Apostasy In The Church
Scripture References
Acts 20:29-30 - LSB
29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
1 Timothy 1:18-20 - LSB
18 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected, suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.
2 Timothy 4:9-10 - LSB
9 Be diligent to come to me soon, 10 for Demas, having loved this present age, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
Hebrews 6:4-8 - LSB
4 For in the case of those once having been enlightened and having tasted of the heavenly gift and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and having fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is unfit and close to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Nature of Apostasy
- Definition: Apostasy is described as a falling away or abandonment of the faith. It involves someone who once professed to be a Christian but later denies or abandons the core tenets of the faith.
- Biblical Examples:
- Demas: Mentioned as an example of someone who loved the world more than his apostolic mission. (2 Timothy 4:10)
- Hymenaeus and Alexander: Referenced in 1 Timothy, these individuals suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith, indicating a severe departure from Christian truth.
Kinds of Apostasy
- Moral Apostasy:
- Involves abandoning Christian moral teachings and practices.
- Demas is an example, as his love for the present world suggests a moral failure.
- Doctrinal Apostasy:
- Refers to abandoning or distorting key Christian doctrines.
- Examples include those who deny the deity of Christ or the sufficiency of His atonement.
- Religious Apostasy:
- A complete departure from the Christian faith to embrace another religion or a secular worldview.
- Hebrews 6 and 10 are discussed in this context, where returning to Judaism after professing Christ is highlighted as the ultimate form of apostasy in that historical context.
Causes of Apostasy
- Love of the World: As seen in the case of Demas, attachment to worldly pleasures, security, or status can lead one to abandon the faith.
- Fear of Persecution: The fear of suffering or persecution, particularly in contexts where identifying as a Christian brings severe consequences, can drive one to apostasy.
- Deception by False Teachings: The influence of false teachers and heretical doctrines can lead believers astray, as highlighted by 2 Peter and Jude.
- Lack of True Regeneration: Not all who are outwardly reformed are truly regenerated. Without a change in nature (i.e., being born again), individuals may eventually return to their old ways.
Consequences of Apostasy
- Hebrews 6: Describes the impossibility of renewing to repentance those who have fallen away after having once been enlightened. Apostasy is seen as a severe, often irreversible condition.
- Hebrews 10: Warns of the terrifying expectation of judgment for those who go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth. This underscores the gravity of deliberate apostasy.
Biblical Exegesis of Passages Referencing False Christians and Apostacy
2 Peter 2
2 Peter 2:13 - LSB
13 suffering unrighteousness as the wages of their unrighteousness, considering it a pleasure to revel in the daytime—they are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they feast with you,
This describes how the false teachers of this day would be hidden among the member of the church. Being hidden they don’t announce their presence. Peter notes how “they feast with you.”
2 Peter 2:17-22 - LSB
17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been kept. 18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity, they entice by sensual lusts of the flesh, those who barely escape from the ones who conducted themselves in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 20 For if they are overcome, having both escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and having again been entangled in them, then the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. 22 The message of the true proverb has happened to them, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”
These are people who professed their conversion and their supposed faith but yet they are compared to dogs who return to their own vomit, like unregenerate sinners returning to their sin. Unlike truly regenerated people who are eternally kept in Christ (for Scripture references see [[Perseverance of the Saints]]). Peter notes how it “would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them” in v.22. “Knowing…the holy commandments” merely means that they were aware of them because the contrary is impossible “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God” (Romans 8:7-8).
1 John 2:18-19 - LSB
18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us.
This passage describes plainly how apostates “went out from us” (their own congregations) because they “were not really of us”. Again, at no point does this passage make mention that those who went out of the church were ever regenerated and in Christ, in fact the opposite is the case, they are described as being “antichrists.”
Hebrews 6:4-9
Hebrews 6:4-9 - LSB
4 For in the case of those once having been enlightened and having tasted of the heavenly gift and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and having fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is unfit and close to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. 9 But we are convinced about you, beloved, of things that are better and that belong to salvation, though we are speaking in this way.
This passage is one of the most cited by people claiming that those who are truly regenerated can “fall away” as in lose their salvation. Notice however what the author of Hebrews has in mind when referring to those who have “fall away” – “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame” (v.6). The author is writing to Jews explaining that Jesus is superior to everything – to angelic beings (1:1-2:18), superior to the mosaic law (3:1-10:18). One of the core tenants of the mosaic law were the animals who were sacrificed for the temporary covering of sins. In Hebrews the author makes it clear that there is now no old covenant to come back to and this passage likely refers to how some of the self proclaimed Christians of that day would continue to offer animal sacrifices and therefore they “crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
1 Timothy 1:18-20
1 Timothy 1:18-20 - LSB
18 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected, suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.
Some have equated “shipwreck of faith” with losing salvation because shipwrecks are often deadly and severe. This is a conclusion based on tradition and no scriptural basis and falls into contradiction with passages that make it clear that those who are in Christ are never lost (see Perseverance of the Saints). This passage is special in that it also brings forward names of those individuals who have suffered this calamity and what happened to them: “Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.” This is not the only time Hymenaeus is named in Holy Scripture, he is also mentioned later on in 2 Timothy 2 for spreading false teaching.
Does this mean that the only people who can fall away are always false teachers? No, nowhere in Scripture do we have a certainty that those who fall away from the faith are always false teachers. Even today in our own time we see members of the church who profess faith, are baptized, partake of the elements, and fall away.