“DO YOU KNOW THAT OF ALL THE TOPICS OF SCRIPTURE THAT GOD wants US TO KNOW OF, BACKSLIDING IS PARAMOUNT ? INDEED, AS MUCH AS GOD SPEAKS OF SO GREAT SALVATION, HE ALSO SPEAKS GREATLY OF THE TERRIBLE DANGERS AND SIN OF BACKSLIDING.”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about a forgotten truth concerning the dangers a believer in Christ faces along life’s way…

… Throughout the Bible from cover to cover, one dominant theme God drives home to His children is the terrible dangers that face a believer while he or she walks upon this earth in a saved state. The dangers are summed up in one word – “backsliding.” Now we don’t hear too much of this in the modern church today. In fact, we don’t hear much of it in any church! Yet, in studying God’s Word I find that “backsliding” was not a minor insignificant topic of any age or for any people who followed God. I surmise the reason for the lack of speaking on this is perchance its very condition has befallen not only many believers, but entire churches as well who are totally unaware of its subtleness and blight. So today friend, I want to talk on the dangers and sin of backsliding, a real sickness that has blanketed many, in my message entitled: BEWARE OF BACKSLIDING, but first let’s listen to this…

…Backsliding is an old fashioned word, rarely used these days. In fact, if I’m right, and you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you may never have heard a message on the dangers and sin of backsliding. If so, today’s message is for you. First of all it’s a warning message from God the Spirit; and secondly, perhaps a wake-up call if you have fallen into this state and are completely unaware of it. Let’s begin by defining the word, “backsliding.”  In Scripture we find this term is used frequently in the Old Testament. Its basic meaning is, “to slip away from God’s presence and place of blessing, to turn aside, to turn back, to grow cold and indifferent to the things of God.” Some Scriptures that speak of backsliding can be seen in,

Jer 2:19 (NIV)  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.

Jer 3:22 (NIV)  "Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding."

Jer 14:7 (NIV)  Although our sins testify against us, O LORD, do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against you.

In all these Old Testament verses, two Hebrew words are used: “meshubah” and “achor.” “Meshubah” is variously translated as: “waywardness, apostasies, faithlessness, a turning away from.” The word “Achor,” is not used as extensively, but describes the spiritual condition of a believer as a “backward” movement. In other words, God warns every believer of every age that a real danger exists that can lead a follower of God away from His place of blessing, backward into a life and living that brings judgment and sin.

Now I know depending upon the systematic theology of a church or teacher, a goodly number of Christians today believe that backsliding leads to apostasy that is the loss of not only one’s faith, but their position of grace with God as well. However, in my studies of Scripture I have discovered there is a great difference between a backslider and an apostate. For simplicity sake, a “backslider” can only describe a born again true believer in Jesus Christ who falls away. An “apostate” also falls away from the things of God, but never was saved or entered the state of grace given to a true believer. An apostate who falls away we are told in scripture can never be restored (Heb. 6:1-6).

Yet for a true believer in Christ who falls away from the things of the Lord, there is always hope of restoration. Listen to God’s Word on this matter,

Jer 3:22 (NIV)  "Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding."
Hosea 14:4-7 (NIV)  “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely…”

Backsliding then is a real and serious danger every true Christian must be warned about. This is why God has given us so many examples of believers who have fallen prey to it.

There was Noah, Lot , Solomon, David, Saul, Amon, Rehoboam, Asa, Joash, Amaziah, Jonah, and of course numerous times, the children of Israel   (Ex 32:8; Neh 9:26 ; Jer 3:11 ; Hos 4:16 ).

But in particular, the Bible emphasizes three individuals: Lot who fell before the world, David who fell before the flesh, and in the New Testament, Peter the apostle who fell before the Devil. John the apostle warns of these three areas of great temptation, that can drag any of us away from God’s place of blessing,

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Now the question is, who backslides and how does this occur in the life of a believer? Again, the Scripture tells us by example and precept. First of all backsliding is NOT an instantaneous process. Backsliding takes place by degrees, like falling asleep. It’s like ice freezing on a lake, an almost unperceived process. Let’s go back to the Old Testament follower of God named Lot . We begin here by seeing the tragic account of Lot ’s backsliding and failure. Were it not for 2 Peter 2:7–8, we might wonder whether Lot was even saved. Hover, he is a perfect illustration of a backslidden believer who in the end, loses everything to the fires of God’s discipline and judgment (1 Cor. 3:11 –15); However, his salvation which is by grace from God is secure.

We read of this backsliding process in,

Gen 13:10 (NIV)  Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt , toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah .)

Gen 13:12 (NIV) “… Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom .

