Presents
John Roesch
All Scripture is From the King James Version of the Holy Bible 1
The Facts About Backsliding
Copyright © 2022 John S. Roesch
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Permission is granted to copy for use in Jail or Prison Ministries or for group Bible Study or for personal Bible Study. For any other use permissions contact:
director@imbmpodcasts.com
International Missionary Baptist Publishing Ministry Smyrna, Tennessee
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Developed and Printed in the United States 2
Table of Contents
The Old Testament Kings
King David
The Enticing that Caused David’s Misdeed
The Event that Continued David’s Misery
The Encounter that Convicted David’s Misstep
The Episode the Corrected David’s Mistake
King Solomon
The New Testament Stewards
Saints Can Backslide Individually or Collectively
Backsliding Does Create Corruption
Backsliding Does Not Cost Your Salvation
Backsliding Is a Temporary Condition
Not All Church Members are Redeemed
Grace Justifies, The Law Only Condemns
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To Teresa
God’s greatest gift to me
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Introduction
When someone we know is headstrong, they are often referred to as “stubborn as a mule”. And this can be anyone who bucks the standard, whether they are right or wrong. We’ve all known someone who will go right simply because they were told to go left.
For many of us, this applies to our spiritual life as well; we’ve all felt the urge, in a moment of passion, to rebel against what we know and have been taught is right.
Most times we resist this temptation, but when we don’t, we find that it gets easier and easier to compromise with what we know is right and proper, until this becomes our standard; our way of life.
When a mule is happy where it is, it’s hard pressed to get it to move. Even with a bit in its mouth, the harder we try to move it, the harder it fights back, pulling back from us as we try to move it forward.
This action is called backsliding, and is a good example of how we get when we resist God’s commands and directions.
We get headstrong, resistant, and as stubborn as a mule. We still have our salvation, we always will have that, but we will lose its joy, our peace, and God’s closeness as we walk away from Him.
Is this a permanent condition, or can we recover from it?
To answer this. Let’s look back at a couple of well known kings that, despite the fact they are remembered as the great kings and cham-pions of the faith that they are, made some very human mistakes. We can learn a lesson from either of them.
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The Old
Testament
Kings
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The Enticing that Caused David’s Misdeed David is known as the man who was after God’s heart. He wrote more of the Psalms than anyone. He was Israel’s greatest king, and through his son Nathan was an ancestor of Jesus.
It is his throne that Jesus will reign from for a thousand years.
But David was human as we all are, and as he got complacent, he was tempted. He was resting in Jerusalem at a time when kings went off to battle as recorded in …
2 Samuel 11
1 ¶ And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and be-sieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
I’m sure David had never counted on anything like this happen-ing, so lets look at some of the contributing factors to this event, realizing how many times these instances occur in our own lives/
First, David wasn’t where he was supposed to be; if he was in Rabbah, how different would his life have turned out? We’ll never know.
Next, he was getting out of his bed at evening time. This isn’t the 7
usual time to get out of bed. We’ve all heard that the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Here is the best example of this.
The woman wasn’t there to tempt him. I won’t claim to know the bathing rituals of the Israelites back then, or how often people walked on their roofs, but this was unfortunate timing for everyone involved.
Had David done the right thing, he would have turned away em-barrassed upon seeing her; he would have respected her right to what she was doing.
And if he had watched, which was still very wrong, but then left and let the matter drop, the greater sin would have been avoided.
But he didn’t.
Now he was curious; he wanted to know who she was. He found out she was Bathsheba, married to one of his officers, Uriah the Hittite.
Again, he could have stopped there, but he didn’t.
So David sent his messengers to bring her to him. The Hebrew word is ָּה ֶ֗ח ָּק ִּיַו (way·yiq·qā·kḥe·hā), and means, among other things, to buy, use, fetch, seize, or bring her. Scripture doesn’t record if she was there of her own free will or not.
Again, this didn’t have to go any farther, but it did.
David, knowingly, willingly, and possibly forcefully slept with another man’s wife, and then returned her, possibly putting her out of his mind afterward.
When David got out of bed that evening, he had no idea how the actions he was about to take would shape his life from that point forward.
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2 Samuel 11
3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
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The Event that Continued David’s Misery
Over the next few weeks, scripture doesn’t record David seeking God’s forgiveness. In fact, it seems he didn’t have any more contact with Bathsheba, she seemed to have served his purpose for her, and he might have even forgotten about her, at least until she got a message to him, letting him know she was carrying his child.
