Ephesians 1:1-6

“Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and to the faithful (trustworthy, sure, true) in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted (highly favored) in the beloved.

Hebrews 6: 1-12

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God; of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. If they shall fall away, (apostatize, defect, desert, recant, retreat, turn, renounce) to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessings from God. But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected (unapproved, worthless, castaway, reprobate) and is near unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteousness to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered, to the saints and do minister. And we desire that every one of you shows the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

We see from reading these two passages of scripture that it is possible for those who have been accepted in Christ to be rejected by Christ. Nevertheless, in the latter scripture we also see that the authors are persuaded “better things” of their audience, and “things that accompany salvation, though they thus speak.” Why? “Because God is not unrighteous to forget their work and labor of love, which they have showed toward His name, in that they have ministered to the saints and do minister.” And then the authors go on to encourage their audience to “show the same diligence.” Why? “In order to have the full assurance of hope to the end. That they be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” It is also important that we take note of the fact that the glowing address to the Church in Ephesus, quoted in the former scriptures, was written to the faithful in Christ, not to those who had expressed a faith in Christ at some point in their lives and later turned their backs on Him and the Church through cowardliness and unbelief. I believe the likes of these would be those Paul refers to in other scriptures as, “the sons of disobedience.”

In speaking on this subject, let me be clear on a couple of points. A backslider could be defined as a spiritually immature or spiritually mature person, who, after having faith in Christ for his salvation, for some reason or another began behaving inappropriately in keeping with his profession of faith by returning to his former sinful lifestyle. This person may have never officially renounced Christ publicly or privately in word, even though he has done so to one extent or another in deed.

Now, the definition of an “apostate” is different. An “apostate” could be defined as someone who has come to a level of profound maturity in God through faith in Christ Jesus and experienced an abundance of His grace (i.e. those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come) and then for some reason or another made a conscious choice to renounce, reject, and/or refute Christ and their faith in Him. This could have been done privately and/or publicly, in both word and deed. Such as these have turned away from Christ and the salvation that He offers by turning from faith in Him, back to their former posture and position of unbelief.

For a former atheist, who had come to faith in Christ Jesus for salvation, this would require renouncing faith in Christ Jesus for the imputation and impartation of God’s righteousness (right standing with God) on his behalf, and returning back to believing that there is no God, much less one who justifies the ungodly through faith.

For former followers of Judaism, who had come to faith in Christ Jesus for salvation, it would require a renouncing of faith in Christ Jesus for the imputation and impartation of God’s righteousness on their behalf, and a turning back to believing that God does not justify the ungodly through faith in Jesus Christ. Such as these would return to the Law of Moses in a futile attempt to be justified through adherence to the Law. In this act they would, in essence, be saying that Christ is not “the end of the Law for righteousness for everyone who believes.” This was the case of those being spoken about in chapter six in the letter to the Hebrew believers.

It must also be noted that the apostates are not only those who, after having come to a mature faith in Christ for their position of right standing (righteousness) with God, choose to renounce that position through falling away from the faith and rejecting Jesus Christ in both word and deed, but it is also those who reject Jesus Christ’s claim of being the only legitimate way to the Father and attempt to replace Him with some other person, religion, or ideology. This is spiritual adultery at its worst, a subject that I will address in greater detail later on in this teaching.

Now, whereas there are obvious similarities between the backslider and the apostate, there are also obvious differences. The differences are pointed out in a scripture found in one of Paul’s letters to his “son in the faith,” Timothy.

“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us: If we believe not, yet He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2: 11-13

In God’s eyes there’s a big difference between losing faith in Christ for a season (due to infirmities and iniquities of the soul or situations and circumstances in this life) than there is to, after having received Christ and reached a level of spiritual maturity (through specific divine spiritual experiences), become faithless to Christ to the point of renouncing Him as the justifier of their souls either privately and/or publicly in both word and deed!

Again, the difference between the backslider and the apostate is explained thusly, “If we deny Him, He also will deny us (apostate). If we believe not, yet He abides faithful, He cannot deny Himself.” (Backslider) Whereas Peter, while under duress, denied that he “knew” Jesus, He never renounced Him in his heart as his means to achieving “right standing with God.” You see my point? I hope you see that the difference between the backslider and the apostate is a matter of one’s actions based on believing or not believing in Jesus Christ for one’s justification. Thus, in the eyes of God, apostasy is a more serious sin than backsliding.

Now, even though this may be true, backsliding is still a very dangerous business, and it is to be resisted and discouraged with all of one’s energy and with all of God’s grace, knowing that if the pattern is continued in without repentance, it could most assuredly lead to apostasy and Hell, or, at the very least, certain loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Nevertheless, there is still hope for the backslider during this present dispensation through the hope of renewed repentance and faith towards God, but according to the scripture, there is no such hope for the apostate. Why? Because “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.”

This apparent loophole, of course, should not be a license to sin for the backslider because, “We must all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, to be judged for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.” And “If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord shall judge his people.” “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Now, the causes that lead to a sincere mature Christian believer becoming apostate or reprobate are difficult to imagine. The consequences that follow such behavior are extremely severe, because their condition stems from a soul that was at one time open and receptive to Christ and His purposes and experienced every gift that Christ had to offer of Himself in this life, most especially revelation knowledge revealing who Christ is, what He has done, and what it has cost Him to do it. And yet, the apostate still made a choice to deny Him!

