BACKSLIDING

 

BACKSLIDING

Jeremiah 3:22 New International Version. “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God.”

Jeremiah 2:19 New International Version  “Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.”

What is backsliding?

Backsliding is a season in the life of a professing Christian when his sin grows stronger and his obedience declines.  The Christian life may  appear as a cycle of sin and repentance, all under the atoning blood of Jesus. But at times the cycle of repentance is broken for a while. This is backsliding. The word backslide, in a Christian context, implies movement away from Christ rather than toward Him. A backslider is someone who is going the wrong way, spiritually. He is regressing rather than progressing. The backslider had at one time demonstrated a commitment to Christ or maintained a certain standard of conduct, but he has since reverted to old ways. Backsliding may manifest itself in several ways, e.g., dropping out of church, losing fervor for the Lord, walking away from a ministry or a family, or falling back into old habits.

Putting it simply, backsliding is growing cold and losing interest in the Lord, the Bible, prayer, church attendance and witnessing and turning toward the world.

Some people use the word backslide to mean that a person has lost his or her salvation. However, since a saved person is secure in Christ (John 10:28–29)— that is not how we will use the word. Rather, when we speak of backsliding, we simply mean that someone is growing cold toward Christ. In using the term “Backslide” a backslidden condition which becomes permanent could be symptomatic that a person was never saved to begin with—in which case, backslider may not be accurate to describe him. But it’s also possible for children of God to backslide, temporarily.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN BACKSLIDING AND APOSTASY

The Bible uses the phrase fall away rather than backslide, but the idea is similar. In the Bible to “fall away” can mean two different things. In one instance, the person is saved but experiencing a temporary period of questioning that we could call a “crisis of faith.” In the other instance, the person was never saved at all but only temporarily behaving as a saved person would. This person is taking Christianity for a “test drive”. He could not even be described as a backslider because he was never a true believer but only a pretender.

Apostasy is the Greek word apostasia (646) which means in general a departure, a falling away or defection as from the faith. Some sources such as the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia gives the view that apostasy is possible only for those who say they are Christians but are only Christians in name (nominal Christians, "professors" not "possessors" -e.g., see 2Cor 13:5-note), having never truly been born again. Cases of deliberate, permanent rejection of Jesus and His Gospel are found in a number of NT passages - 1 Jn 2:22–23; Jude 1:4, Phil 3:18; 2 Pet 2:1; Heb 10:29. Clearly, these descriptions are a falling away by non-believers.

Paul distinguishes between apostates (Ed: Which MacArthur equates with those who have never been born again) and disobedient, fleshly Christians in his second letter to Timothy. “If we deny Him, He also will deny us,” because we will be apostate and willingly will have no part in Him. But, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:12–13-note  If a believer falls short in his faithfulness to the Lord, the Lord still will not fail in His faithfulness to the believer, for He has promised never to let us go. “He cannot deny Himself,” by falling short in His own faithfulness, no matter what His people do. A Christian can become weak in faith and disobedient, which is bad enough. But this is not denying the Lord, which is apostasy. The apostate habitually continues to disbelieve and habitually continues to sin. John tells us that “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in Him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9).

The Backslide Crisis of Faith:

In Mark 14:27 Jesus tells His disciples, “You will all fall away.” What He meant was that, when He was arrested, they would experience a crisis of faith, a life event so shocking that they would run from Jesus and question the very core of their beliefs

The apostle Paul tells us how to handle a fellow believer who is backsliding: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). James concurs: “My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth . . . someone should bring that person back” (James 5:19). The backslider has wandered from where he should be and is “stuck” in sin, but the church will work to restore him and set him back on the path of righteousness.

DOWNWARD SIGNS OF BACLSLIDING

1 Covetousness 2 Greed 3 Compromise 4 Carnal Living 5 Worldliness 6 Fear 7 Pride 8 Idolatry 9 Disobedience 10 Love of Money 11 Selfish Ambition

There are events in life, such as the death of a loved one, that may cause us to question God. As long as we go to God with those questions rather than using them as excuses to live in rebellion, God would remain faithful. The result of a crisis of faith is often that we come to know God more intimately than before. In times of trial, we should delve into the Word, pray with persistence (Luke 18:1), and surround ourselves with those whose faith is strong.

Salvation comes by means of a genuine confession of Jesus as Lord to a heart that believes in Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 10:9–10). If a person who has been truly saved later backslides—that is, he slips back into spiritually damaging attitudes and behaviors—the slide will be temporary. The chastening of the Lord will bring him back (see Hebrews 12:4–13). The Good Shepherd will seek out the wandering lamb (Luke 15:3–7).

If a person who was never saved but only putting on a good front backslides—that is, he drops the charade and shows his true colors—his last condition will be worse than the first (Hebrews 10:26–31).

Is a backsliding Christian still saved?

This is a question that has been debated endlessly over the years. Only God can see the heart. The true, repentant, believing Christian,  has gained the perfect, once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ and needs no further sacrifice for his sin. God himself has obtained our salvation for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and because we are saved by Him, a true Christian cannot fall away so as not to return.

Christians do sin (1 John 1:8), but the Christian life is not to be identified by a life of sin. Believers are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have the Holy Spirit in us producing good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). A Christian life should be a changed life. Christians are forgiven when they fall into sin, but sinning is not the rule of conduct for them since they are bound to  live a progressively more holy life as they grow closer to Christ. We should have serious doubts about a person who claims to be a believer yet lives a life that says otherwise. A true Christian who falls back into sin is still saved, but at the same time a person who lives a life controlled by sin is not truly a Christian.

What about a person who denies Christ? The Bible tells us that if a person denies Christ, he never truly knew Christ to begin with. 1 John 2:19 declares, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”