David’s first reaction was to cover his own tracks. The problem was, Uriah wasn’t home, and hadn’t been home since before David had become an adulterer.
A scheme formed in David’s mind: he would send for Uriah, let him go to his house, lay with his wife, and believe the child Bathsheba would bear was his child. Problem solved.
Only it wasn’t. Uriah was an honorable man, much more than David was becoming. Uriah reported to David of the goings on of the battle, and David then told him to return to his home and rest a bit. David thought that his plan had worked until he was told that Uriah was sleeping outside the king’s gate, and had never returned to his own house.
2 Samuel 11
11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. 12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to 10
morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.
David was greatly disappointed, and realized that he had to do what he now thought of as the right thing. Funny thing was he would have to do so many wrong things to be able to do this right thing, and this wasn’t a clue to him. He was now so backslidden that right and wrong had both become blurred lines.
For him to marry Bathsheba without losing face with anyone, Uriah would have to be dealt with, and quickly. He was a soldier in a battle, and things go wrong in battles.
2 Samuel 11
14 ¶ And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Jo-ab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. 16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. 17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
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The Encounter that Convicted David’s Misstep One would reason that David was pretty tightlipped about this situation for good reason. He might not be proud of what he did, but he seemed to realize some people might get the right idea about it if it came to light. And enough people knew enough of what had happened.
Whomever had identified Bathsheba knew that he had asked of her, and hopefully knew little more than that.
The messengers who took her knew he had met with her, and possibly more, but like the first person, David was sure they knew not to cross their king.
He could count on their silence.
He could count on Joab’s silence as well; he was, after all, his captain. David didn’t doubt Joab’s loyalty. If he had, he would have a different captain.
So it’s easy to see he thought he had gotten away with it. He was no longer the same man anymore; guilt eats at one’s soul; the heart gets heavy, the countenance is miserable, and paranoia kicks in. People were wondering among themselves about what is wrong with him, and anytime two or more were seen talking to each other, they were seen as knowing what he did, and talking about it behind his back At this time, God sent His prophet Nathan to the king, and Nathan had a situation to bring before him.
2 Samuel 12
1 ¶ And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, 12
and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3
But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
Finally, David could imagine someone who had done something horrible. Not as bad as he had done, but at least he could now express the anger he had kept within himself since that fateful night. He was so ready to do this, that he possibly interrupted Nathan’s tale.
He invoked the great oath “As the Lord liveth…” attempting to make this a righteous indignation. When wallowing in guilt, we typi-cally go overboard when we get a chance to dish it out.
David, forgetting he had done much worse, showed no mercy to this one. Nathan, as God’s mouthpiece, had delivered the perfect para-ble to David. As a former shepherd, this tale struck at his heart; his corrupted and hurting heart. His reaction was quite severe.
“As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:”
He was now where Nathan needed him; in the crosshairs.
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2 Samuel 12
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
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The Episode the Corrected David’s Mistake Sometimes guilt is so great that when you are found out, it can only be described as relief. And it feels so good you wonder why it had to take so long.
David confessed his sin, and this saved his life. Even though he was forgiven, sin has consequences, and this one was paid for by his son, the one that was innocent in all this.
Our sins and their consequences don’t affect just us, they can change the lives of those dearest to us.
David went on to be the greatest king Israel ever had. Although he had backslidden, his genuine repentance restored him to his walk with God.
This same result applies to us under the same condition: genuine repentance.
2 Samuel 12
13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD al-so hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
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Solomon’s Sensual Demise
Where David was a warrior whose bravery and leadership was known by all, Solomon was a mommy’s boy. Some say he was a sissy, but we can prove the mommy’s boy claim.
When Adonijah, David’s son sought the throne as David was old and bedridden, Nathan did not seek out Solomon to confront David concerning this, despite the fact that David had already said that Solomon would reign after him.
Instead, Nathan, wishing to nip this in the bud, went to Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba.
1 Kings 1
11 ¶ Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? 12 Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. 15 And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king. 16 And Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou?
17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. 18 And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not: 16
When most people think of King Solomon, they think of the one who built the first and greatest temple, something that David his father wished to do, but God forbade him because he was a warrior.
After the dedication of this temple, God asked Solomon what he wanted, and Solomon asked for wisdom to rule the people correctly; God gave Solomon that wisdom, and riches as well.
Solomon had a reputation of being a wise king, and proved this on many occasions with many different judgments.
But Solomon’s great weakness and downfall was women. He might be the biggest polygamist recorded, for he had seven hundred wives.
