Backsliding is Not a New Testament Message

By Bob Williford, former director of the Hope Migrant Mission Center at the Migrant Farm Labor Center near Hope, Arkansas, a ministry of the Arkansas Baptist Convention.

For many years I have studied what seems to be an obvious abuse of terminology within the Evangelical Community. Backsliding is often used to describe the sin of Christians who have had an ‘experience‘ with the Lord have returned to their old sinful ways. I was guilty of preaching from this platform until observing those who were rededicating their lives to once again follow God. However, what I hear from repentant sinners is, “I had an experience with God and……” This often repeated statement enabled me to take a journey into God’s Word that has demonstrated an error  that has almost become a doctrine for many. And what I discovered is quite revealing.

I will address this in another blog, but repeating the so-called ‘ sinner’s prayer’ somehow allows eternal salvation to be claimed but without an understanding what Jesus meant when he  said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24.

There are at least two problems with utilizing ‘backsliding’ as a reference to Believers in Jesus Christ:

1. Backsliding as seen in the OT speaks of national sins of Israel against Yaweh
2. Backsliding ascribed to Christians is not found in the New Testament.

KJV uses the word ‘backsliding’ on 15 occasions in the Old Testament.  Jeremiah utilizes the term 12 times and Hosea applies the term on 3 occasions. I will cite but 2 verses from Jeremiah and Hosea using the KJV and NASB.

Jeremiah 2:19. “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.” KJV

“Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will reprove you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to forsake the LORD your God, And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.” NASB

Hosea 11:7. “And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him. KJV

“So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, None at all exalts Him.” NASB

The Bible is not kind when speaking about those who backslide and demonstrates that repentance must be serious response of faith from the guilty before God will forgive.  The prophet Ezekiel records the heart of God as He responds to sinful Israel. Take note of the gravity of God’s declarations,

“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. “But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die.Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.” Ezekiel 18:19-27.

“These scriptures demonstrate two important concepts.

1. A wicked man will not be forgiven unless he turns away from all of his sins and does what is right instead. It is not good enough to just be “working on some things,” like it is commonly believed.  The man must stop sinning and do what is right if he wants to be forgiven.
2. If a righteous man starts to live sinfully again, he will not be forgiven. “None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered.“  When this happens, it is called “being unfaithful” to God.

Jesus spoke a lot about faithfulness. There are a number of scriptures that show that only those who are found faithful will inherit the kingdom of God (Mat. 25:21-23, Rev. 14:12, and Rev. 17:14. )

Does the term “backsliding” apply to the New Testament?  Can we use this word to describe a Christian?  The truth is that there is a very similar term used in the New Testament to describe those who have turned away from the Lord.  It is called “falling away.”  Jesus talks about this in the “Parable of the Sower” (Mat. 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:1-15).  There are many other places in the New Testament that also mention this concept, but there are two passages that are very important:  Heb. 6:4-6, and Heb. 10:26-31. “

“Is a Backsliding Christian Still Saved?”  http://www.gotquestions.org/backsliding-Christian.html

I will kindly disagree with the statement that I copied from this website, “there is a very similar term used in the New Testament to describe those who have turned away from the Lord.  It is called “falling away.”

The author of the statement is making reference to the use of “Backslide” as seen in the OT and compares another reference in the NT.  However this can be misleading if comparisons are utilized in the wrong way to make a point in Scripture. What should trouble the student of God’s Word is to imply intent when none is suggested. God’s Word never implies anything…..God’s Word simply says what is meant.

The question may then be asked, “What do we call ‘backsliding’? My answer would be, “Why not call it living in sin and be done with it?”

Understanding that many will disagree with me because of their ‘personal experience’ of being saved and slipping once again into a life of sin does not alter the facts of Holy Writ. What we must understand is that our experiences must not be allowed to interpret God’s Word, but rather that God’s Word must be allowed to interpret our experiences.

Hebrews 6:4-6 is one of the best examples that we can use to defuse the teaching of backsliding as being a viable option for those who claim to be saved and return to their former way of living. Let us take a close look.

“For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,and then have 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.”

There are 6  important phrases that we must observe:

1. have once been enlightened
2. have tasted of the heavenly gift
3. have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit
4. have tasted the good word of God
5. and then have fallen away
6. it is impossible to renew them again to repentance

Two problems are presented here.

1. Backsliding and rededication are not addressed.
2. Teaching the possibility of losing salvation and being born again a second time are teaching falsely.

Fact: It is impossible to backslide and return and the same holds true for those who fall away.

The writer of Hebrews plainly states that if someone “falls away,” it is impossible for that person to be brought back to repentance. There is another part of the New Testament that mentions a sin someone can commit that will never be forgiven.  This sin is known as “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” (Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10).  It appears that both of these are one and the same, because they are both described in the same way—that anyone who does this will never be forgiven. Jesus makes a statement in the Bible that sounds very similar to Heb. 6:4-6.  In Mat. 5:13 (also in Mark 9:50 and Luke 14:34-35), He says to His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.“  Jesus tells the disciples that they cannot be made salty again if they lose their saltiness.  This sounds like it is referring to “falling away.”

“Is a Backsliding Christian Still Saved?”  http://www.gotquestions.org/backsliding Christian.html

Again, I would disagree with the author’s statements because there seems to be some doubt about what the NT may or may not be teaching.  “This sounds like it is referring to ‘falling away.’”

Further,  I would look to Hebrews 10:26-31 to defuse the teaching that backsliding is not an faithful application of God’s Word,

“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” NASB

Some hold that a Christian who has lost salvation can be saved, lost and be saved again. Or on the part of the backslider there is the avenue of rededication. Neither option is taught in the NT. Where is rededication mentioned or loss of salvation addressed? These are not available options in the New Testament and are non-negotiable.

Jesus answered them,

“I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:25-30. NASB

John writes from the Isle of Patmos,

“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.They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”  1 John 2:18-24. NASB

“I left the church and was saved in but I did not deny that Jesus is the Christ.”  God’s Word responds like this, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

A person who turns his back on a professed faith demonstrates that he never had a relationship with the Christ.

“Those who are of Christ remain in Him and those who walk away never knew Him.

“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” 2 Timothy 2:11-13. NASB

Either a person is saved or lost…there is no middle ground for the sake of convenience.

Jesus is Lord!

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