old ways and wastes his life." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:317.]

Likewise the positive alternative set forth at the end of this verse is not a reference to conversion. It refers to the preservation of the faithful believer until he receives his full reward (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). The "preserving of the soul" is equivalent to "saving the life" (cf. James 5:20). [Note: Moffatt, p. 158.]

"This meaning agrees well with the exposition of Hebrews 10:32-39. The readers were to live by faith in the midst of difficult times. The result of obedience to the Word of God would be a life-preserving walk instead of temporal discipline, the loss of physical life." [Note: Oberholtzer, 145:418.]

This is the most direct and severe of all the warnings in Hebrews. In view of the Son’s priestly ministry (Hebrews 5:1 to Hebrews 10:18), apostasy is a sin that will draw terrible consequences for the believer. It will not result in the loss of eternal salvation but the loss of some eternal reward.

"The nature of the writer’s response to the men and women he addressed confirms the specifically pastoral character of the parenesis, in which he closely identifies himself with his audience. The severity with which he writes of apostasy and of the destructive lifestyle of those who have deserted the house church expresses anguish and compassionate concern that Christians should not be subverted by a form of worldliness that would separate them from the life and truth they have received from Christ and from one another." [Note: Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. 311.]