And yes, many marriages were indeed political, but you’d think there weren’t that many countries in the world. And because the 700
wives weren’t enough, he had a concubine of 300 women.
That’s a total of a thousand legal and common law wives. Yet despite all these wives, some see Solomon as one of just two people recorded in Solomon’s Song: he and the Shulamite woman, seen as pas-sionately in love with each other.
Yet his own reputation puts him as the third player in the story: the Shulamite woman, her beloved, and Solomon, who actually was the spoiler. Solomon the womanizer couldn’t be that dedicated to one woman. Instead, he was wishing to take her from her beloved for himself.
All these wives from all these other lands brought their cultures with them: their foods, their fashion, and their gods.
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You would surmise that Solomon, with his building of the temple, its dedication, his relationship with God, and all his wisdom, that he would know where to draw the line concerning those false gods. Apparently, he didn’t.. This is summed up in scripture.
1 Kings 11
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
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Solomon’s Spiritual Downfall
In the later years of his life, Solomon was a very unhappy man, seeking ways of satisfaction and gratification in other ways, looking for the joy he no longer had. He tried sensuality, but no permanent joy. He gave himself over to wine, but with the same result.
He thought of his accomplishments, all his achievements, and there was no pleasure in them. He looked around his world, which he thought of as “everything under the sun”. It gave him no joy, no sense of accomplishment.
Through all this, he deduced that all was vanity; a vexation of man’s spirit. Joy no longer seemed to exist for him anymore. His life appeared to be a waste.
Finally, he then looked to examine wisdom and folly, two sides of the same coin, trying to see which one he now favored. He didn’t like his conclusion as his wisdom began to return.
Ecclesiastes 2
1 ¶ I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? 3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: 5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all 19
kind of fruits: 6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: 7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: 8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
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Solomon’s Supreme Deduction
Solomon’s last decades of his life were such a waste. He sought his joy everywhere except for God. Yes, he oversaw the building of the first temple, but he also oversaw the building of many places of worship to many false gods, and apparently all these gods cheapened, in Solomon’s eyes, the value of the one true God.
Some of the worship practices of these false gods were inhumane and sick.
Worship of Ashtaroth included ritual prostitution, sexuality, and fertility. Certainly not a PG rated ceremony. It was also specifically named and strictly forbidden by the Lord.
The worship of Milcon (also associated with the name Molech) involved child sacrifice. Scriptures contain a verse that bring a chilling revelation.
It is held that idols of Milcon were giant metal statues of a man with a bull’s head. Each image had a pit in the abdomen and possibly outstretched forearms that made a kind of ramp to this pit. A fire was lit in or around the statue. Babies were placed in the statue’s arms and would slide into the pit.
1 Kings 11
6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of 21
Ammon. 8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
After all this folly and foolishness, Solomon looked in retrospect on his life, all the waste, the vanity, the vexation of his spirit. His wisdom had finally returned. Solomon was a thinker, something that he had stopped doing because of his many wives. It might have been his age and the failures of his body that let him return to his former self: we don’t know why, but we see as he penned Ecclesiastes that his re-flection brought back his right thinking.
Ecclesiastes 12
13 ¶ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
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The New
Testament
Stewards
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The Lost Cannot Backslide
Some might tell you that if David and Solomon can backslide as they did, then anyone could backslide. That would be a very convinc-ing argument, but it would be a wrong one. The fact is, there are too many who will go through their entire life without ever backsliding simply because they can’t.
The lost cannot backslide, plain and simple. Backsliding is pulling in defiance against your master; your owner. The lost don’t recognize God as their Lord or Master.
Their rebellious defiance is their default nature. Despite what anyone may have told you, God is not their Father. He is their creator, and most of those that are lost even deny that.
What does Jesus say concerning the “universal Fatherhood of God”?
John 8
42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
With no relationship to God, sinners cannot backslide. That being the case, only the saved can backslide, because they recognize God as their 24
Master, even when they don’t live that perception in their lives. It is when that awareness fails that backsliding occurs.
He isn’t their Father, their God, their Lord, or their Master. Only those who are His redeemed can backslide.
Jeremiah 14:7
O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
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Saints Can Backslide Individually or Collectively In the book of Revelation, in its second of three sections as recorded in Revelation 1:19 (the things which are), we see seven letters to seven literal churches.
Five of those letters addressed problems the churches were experiencing. Ephesus had left its first love; this is backsliding by indiffer-ence; they had lost their passion.
