|
SUBJECT: Apostasy
QUESTION: What is apostasy?
ANSWER:
APOSTASY
A falling away from the faith. The nation of Israel fell
into repeated backslidings Jer. 5:6, (RSV). The prophet
Jeremiah predicted the judgment of God upon such disloyalty:
"Your wickedness will chasten you, and your apostasy will
reprove you" Jer. 2:19, (RSV).
Some of the noted apostates in the Bible are: King Saul,
who turned back from following the Lord 1 Sam. 15:11;
Hymenaeus and Alexander, who "suffered shipwreck" of their
faith 1 Tim. 1:19-20; and Demas, who forsook the apostle
Paul because he loved this present world 2 Tim. 4:10.
In Acts 21:21 the apostle Paul was described falsely as one
who taught the Jews living among the Gentiles to commit
apostasy (forsake, NKJV). Second Thessalonians 2:3 declares
that the Day of Christ "will not come unless the apostasy
comes first" (NASB). This great apostasy will be the time of
"the final rebellion against God, when wickedness will be
revealed in human form" 2 Thes. 2:3, (NEB).
Apostasy is generally defined as the determined, willful
rejection of Christ and His teachings by a Christian
believer
Heb. 10:26-29; John 15:22. This is different from false
belief, or error, which is the result of ignorance. Some
Christian groups teach that apostasy is impossible for those
persons who have truly accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord.
~from Nelson's Illustrated
Bible Dictionary
APOSTASY; APOSTATE
(a-pos'-ta-si), (a-pos'-tat) (he apostasia, "a standing away
from"): I.e. a falling away, a withdrawal, a defection. Not
found in the English Versions of the Bible, but used twice
in the New Testament, in the Greek original, to express
abandonment of the faith. Paul was falsely accused of
teaching the Jews apostasy from Moses Acts 21:21; he
predicted the great apostasy from Christianity, foretold by
Jesus Mt 24:10-12 which would precede "the day of the Lord"
2 Thes 2:2. Apostasy, not in name but in fact, meets
scathing rebuke in the Epistle of Jude, e.g. the apostasy of
angels Jude 1:6. Foretold, with warnings, as sure to abound
in the latter days 1 Tim 4:1-3; 2 Thes 2:3; 2 Pet 3:17.
Causes of: persecution Mt 24:9-10; false teachers Mt 24:11;
temptation Lk 8:13; worldliness 2 Tim 4:4; defective
knowledge of Christ 1 Jn 2:19; moral lapse Heb 6:4-6;
forsaking worship and spiritual living Heb 10:25-31;
unbelief He 3:12. Biblical examples: Saul 1 Sam 15:11;
Amaziah 2 Chr 25:14,27; many disciples Jn 6:66; Hymenaeus
and Alexander 1 Tim 1:19-20; Demas 2 Tim 4:10. For further
illustration see Deut 13:13; Zeph 1:4-6; Gal 5:4; 2 Pet
2:20-21.
"Forsaking Jehovah" was the characteristic and oft-recurring
sin of the chosen people, especially in their contact with
idolatrous nations. It constituted their supreme national
peril. The tendency appeared in their earliest history, as
abundantly seen in the warnings and prohibitions of the laws
of Moses Exo 20:3-4,23; Deut 6:14; 11:16. The fearful
consequences of religious and moral apostasy appear in the
curses pronounced against this sin, on Mount Ebal, by the
representatives of six of the tribes of Israel, elected by
Moses Deut 27:13-26; 28:15-68. So wayward was the heart of
Israel, even in the years immediately following the national
emancipation, in the wilderness, that Joshua found it
necessary to re-pledge the entire nation to a new fidelity
to Yahweh and to their original covenant before they were
permitted to enter the Promised Land Josh 24:1-28.
Infidelity to this covenant blighted the nation's prospects
and growth during the time of the Judges Judg 2:11-15;
10:6,10,13; 1 Sam 12:10. It was the cause of prolific and
ever-increasing evil, civic and moral, from Solomon's day to
the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. Many of the kings
of the divided kingdom apostatized, leading the people, as
in the case of Rehoboam, into the grossest forms of idolatry
and immorality 1 Kin 14:22-24; 2 Chr 12:1. Conspicuous
examples of such royal apostasy are Jeroboam 1 Kin 12:28-32;
Ahab 1 Kin 16:30-33; Ahaziah 1 Kin 22:51-53; Jehoram 2 Chr
21:6,10,12-15; Ahaz 2 Chr 28:1-4; Manasseh 2 Chr 33:1-9;
Amen 2 Chr 33:22. See IDOLATRY. Prophecy originated as a
Divine and imperative protest against this historic tendency
to defection from the religion of Yahweh.
In classical Greek, apostasy signified revolt from a
military commander. In the roman catholic church it denotes
abandonment of religious orders; renunciation of
ecclesiastical authority; defection from the faith. The
persecutions of the early Christian centuries forced many to
deny Christian discipleship and to signify their apostasy by
offering incense to a heathen deity or blaspheming the name
of Christ. The emperor Julian, who probably never vitally
embraced the Christian faith, is known in history as "the
Apostate," having renounced Christianity for paganism soon
after his accession to the throne.
An apostate's defection from the faith may be intellectual,
as in the case of Ernst Haeckel, who, because of his
materialistic philosophy, publicly and formally renounced
Christianity and the church; or it may be moral and
spiritual, as with Judas, who for filthy lucre's sake basely
betrayed his Lord. See exhaustive articles on "Apostasy" in
the Jewish Encyclopedia.
~from International Standard Bible Encylopaedia
Note: In this
last explanation, we see Christ foretelling that this
apostasy would take place:
Matthew 24:10-13
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one
another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive
many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
wax cold.
But notice the next verse:
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved.
This is what you must do.
1 Timothy 4:1-3
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared
with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats,
which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of
them which believe and know the truth.
You ask the question, "Who is Right? and Who is Wrong? No
one can answer this for you. You must prove all things says
1 Thessalonians 5:21.
Look for the organization that is
1) Preaching provable truth
2) Is actively carrying out the First and Second Commission
of the Work; to spread the true gospel of Jesus Christ and
is feeding its flocks so that they are building the
character of Christ and spiritually preparing for the return
of Christ.
back to the top |