What does apostasy look like?
August 14, 2009
Apostasy looks like Satan, envying God’s position and rallying angels in rebellion.
It looks like the Hebrews in the wilderness, challenged to go in and take the Land of Promise but shrinking back in fear — and dying in the desert.
It looks like Judas, betraying his friend and teacher in an effort to force the conflict he believed would bring in the reign of the Messiah.
It would look like the Prodigal Son, if he had been welcomed home, showered with wonderful gifts, treated to a magnificent feast – and then decided to go back to the pig trough.
God’s gift of grace covers all sin. Apostasy is throwing away the gift.
Failing to finish the race
January 21, 2009
A person does not fail to finish the race just because he falls down. The one who fails to finish is the one who falls down and chooses to stay down. http://tinyurl.com/djl5q4
Disowning Christ
January 9, 2009
“Whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33 NIV)
A person may disown Christ actively, by what he does, repudiating the One who died to save him.
Can one also disown Christ passively, by what he does not do? Is it apostasy when we fail to bear witness, to be fruitful, to make disciples? Or is that active disobedience, our refusal to obey a direct command?
Disowned
August 28, 2008
“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns (arneomai) me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33 NIV)
A father may disown his child, and a child may disown the father, but how does that happen except that first they are family? Can a stranger disown someone he never even knew?
If a brother strays …
August 17, 2008
“My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20 NASB)
The one who is in danger of death (thanatos) is one of the brethren (adelphos), one who is among us who strays (planaô) from the truth.
How many times have you heard the latter part of this passage quoted as an exhortation to evangelism? Don’t the two verses together actually refer to church discipline and the danger brothers (and sisters) in Christ face if they stray from the truth?
If James is referring to a member of the congregation who was never really saved, why speak to the “brethren” about someone who is one of them? How do you stray from the truth except you first embrace it? What do you make of the assertion that the danger the brother (or sister) faces is death?
