V. 26.— For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. All sin is willful: no man can compel us to sin. There were, indeed, sins of ignorance under the law. A man might contract defilement without being aware, and when he became so, he offered the appointed sacrifice. Saul of Tarsus persecuted the saints in ignorance, but Peter denied his Lord deliberately. Here, it is evident, sinning willfully implies apostasy, rejecting the only available sacrifice for sin. It is connected with forsaking the assembling of themselves together, which might proceed either from the fear of man, or from letting the truth slip, chap. 2:1, and departing from the living God through an evil heart of unbelief, chap. 3:12. Forsaking the assembling of themselves together was a step in the direction of total apostasy. Now, if we apostatize from Christ rejecting His sacrifice, there remaineth no other sacrifice for sins. Under the law, there was no sacrifice for presumptuous sin, such as murder or blasphemy. Indeed, this could not have been the case, for, as the punishment of these sins was death, had a sacrifice for them been appointed, either the legal punishment could not have been inflicted, or the sacrifice must have been offered in vain. The Apostle, in a passage already considered, had given a very solemn caution against apostasy, chap. 6:1-6, and here he repeats the warning.