Pergamos had members holding to the doctrine of Balaam, who was a prophet out to make a profit and was a thorn in the side of the Israelites.
These Balaamites brought about feasts including food sacrificed to idols and sexual indecencies. Combined with the hierarchy of the church being changed, this church had backslidden.
In Thyatira, a Jezebel is mentioned, and the sins of Pergamos were occurring here as well: fornication and eating food sacrificed to idols. Here many members were backsliding, but not the whole church.
Sardis is told that their works weren’t perfect before God.
Laodicea was so backslidden that it made God sick, and that’s saying a lot.
What does scripture record of Ephesus and Laodicea?
Revelation 2:4
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
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Revelation 3
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
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The Cause of Backsliding
Backsliding is rejecting the Lord’s authority in your life. It is one’s desire to answer to oneself; to be one’s own boss.
Backsliders make their own rules. They are filled with an overa-bundance of self worth. There’s a Greek word for this. The English word for I in its most emphasized form is the Greek word ἐγὼ (ego).
That’s what backsliders are filled with, and scripture comfirms this.
Proverbs 14:14
¶ The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
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Backsliding Does Create Corruption
Backsliding is to the soul what cancer is to the body. With cancer, it often starts out as a single cell doing something it wasn’t designed to do: mutate. Usually when this happens, the cell just dies, but in cancer, it survives and divides, carrying the mutation into the newly formed cells.
If left unnoticed, it can begin to affect the areas around it as these cells begin to produce offspring cells at a faster rate than normal cells.
Left untreated, cancer spreads, and will eventually decimate the body until it kills it.
Backsliding begins with a single sin because of a bad decision.
When ignored, one sin can lead to another, and with each sin that’s ignored, it becomes easier and easier to do, clouding the soul until their walk with God has wavered as the Holy Spirit continues to try convict-ing the backslider.
Just as spouses can learn to ignore each other in time, backsliders learn to ignore Him. They become miserable people. If you know a backslider who isn’t miserable, they probably aren’t a backslider, and someone who loves them needs to question them concerning their salvation: lovingly at first, and more sternly yet tactfully later.
Whereas treating cancer isn’t easy on the body, it usually zaps strength and stamina, the cure for backsliding is a confession to God through Jesus.
The backslider will be restored, but might suffer spiritual scar tis-sue. Remember that David indeed repented, but his son was taken from 29
him. God forgives, but He punishes as well.
Was Solomon punished? His punishment went way beyond himself.
Only two kings ruled over a united Israel their entire reign.; Kings Saul and Solomon. Solomon’s backsliding resulted in the lasting split of Israel into two kingdom’s: Israel and Judah. Another proof that one person’s sin can affect others.
Now just as cancer degrades and devastates the body because of the physical corruption it causes, a backslider experiences the same corruptions to his or her soul.
2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted ἀπὸ the simplicity that is in Christ.
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Backsliding Does Not Cost Your Salvation A backslidden life is indeed a wasted life: our examination of Solomon demonstrated that. God can and does use the lost, He told Habakkuk that He was preparing (using) the Chaldeans, a heathen people, because of the failing of the Israelites.
He can obviously used His saved followers, but He can’t use backsliders. He can still use them as He uses the heathen: as a means to an end, but He won’t violate their free will.
When Nathan told David that he wouldn’t die, he was speaking of his physical life. God would have killed David if he didn’t repent, but this was just a physical death, not a spiritual one.
We are not the keepers of our own salvation, and I thank God for that.
We’ve all lost keys, wallets, glasses, tie clips, phones, more pens than we could ever count, cars in a parking lot, relatives in a mall, flashlights, money, and much more than that.
All these are physical things, material items that we can touch, hold, and see.
My spirit and soul aren’t physical objects. I possess them without ever touching them; without ever seeing them. If it were possible to lose my spirit, how would I know this? It isn’t like I can notice it’s not there.
Where are the scriptures that tell us what to do once we lose our salvation? How do we find the spirit that we’ve lost again? If this were a legitimate doctrine, God would have told us what we had to do. Yet 31
He didn’t, and that should tell us all we need to know.
Jesus is the Chief Shepherd. Sheep don’t watch themselves. Were they to try, they would do a poor job, unable to defend themselves, having no sense of direction, easily upset, and only able to outrun plants and snails.
Why does Jesus call Himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:14), the writer of Hebrews call Him the Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20), and Peter call Him the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4)?
Because Jesus, as our Shepherd is our keeper. What He is keeping is our salvation.
