What Is Apostasy and How To Recognize its Origin?

What Is Apostasy and How To Recognize its Origin?

Benson Omole 

A. Apostasy, from the Greek word “apostasia”, means “a total desertion of, or departure from, one’s faith, principles, or party”; in theology, “a total abandonment of the Christian faith” (The Century Dictionary, vol. I, p. 265). It is a turning away from God, a rejection of core doctrine, and a separation from the people of God. The apostles addressed apostasy in the early church, and the battle against apostasy has continued through the years. Today, sadly, in the Church of Christ, some still choose to totally abandon their Christian faith.

B. Apostasy often shows up in the Old Testament. Every time Israel fell into idolatry, it was an example of apostasy (see Judges 2:11–13). In the New Testament, onetime followers of Jesus turned their backs on Him (John 6:66). Demas, “because he loved this world,” deserted Paul (2 Timothy 4:10). The Bible often warns against apostasy (e.g., 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:12; 10:35–38; and 2 Peter 2:15).

C. Christians should understand the subtle origin of apostasy, how to recognize apostasy, and how to identify the apostate teachers, and how Christians must consider apostate teaching a spiritual disaster.

D. Cautious Origin.

Apostasy originates in two forms:

a. One is a falling away from key biblical doctrines into heretical teachings that claim to be the “real” Christian doctrine.

b. The second is a complete renunciation of the Christian faith, which results in a full abandonment of Christ.

E. Though, the second form of apostasy often begins with the first. A heretical belief takes root and grows until it pollutes all aspects of a person’s faith, and that can lead to a complete abandonment of in Christ Jesus. Infact, there are many Preachers who may not be in the faith!

F. A crucial doctrine that cannot be compromised concerns the person and work of Jesus Christ: “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). In other words, Jesus Christ and His work of redemption are of utmost importance; anyone who denies Jesus’ deity or humanity or who downplays Jesus’ sacrificial death is teaching falsehood.

G. Apostasy can be recognized as a departure from Jesus’ clear teaching in the Gospels: “Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9, NASB).

H. The elements of the gospel are another litmus test in identifying apostasy. Paul defines the gospel as the good news concerning Jesus’ death for our sins and His bodily resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1–4). As nice as they sound, the statements such as “God loves you,” “God wants us to feed the hungry,” and “God wants you to be wealthy” are not the complete message of the gospel.

I. Paul warns against those who “pervert the gospel of Christ” through the addition of law-keeping as a requirement (Galatians 1:7). No one, not even the greatest preacher, has the right to change the message of the gospel. “If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:9).

J. Recognizing Apostates

Jude was the half-brother of Jesus and a leader in the early church. In his New Testament letter, he outlines how to recognize apostasy and strongly urges those in the body of Christ to “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 1:3, NKJV).

The Greek verb translated “contend earnestly” is the source of our word agonize. It is in the present infinitive form, which means that the struggle will be continuous. So, we should expect that false teachers will put up a constant fight against the truth, and we should take it seriously, constantly.

Every Christian is called to this fight, not just church leaders, so all believers should sharpen their discernment skills to recognize and combat apostasy in their midst.

K. Jude highlights the reason we must contend for the faith: “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4, ESV). In this one verse, Jude reveals three traits of apostate teachers:

1 Apostates are subtle in their approach. They have “secretly slipped in” to infiltrate the church. The Greek word literally means “slipped in sideways; came in stealthily; sneaked in.” Compare this with Paul’s description of false apostles as “deceitful” men who “masquerade as servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:13–15). It is rare that apostasy begins in an overt and easily detectable manner; instead, it starts as a small, seemingly insignificant alteration of the truth.

2. Apostates are ungodly in their actions. They commit immorality and justify it by claiming to be under the grace of God. Jude points out that this is a perversion of grace; no Christian has a license to sin. In addition to their immorality, the apostates are guilty of rebellion (verse 8), grumbling and faultfinding (verse 16), selfishness, arrogance, and flattery (verse 16), and divisiveness and worldliness (verse 19).

3. Apostates are heretical in their theology. They “deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” Either in what they say or what they do, the apostates reject Christ. They might deny His deity, His humanity, or His eternal Sonship. They might oppose the teaching that Jesus is the Messiah or the only Savior. Not only that, they may attempt to include unauthorized work, practices, into the worship of the Church. They might downplay the effectiveness of Jesus’ sacrifice or deny the need for it.

L. A person who falls away from the truth of God’s Word and His righteousness will eventually show his or her true colors. Apostates are adept at covering up the truth and showing a false front, but they cannot maintain the ruse forever. The John the Apostle says, “These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us” (1 John 2:19, NLT).

M. Consequences of Apostasy

Every New Testament book except Philemon contains warnings about false teaching. God does not want His people to be fooled. He wants them to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:11).

N. Ideas have consequences. Satan did not come to the first couple in the garden with a visible weapon; instead, he came to them with an idea. That idea, embraced by Adam and Eve, led to an action that condemned them and affected the rest of humankind, and the creation at all. We have the command to guard against false ideas: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

O. Apostates face condemnation, according to Jude 1:4. “They will bring sudden destruction on themselves,” according to 2 Peter 2:1. The great tragedy is that “many will follow their depraved conduct” (2 Peter 2:2). The apostate teacher dooms his followers. Jesus called false teachers “blind guides” and warned that “if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14).

P. Conclusion

In AD 325, the Council of Nicea convened primarily to take up the issue of the heresy of Arius. Much to Arius’s dismay, the end result was his excommunication and a statement in the Nicene Creed that affirms Christ’s divinity: “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father.” To a careless Student of the Bible, these decisions may be a good landmarks of Christianity. However, this was how Councils became the authority in Christian religion, (instead of the authority of the Bible (the Word of God).

Q. Until Christ returns, tares will be present among the wheat (Matthew 13:24–30). In fact, Scripture says apostasy will worsen as Christ’s return approaches: “Many will turn away from the faith” cf. 2 Timothy 3:1–2, 5).

R. Now more than ever, every believer must be able to discern, study diligently, and “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 1:3).

Thanks for reading.

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