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ASPECTS OF BACKSLIDING
When would you say one has backslide how would one tell, should one jump so farst to that conculsion, is it somut that grows over time or can come upon you in the twinke of the eye. Is the road back easy or hard or impossible.
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Permalink Reply by Colby on
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Great questions! From a Biblical point of view, we should proceed to unpack or tease out more fully the "aspects of backsliding." Respectfully, toward that end, I offer for your consideration the following as a suggested discussion outline.
1) What is backsliding?
2) What is apostasy?
3) Are backsliding and apostasy the same thing? If not, are they just a matter of degree? Why or why not?
4) What are the consequences? Can the born-again Christian lose their salvation? Why or why not?
5) How can we avoid backsliding and/or apostasy?
6) If we find ourselves backsliding, what can we do to stop and reverse it?
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We know that (1) "faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Rom 10:17) ; (2) by grace through faith we were saved (Eph 2:8-9); and (3) "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb 11:1).
We want a faith that is firmly planted, strong, durable, unshakable, and certain. Not a faith that is mediocre, shaky, muddled, tentative or wavering.
Hebrews 10.23 tells us, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” God is faithful to us, but we aren’t always faithful to him.
Backsliding: When one lapses, regresses, or falls backward in their relationship with God. To lose interest in following and serving the Lord; to be drifting away from the Lord; to reach a low point in one's faith journey; to be "lukewarm" or no longer "on fire for the Lord."
What can we do to stop and reverse, or better yet, avoid backsliding? Mary Fairchild identifies 10 steps to "get back on course," which I've listed below along with applicable Bible verses.
- Examine your faith-life regularly. [2 Cor 13:5]
- If you find yourself drifting, turn back immediately. [Heb 3:12-13]
- Come to God daily for forgiveness and cleansing. [1 John 1:9]
- Continue daily seeking the Lord with your whole heart. [1 Chr 28:9]
- Stay in the Word of God; keep studying and learning daily. [Pro 4:13]
- Stay in fellowship often with other believers in a Bible-teaching church. You can't make it alone as a Christian. We need the strength and prayers of others. [Heb 10:25]
- Stand firm in your faith. Expect difficult times in your Christian life. [Mat 10:22; Gal 5:1]
- Persevere. [1 Tim 4:15-16]
- Run the race to win. [1 Cor 9:24-25; 2 Tim 4:7-8]
- Remind yourself of what God has done for you. [Heb 10:32, 35-39]
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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One typical sign of drift is when one knows they ought to read the Bible and know it has been a while since they have read the Bible and still struggle to pick it up. The trend is usually the longer one is away from the Word the harder it is to get back into the Word.
Thus, if our love for the Word begins to grow cold then we are traveling down the wrong path.
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Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. ~ 2 Cor 13:5
I know that the best way to keep my car running in good condition and avoid costly repairs is by being pro-active. That means doing regularly scheduled maintenance, such as keeping the tires properly inflated, checking engine fluid levels and topping off as needed, testing my battery to see that its fully charged, etc. Skipping or deferring any of these can and likely will lead to problems down the road.
In most cases, these things that I've just mentioned, if not done according to schedule, don't manifest themselves in immediate and readily detectable problems/issues. Instead, their effects are often subtle and gradual. By the time we realize their nature and extent, we are looking at expensive repairs and down-time in the mechanic's shop.
When it comes to my physical health, I need to periodically assess my well being, including an annual medical exam. I don't usually look forward to having to undergo an array of diagnostic medical tests, but I know that they can detect possible serious conditions and help me avoid complications. Am I maintaining my ideal weight, am I getting enough exercise, am I eating healthy, balanced, and nutritionally-rich meals? When I get lax in doing any of these things, I begin to gradually feel less energetic and become increasingly susceptible to fatigue and illness.
So, why not do the same periodic "check-up" when it comes to one's spiritual life?
- Is my faith certain and strong or weak and wavering?
- How's my prayer life?
- Am I reading the Bible regularly?
- Am I in fellowship with other Christians and attending a Bible teaching church regularly?
- Am I modeling the love, mercy and charity of Jesus Christ and applying his teachings in my daily life?
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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>>When would you say one has backslide how would one tell,
An indicator would be loosing the joy of our salvation. Back sliding is almost always a process of not abiding in Christ as we should.
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Char,
It would only be for those who had the joy of salvation at the born again experience. Most people have a life changing experience when they are born again, but not everyone does. Some can't even tell you when they became born again, but they are.
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Those constitude big changes sis. I am glad to hear you stop shooting at people hahaha
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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David, you said:
Back sliding is almost always a process of not abiding in Christ as we should.
If you know you are saved but don't think you're living for Him is that a backslid condition?
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Amanda,
I was awaiting David's response, but he might have missed your question. A friend of mine put it this way. Backsliding: when one has a confession of faith, but fails to live by their faith (stops producing "fruit"). Apostasy: when you have lived by faith for a while, but later come to utterly and continually reject Christ. Others put their own "spin" on defining these terms.