John 10
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
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Backsliding Is a Temporary Condition
We should all thank God that salvation is eternal. The writer of the book of Hebrews used this phrase, something ignored by those who think we can lose our salvation.
Hebrews 5:9
And being made perfect, he became the author of σωτηρίας
αἰωνίου unto all them that obey him;
The first Greek word is pronounced “soterius”, and means
“salvation”; the second, “aioniou” means eternal, everlasting, or without end. This is just to show that the King James is presenting these words with their proper meaning: eternal salvation.
It is this guarantee that promises that no matter how far anyone backslides, they are still the Lord’s own. Even the stubborn unrepent-ant backslider still has a home in glory.
Believe it or not, this actually upsets some people, saying that this isn’t fair. Just remember that “fair” is a relative term, and if we all got what we deserved, we would all prefer mercy to fairness.
Psalm 37
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he de-lighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
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Not All Church Members are Redeemed
Catholics, including their near-kin religions, quasi Christian cults, and even some Protestants have lied to their followers about how to at-tain salvation.
Because of this, there are many people who faithfully attend worship services that are bound for hell without even knowing it. This is why we should never forsake witnessing to these people, even if they fight us on every issue.
These people cannot backslide because they were never the Lord’s people. Some might be very dedicated to Him, but when they fall away into sinful lives, the Holy Spirit isn’t there to convict them.
Matthew 7
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophe-sied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
As has been mentioned before, if you know someone who seems to have lost their faith, ceased being a disciple, or has plainly and simply backslidden and appears to be comfortable in this new lifestyle, as if their time of active service to God never happened, we must fear for their soul.
It won’t be a comfortable conversation, but remember the first rule of witnessing. Prayer. Then there’s the second rule. Pray some 34
more.
As Nathan was David’s last chance to avoid physical death for his backsliding, we might be someone’s last chance to avoid their spiritual death.
1 John 2:19
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
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Falling From Grace is Heresy
The churches of Galatia were on the other side of the spectrum from the church at Corinth. Both churches had issues, but where Corinth was carnal, the Galatians were legalists; believing that the Mosaic law had to be kept as part of salvation.
At this point the Torah was all the scripture they had to go with, and the Jews of the churches in Galatia had convinced the Gentiles that basically, they had to follow the law as given to Moses by God.
Paul told them the purpose of the law: to convict of sin. The law defined what sin was, and it was impossible to keep the law. This defined everyone as sinners. Luckily the law defined what was required to cover sin.
Then Paul explained grace and its purpose. Where the law defined and convicted of sin, grace gives us victory over it as it breaks the chains of sin and bondage.
Paul then explains that if following the law can get us into heaven, that grace wasn’t necessary.
Galatians 5:4
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
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Grace Justifies, The Law only Condemns
Salvation’s plan has never changed. Under the law, everything pointed to Jesus, and those under the law knew that one day their Kins-man Redeemer would come.
Their salvation didn’t come by keeping the law: no one can fully keep the law.
Salvation came by the looking forward to the promise of the Mes-siah, who would be both their sacrificial goat and their scapegoat.
Where we accept by faith the events in the Bible did happen, they accepted by faith that the events recorded in the Bible would happen.
We believe grace did occur, they believed that grace would occur.
So both Testaments sent believers to heaven based on grace through faith.
It was never about the law, which was so much more than just 10
commandments. The law served to show why grace was necessary. It was the schoolmaster, defining the requirements and punishments, not so much the rewards, because following the law wasn’t the path to those rewards.
Galatians 3:11
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
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Conclusion
Backsliding begins with ego, placing one’s wants over God’s: this is the rejection of God’s Lordship in one’s life.
It ends with humility, realizing that we do and must answer to God for our deeds, and the recognition that God is the Lord of our life.
While our downfallen condition can start many ways, it is only repentance that brings it to an end. God chastises those that are His, so we should expect consequences for our actions.
David was a miserable man while in that condition. But he never asked for his salvation to be returned; even he knew it was permanent.
He just wanted salvation’s joy to come back to him.
Our misery is a reminder that God brings about our peace and our joy, and without Him we are people most miserable. If we aren’t, we need to self-examine our salvation to make sure it is genuine.
If it is, we can’t lose it. Ever.
Remember the words of King Solomon. Once a wise man he went foolish for awhile before his wisdom returned to him. He learned many lessons in life the hard way, and did draw a proper decision, serv-ing as words of wisdom for all, but pointedly to the backslider:
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
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