The Bible tells us Lot “looked up and saw.” In other words, he lived by sight, not by faith. Had Lot walked with God, he might have discovered that Sodom was going to be destroyed, but instead he trusted his own earthly wisdom and sight and eventually chose to live in the wealthy and wicked city of Sodom . Now the  territory of Sodom and Gomorrah , which Lot saw was “like the land of Egypt ” which for him was all that mattered! You see, Lot was walking according to the flesh, living for the things of the world, rather than to be separated from it as his uncle Abraham was.

Now, the area around Sodom looked well-watered and fruitful to Lot , but to God, it was wicked godless place (v. 13). Unbelievers today, like Lot place their hopes and future upon this temporal world and laugh at the idea that God will one day destroy the world with fire (2 Peter 3). However, the story of Lot 's backsliding illustrates the successive downward steps backsliding takes. Let’s catalog them now. First of all, backsliding begins when,

I.  THE SIN OF COVETOUSNESS IS BORN IN US (Gen. 13:10) - Many a believer has made the mistake of fixing their eyes on the wrong objects of this life. The things of this world are here for us to enjoy, yes, but only as we can use them to glorify God and advance His kingdom work. Many a Christian begins the backsliding fall by seeking and running after this world’s goods to satisfy them. They rarely realize how easily this can draw us away from God, from His worship and study times, and the privilege of working in His vineyard. Jesus said you cannot love God and mammon. You cannot serve two masters. We must choose one or the other. Another man named Demas, a servant of God working with the apostle Paul, longed for the “Good life” here and now, and soon chose this world-system without God, and was never heard from again,

2 Tim 4:10 (NIV)  “for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica..”

Beware my friend having a covetous and grasping heart. We must ever be vigilant to watch out spiritual heart and life. Are we feeding it with the things of Heaven or the things of the world? The latter is the slow path away from God. Now secondly, Lot exemplifies backsliding further by evidencing,

II. THE SIN OF CARELESSNESS (Gen. 13:11; 19:14 ) – Unfortunately, Lot carelessness came as he chose the “low” road rather than the “high” road, the “plain” instead of the “mountain.” In the Bible we are told that Christians are to aim high, at heavenly things (Col. 3:1-3), at the most excellent things (Ph. 1:9-10). Christians hurt their lives when they choose less than God's perfect will in areas of friendship, entertainment, literature, even occupation. This all begins innocently. Strongly, the Bible tells us that every believer is to fill his or her life with the Word of God, with prayer, with regular worship and even fellowship with other Christians. Yet too often neglect causes many a believer to forget having personal devotions in the Word, to fail to have regular times of prayer set aside in one’s day, and of course to sporadically worship the Lord. 
“Oh,” we can miss one Sunday now and then can’t we? The answer is yes we can, but one soon becomes many and many in time becomes a destiny. Carelessness in spiritual matters has led many astray and backward from the victorious Christian life. Remember my friend as a Christian, every one of us has an real live enemy! It is Satan who desires to discredit your testimony for Christ, disprove both the work of God and the Word of God as ineffectual in you. Satan also seeks to strip you of your spiritual strength and power by tempting you to spend your time elsewhere on things of this world that will perish. Yes the devil soon crowds your life with other “innocent” interests. 
Perhaps he will generate an excessive interest in sports, building or fixing up a nice home, vacationing, and hobbies. All of these are not wrong for a believer but an inordinate emphasis on them in comparison to worshiping and serving God is the sure path to backsliding. Then there is a third downward step Lot took as he backslid before God. We see he indulged in,

III. THE SIN OF COMPLICITY (Gen. 13:13; 14:12 ; Gen 19:1,16) -  In the Bible we discover that not long after Lot pitched his tent toward wicked Sodom , he moved in with them. It began when Lot looked, then lusted, and soon he moved closer to Sodom just to see. In the New Testament we are told that Christians are not to join in with the unsaved but rather to flee youthful forbidden desires (2 Tim. 2:22), to avoid all appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22),and to have no fellowship with the lifestyles and practices God condemns (Eph. 5:11 ).

Lot began to first dream and desire of participating in the “fast lane” of life, and its wrongful living which included intimate association with the fallen world. As a result, it wasn’t long before Lot moved into Sodom and began hobnobbing with the sinners who lived there. In the New Testament God warns us not to intimately associate with the unsaved along with their lifestyles and loves.

2 Cor 6:14-17 (NIV)  Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?.. 17 “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

Although we Christians are surely to witness to and make every effort to help and befriend non-believers, their lifestyles and alternate loves must not become ours. They live only for the things of this world, and that easily can become our goals and loves too. It wasn’t long before Lot lost his testimony and witness and worse, his family backslid with him. None of them worshipped God anymore. Spiritual things had no place in their lives. This is the full extent of backsliding. 