Jesus told His disciples, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” James warned, “Be not many teachers, knowing that you will receive the greater condemnation.”

So we see that in God’s economy, with great privilege comes great responsibility. The archangel Lucifer is the perfect example of the apostate and reprobate, and we know that he is far beyond redemption. It is extremely sobering to realize that the scriptures teach that this same fate is possible for those who were once sincere mature Christian believers and then became reprobate and apostate.

Now, one of the reasons for me writing on this difficult subject is because the Apostle Paul warned, “Let no man deceive you by any means, that day (the day of the Lord, the second coming of Christ) shall not come, except there come a falling away (apostasy) first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (the anti-Christ).” Prior to his revealing there will be what Jesus called the “beginning of sorrows” and with this “revealing,” there will come great persecution against the elect of God. The scriptures point to that persecution and suffering of God’s people at the hands of the anti-Christ as being synonymous with a falling away from the faith. The faithful followers of Christ are not appointed to experience God’s wrath, but through our prayers will be instrumental in releasing it! In keeping with this, we will most assuredly experience the wrath of Satan during the Great Tribulation, and we will do so because we will choose to remain faithful to Jesus Christ instead of selling out our allegiance to the anti-Christ who will require all souls to worship him as God. Again, “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us:

It is high time for the Church of the living God to “wake up and strengthen the things that remain” because we are already in the beginning of sorrows, and we are quickly approaching the Great Tribulation.

In the parable of the sower, recorded in Matthew 13:3-8 and explained in Matthew 13:18-23, Jesus points out three reasons that the seed that was sown did not bear fruit, and they are all interconnected. For this lesson’s purposes, I would like to focus on all of them because I believe that understanding them is extremely important during these latter days in order for Christians to avoid becoming apostates. The seed that was sown on the path is represented as the heart of a believer who hears the word of the kingdom but does not understand it. The Bible teaches, “We enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation.” There are many Christian believers who have been taught that we will escape the Great Tribulation through a secret rapture prior to Christ’s second coming. There will most assuredly be a rapture of the church, but it will be at the end of the Great Tribulation, not prior to it. Many Christians who find themselves in the middle of the Great Tribulation will have already had the seed of God’s word snatched from their hearts by Satan through embracing this false teaching, and through their disappointment, confusion, despair, and despondency, they will become fruitless in their service to God.

The seed that was sown among thorns is what I believe to be the most accurate description of the Christian believer in the U.S.A. and the West in general. “This is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” This unfruitfulness, in itself is bad enough, but I believe it could be a predecessor to the other example of unfruitfulness mentioned by Jesus, which leads to the believers “falling away.” “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.”

In a sentence, if we are not living fully for Jesus now because we are either living in ignorance through having embraced a false eschatological doctrine, or we are living with regard to the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, we will most likely deny Christ and fall away from the faith when threatened with tribulation and persecution on account of the Word.

As Christian believers we can avoid this pitfall now by rightly handling the Word of Truth, by becoming and remaining faithful to Jesus Christ, and by living a sanctified life in obedience to God’s will and word, as we “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who is working in us, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure.” Let us work diligently now, “For the hour cometh when no man can work.” After all, the Holy Spirit has been sent by Christ to “lead us into all truth.” Let us follow His lead and not “the dictates of the flesh,” “deceiving spirits,” and “doctrines of devils.”

Speaking of deceiving spirits and doctrines of devils, there will be many professing Christians (apostates) in the latter days that embrace a one world religion under the deception of the False Prophet. They will do this for the sake of peace and unity with other religions. In doing so they will have sacrificed their allegiance to Jesus Christ who came to bring a sword of division between the enlightened and the deceived, or if you will, the believing and the unbelieving. (Please see Matthew 10:34-39) These will also persecute the lovers of the Truth and deem them as evil doers. They will think that they are doing God a service in persecuting and killing the faithful believers in Christ, because they will see us as evil does and trouble makers, and as those who reject their humanistic religion of “unity, peace, and justice” for all human beings. (John 16:2)

Now, the Greek word for adultery is “moicheia,” pronounced moy-khi’-ah. Webster’s – English – “adultery: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse.” The figurative Greek word for apostate is “moichos” - moy-khos’ and it means adulterer! In the same way that God requires faithfulness in the marriage covenant between a husband and wife, He requires faithfulness in the new covenant between Jesus Christ and the Christian believer.

The seventh commandment proclaims, “You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14. Jesus Christ proclaimed, “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, you shall not commit adultery; But I say unto you, that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye offends you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into Hell. And if your right hand offends you, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into Hell.” Matthew 5: 27-30.

According to the teachings of Paul the un-confessed and un-forsaken sin of adultery, among other sins, will keep a Christian believer from inheriting the kingdom of God.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealously, fits of anger, rage, and wrath, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21.

Now, Paul also proclaimed, “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” He also said that one of “the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.” The others are love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

If we are to remain faithful to Christ now, and especially during the Great Tribulation, we must be born of the Spirit, baptized with the Spirit, live in the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit. This can only be accomplished by being continuously filled with the Spirit through praying in the Spirit, worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth, and speaking to ourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts to the Lord. And remember, Jesus Christ said, “My words are Spirit and they are life.” May we be faithful to Him through a life in the Word through the power of the Holy Spirit!

I will end this exhortation with the words of our Lord, that sum up the essence of the teaching quite well.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in Me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this you bear much fruit and prove to be My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Fathers commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love as no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. These things I command you so that you will love one another.” John 15:1-17