Turning Away- Part 1

The Bible reveals and warns of these three things: apostasy, blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and the sin unto death. There has been much discussion on them and much misunderstanding. What does one have to do to commit the sin unto death? Are all three of these things the same thing or are they different? I’m going to explain so we can understand what these terms mean and be on our guard against them.

Let’s look first at apostasy. Apostasy speaks of falling away from Christ. This is not describing when someone is trying to live for Christ and commits sin. However, apostasy does refer to someone who knew Christ as their savior and walked with God a while, then turned away from what they once believed and experienced in Him. An apostate person has abandoned and disowned Christ. They no longer want anything to do with Jesus. They knowingly reject and renounce Him.

Consider Judas and Peter. Judas betrayed Jesus but never found forgiveness, although it was offered to him. He knowingly rejected Jesus and never repented. Peter, on the other hand, also betrayed Jesus by claiming he did not know Him. However, he repented and received forgiveness. Two men with two very different outcomes, based on their choices.

Apostasy is when one deliberately chooses to depart from God through a hardened heart of unbelief and disobedience.

So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Hebrews 3:7-12 (New International Version, NIV) emphasis mine

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. Hebrews 6:4-8 (New International Version, NIV)

If we DELIBERATELY keep on sinning AFTER we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:26-31 (New International Version, NIV) emphasis mine

I know it is a lot of Scripture, but I encourage you to read and meditate on the verses above. They clearly speak of apostasy. These people knew God, purposely turned from Him and refused to repent and accept His forgiveness. If they refused it, then there was clearly no sacrifice for their sins. These people were once mature believers who knew God, His Word, and His Spirit. They willfully became so hardened to Him that it wasn’t possible to renew them to repentance.

Those who trample of the blood of Christ and count His sacrifice as nothing have passed the point of no return. Only God knows when a person has passed this point, but it s very serious thing to allow your heart to become hardened towards the Lord in any way. We must guard our hearts to stay right with God. If we reject Christ’s sacrifice as the payment for our sins, there is no other sacrifice to take care of our sins because His blood is the only blood that can wash sin away.

So we see in today’s study that apostasy refers to the willing and purposeful hardening of one’s heart towards God and total rejection of Jesus by one who was once saved. They depart from God by choice.

Tomorrow, we’ll continue our study and cover the concept of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.