THE MEANING OF APOSTASY

Christians can live in confidence of their salvation. 

(1 Jn.5:13; 1 Pet. 1:3-5). 

However, this does not mean that the Christian has a license to sin without punishment (Rom. 6:1-2, 23). 

Christians are called to be diligent and watchful, in order to avoid falling away from God (Heb. 3:12-13). 

Christians can lose their faith (Luke 17:1).

Christians can fall away from grace (Gal. 5:4). 

When people who profess to be Christians live in sin, their fellowship becomes corrupted and apostate (1 Tim. 4:1). 

Apostasy literally means "a standing away," hence the concept of "falling away." It is "an abandoning of what one believed in, as a faith, etc." (Webster). 

Recall that the church is made up of people, and the true Church represents the body of Christ (Eph 4:12), so when people in a church sin willingly, they are actually apostatizing or ‘falling away’ from Christ’s body.

Since so many religious people have been persuaded that it is impossible for a Christian to so sin as to lose his salvation, we offer Bible facts all from the new testament to refute this doctrine of men.

THE POSSIBILITY OF A CHURCH IN APOSTASY 

One who has believed can fall away, therefore a congregation can also fall away: - Luke 8:13. 

Christians can sever from Christ and fall away from grace: -   
Gal. 5:2-4. 

An enlightened one can fall away & so with an enlightened church: - Hebrews 6:4-6. See: 1 Corinthians 10:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; James 5:19-20)

EXAMPLES OF APOSTASY OF GOD'S PEOPLE  IN THE EARLY CHURCH 

Simon Peter, though He repented and was saved: 

- Luke 22:31-34, 54-62; Galatians 2:11-14. 

Another Simon - Acts 8:12-13, 18-24. 

Some Fornicators in the Corinthian church: 

- 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, 13; 2 Corinthians 2:5-8. 

Hymenaeus and Alexander: 

-1 Timothy 1:18-20.

 Laodiceans:

 - Revelation 3:15-19. 

CAUSES OF APOSTASY 

Times of temptation: 

- Luke 8:13. 

Worldliness: 

- Luke 8:14; James 4:4; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1; 2 Timothy 4:10. 

False doctrine: 

- Acts 20:29-30; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 6:3-5. 

Seeking justification by the O. T. law of Moses: 

- Galatians 5:4. 

Hardened hearts against God's revealed will: 

- Hebrews 3:12-13. 

THE PREVENTION OF APOSTASY 

Grow Spiritually unto maturity by constant prayer and meditation in the word of God:-Luke 18:1; 1 Peter 2:1-2; 2 Peter 1:5-11. 

Don't love the things in the world/Seek heavenly things:

-1 Jn. 2:15-17; Col. 3:1-3. 

Live in the doctrine of Christ 

-2 John 9; 1 Timothy 6:3; 1:3. 

Know that salvation is only in Christ

 - Galatians 2:16; Acts 4:12. 

Do not harden your heart against God's will 

- Hebrews 3:7-8. 

THE CHRISTIAN'S REMEDY FOR APOSTASY 

Repent of your sin. Stop sinning willfully, pray for God’s grace and His mercy, and by determination, forsake sin: 

-Luke 17: 1-10; Luke 18:1; Acts 8:22; 17:30; 1 John 2:1-3; Acts 8:22; James 5:19-20; Galatians 6:1; Revelation 2:5. 

"Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him"

James 1:12

The Faithfulness of The Philadelphian Church

Many New Testament verses show that the Church that Christ built is unified—with all its members and congregations walking together in complete agreement with each other, and with the word of God. Another important scripture, demonstrating that the Philadelphian Church is unified and teaches the truth emerges from Christ’s prayer in John 17, on the night of His betrayal.

He prayed: “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth…That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me” (vs. 19, 21-23).

These are powerful statements! Christ intended that Philadelphian Church be unified—“one”—no less than were He and His Father! There is no room for disagreement in a Philadelphian Church that is this unified. These verses describe a perfect oneness through the truth—the same kind of oneness that the Father and Christ enjoy. It is only the word of God that can keep the Church completely unified. It is this kind of unity that allows true Christians to be “in Them” —Christ and the Father (vs. 21).

Men have their own differing ideas of where the Philadelphian Church actually is, but only the Bible’s view—God’s word—matters. Read it for yourself. Paul wrote to Timothy the evangelist, “…that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). The Philadelphian Church  is a unified body, and teaches “the truth.” In the end, no other view devised by men is acceptable.

We read that Christ promised that when false leaders, whom He refers to in John 10 as “thieves and robbers,” have been able to get into the Church, “the sheep hear His (Christ’s) VOICE: and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out.” His voice is plainly defined in Scripture as “the truth” (John 18:37). He went on in John 10 to add, “He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His VOICE. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (vs. 3-5). Christ continues by describing certain ministers: “The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep” (vs. 13).

This remarkable promise shows that Christ will never abandon His sheep and will always protect those who hear His voice and willingly follow Him when they are in danger of false doctrines! God wants His sons to understand His purpose. God has given us basic comparisons that are easy to grasp. He compares His love for the Church in Ephesians 5: 25-27 as the love a Husband has for His wife. God concludes in Genesis 2:24 that “a man Shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” —to make ONE human body.

“For as the BODY IS ONE, and has many members, and all the members of that ONE BODY, being many, are ONE BODY: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into ONE BODY...” (I Cor. 12:12-13). Colossians 1:18 and Ephesians 1:22-23 revealed that “one body” means the Church. There is only one Church with many “little flocks” and like the human body, all the flocks are connected by the truth. Notice, 1 Corinthians 6:19 adds, “… your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” and in chapter 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually”. The Philadelphian Church is an organized, structured and combined body of individuals, put together by Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit —it has Jesus Christ as the Head of its government! God’s purpose to make the Church a Bride of Christ, is of lasting value to the entirety of the Philadelphian Church at any time in history.