It's long been an in-house debate among Christians (framed by their stances on "Eternal Security" and "Perseverance" ) as to whether or not backsliding is a temporary condition, or one that can lead eventually to "losing one's salvation." The onset of both is gradual in many cases. It may be virtually impossible to know which is at work until we see the final outcome. Did the person eventually return to the fold, or remain defiant until the end? If not, it raises a question: were they really "saved" to begin with when they confessed the faith? I'm speaking hypothetically here, of course, since we don't know what's in the hearts of others--only God does.
Regardless, as believers, we certainly don't want to find ourselves in either condition. If we do find our faith stagnating or regressing, we need to get back on track. For me, it's akin to being on a road trip in which I lose my direction and become lost on a meandering dirt road somewhere in the lonely expanse of the parched Mojave Desert with precious little water or gas in my car's tank. No signs of civilization up ahead, the road is beginning to disappear, and I fear I'm becoming even more lost. We would do well to be heed the warning signs ourselves, and to pray (as Char suggested) for those whose faith appears to have lapsed.
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Thanks, Colby. It’s very thoughtful of you to answer. It shows you care for others. It’s true what you and Char both say – they should know they are cared for and are being prayed for.
I’m not living up to all I know to do. I’ve withdrawn from life. That means I’m not in church, not working, not serving, not participating as someone does who is in church and August 23, 2010 was the last day I worked on a job. I feel scared a lot of the time even when there’s no threat. So I stay home.
I want to go to church in the morning and there’s this little church about ten minutes from my house where I went to a Christmas candlelight service in December and the church was very warm and inviting and I went back to re-visit it on the 16th, for a Wednesday night bible study.
But I’ve already started thinking about it. All the reasons why I’d better not go.
I think it’s possible that I am having a difficult time going back to church because I am pushing off my feelings of disappointment from other areas of life onto the church … other personal problems like offenses and memories of childhood abuse, mental stress, emotional illness, and so forth.
Do I not have enough faith? Am I living in the past? Is it demons? Do I want God on my terms? Does God even care? Am I too needy? These are not questions I’m asking anyone here to answer. They are questions that I think about myself. I hear people every day asking God for help and healing. I do have blessings every day and I see those blessings. And I know we are to focus on the eternal and not the temporal. But somehow you have to get through the day even if life is temporary.
It’s a contradiction to say that a true believer can stop believing. Those are the ones who commit apostasy – the ones who never truly believe. I’m not able to stop believing. I'm ashamed to admit that I was so angry once that I did try.
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"Backsliding," some say, is a temporary lapse, regression, low point or falling backwards in a believer's relationship with Christ. The emphasis here being on the word "temporary." The backslider eventually returns to faith as they are being sanctified, they say.
They contrast it with "apostasy," which they define as a more serious condition: the willful, continual and complete rejection of Jesus Christ. Those people, they say, were never really saved to begin with: theirs was a "false confession of faith." People define, understand, and use these terms differently. Regardless, for me, it gives rise to the following questions.
- What does it mean to be "backslidden" or "apostate?"
- Is backsliding always a temporary condition in which the believer's salvation is never in question, or can it be the first step on the way to "apostasy" and "losing one's salvation?"
- How can we properly understand (from a biblical standpoint) "backsliding" in relation to a believer's sanctification?
- What does it mean to be "backslidden" or "apostate?"
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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on
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Colby,
I regard to myself, Rita J Cullimore, I have been backslidden for years. Although I revere God above all, I was a smoker. (I finally quit, praise be to God!) I refused to accept what was right before my eyes, and in my heart and mind. I was very adamant in smoking and poo pooing anyone who tried to discourage me.....even the Lord. I very stubbornly refused to quit. I liked it too much. It was my idol. The alternative action of God was to show me one more time that I was in a backslidden state even though I tried to justify smoking as being okay. Hence, my journey forth since December 22, 2012. On January 15th, I went for a relatively simple procedure of a heart cath. My thought, just before the procedure, was that I could have a cigarette on the way home at 11:00 am when the procedure was complete and I was released. Well.....that didn't happen. I went to another hospital with a greater procedure to be performed. Test there determined that I had still another procedure to be performed to even allow me to have the critical procedure that I was sent there for in the first place. Additional testing showed that there was every likelihood that I wasn't even going to be able to do that because of the condition of my heart and lungs.
Guess what?! I heard God loud and clear this time. I stayed quit. I'm not from Missouri but I had to be showed. And God showed me, in His kind and gentle way. Now, 10 days later, He and I laugh about how stupid I was. Maybe He is on His thrown, shaking His head and muttering "hard head!" Today, I realize I was in a backslidden condition. Will I go back to smoking? I don't think so. He finally got my attention.
Backsliding, for me is doing something that we know we shouldn't do, God speaks against it, and yet we persistently and consistently, do exactly what God asks us not to do. We say we are sorry, which I was, but not sorry enough to quit. It was the one thing that I wanted to do that was without God's blessing. It went against His Word. It made my vow of always believing God a lie.
In a backslidden condition, we can't see the slippery slope that we are on. God has to do something to get our attention. He allowed my health to deteriorate. Did He do it? He didn't have to. I was ruining my health all by myself. As my blessing, for finally obeying him, is the fact that just 10 short days later, I can hold my breath for and equal or longer time that my nonsmoking children can!
Thank you for posting your questions to allow me to actually think about being in a backslidden condition.
Blessings.....
Rita
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