Christian be wary of the “thin edge of the ice” that holds us when we walk away from God’s commands for our lives. Backsliding is a slow but continual process that soon takes us further away from God than we ever imagined.  As we said, many a backslider can trace his drifting away to simple carelessness in the things God commands us to do.

Let’s perform a spiritual check now. Are you faithful in your church worship and Bible study times? Are you faithful in your spiritual devotions, personally and for your family? Are you faithful in using your time, treasures, talents, blessings and provision for the things of God and eternity? Are you faithful in your times of prayer, together with God’s people and in your own prayer closet?  Are you a faithful witness for Christ? Have you led anyone to Christ recently or at all? Is your life filled with Christian fellowship? If any of these things are glaringly missing – you my friend have backslidden and unless you turn around now, you may suffer the warning and fate God’s Word tells us about.

Yes indeed, Scripture warns us there is a penalty in this life and the next for unrepentant backsliding. In this life it is called discipline. Although our salvation is not dependent upon any obedience of the Christian, for it is earned and paid in full by Jesus Christ, our position and place of blessing here and now depends greatly upon our obedience to God. When we turn away from, neglect, or become indifferent to the calling of God for our lives, we slip away and in slipping away we lose our joy, our power to resist sin, our testimony, and in time we lose our desire to love and serve God. How is your spiritual life? Is it powerful, dynamic, an extreme joy, a fruitful one? If not you are backslidden! Now, I don’t care if you attend church regularly, or if you are a mighty prayer warrior – if the joy of the Lord is not there in you, you are a most miserable, lonely, dissatisfied, and discontented person. You see God removes His joy and blessing from backsliders. Why? To draw them back to Him. The Bible tells us about the consequences of backsliding,

Jer 2:17 (NIV)  Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way?

Jer 2:19 (NIV)  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.

Even the great King David backslid when he lusted after the flesh in his sinful acts with Bathsheba. His lusting led him away from God, and into sinful and even heinous acts he would never have dreamed he would do. David not only committed adultery, but soon murder as well. Yet, the consequences were great too. However the good news is this. All backsliders can be restored! There is no turning away from God so great that God has not promised to restore, “if” the one backslidden desires it. How does it happen? Well to cause your seeking God, the Spirit of God withdraws His blessings, His joy, His fruitfulness and His power for living in sin. When the believer falls into this state, God promises He will restore them if they follow His plan of restoration.

Thankfully, the road back is never long, but it is painful! God often must use extreme measures to wake up the backslider. He will use anything and everything until one of them works to slap awake the drugged and sleepy backslider. God uses sickness, misery, heartache, loss, and grief most often to do this. Once he gets your attention, He opens your eyes to see how far one has fallen. Now, the Old Testament give us the plan of restoration,

Jer 3:22 (NIV)  “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God.

The way back involves three things – (1) CONFESSION, (2) REPENTANCE, and (3) RETURN.

1 John 1:9 (NIV)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Rev 2:5 (NIV)  Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Now those of us who are not fallen or backslidden know someone who is. We are to help them by going to them and apprising them of their spiritual state, but we are to do it lovingly and with grace in our hearts toward them. Friend, backsliding is a terrible thing, but none of us are immune from it. We are all to watch our spiritual walk with God. We are to keep ourselves disciplined in the things of God so we do not fall or fail, for God will not force any believer to love and serve Him. If you find yourself fallen and backslidden, take note of it and come back to God before His deeper disciplines and judgments fall upon you. Indeed, true believers never lose their salvation, but they can lose everything else! What’s worse is their sins often fall on those they love most too.

Today many are backslidden in the Christian faith, and worse many churches are backslidden too. They’ve turned away from living separated lives from the world around them. They’ve compromised their faith, worship and fellowships to accommodate the godless world, and worse they’ve embraced it and lost their holiness unto the Lord. Holiness is a word for being “unlike” the world of sinners and their living, and “like” God who is different and righteous in all His ways.

May God open your eyes if you are one who is backslidden, and call you to return to the living and true God Jesus Christ. Remember my friend, He saves, He keeps and He satisfies. May the joy of the Lord ever be your strength, and if you are not sure today you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, His plan of salvation is simple and sure. The Bible says,

1 Cor 15:1-4 (NIV)  “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you.. 2 By this gospel you are saved…  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”

Rom 10:9-10 (NIV)  That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Acts 16:31 (NIV)  “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

John 6:47 (NIV)  I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

The way to God, or back to God is always the same – it is the way of repentance and faith.  Rev. 2:4-5 tell the backslider to turn around and repent, to confess one’s sin and renounce the sinful way of life and living, and then go out and perform the first works God called you to. May God grant this to every needy heart and apply these warnings to every listening heart for Jesus’ sake. Amen.