Falling away from Christ is a very bad way of life for the child of God to experience! Falling away from Christ can become a very bad habit for some. It sears (or scars) the conscience of a believer! Falling away from Christ is not to be taken lightly. Falling away from God is a habit that self can find to be pleasurable or satisfying... for a moment...then comes sin's consequences that can lead to damnation. Falling away is also a habit that causes a man more grief with the Spirit of God than ever imagined. Falling away from faith in Christ is place of separation from communion with God through the ministration of the Spirit.
1 Tim 4:1-2...Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Falling away is a place where condemnation from sin is revealed to the human conscience and self can find no other place (outside of Christ) for satisfaction, peace, or contentment. There is no contentment or peace whatsoever, that can be found in the heart of man when man is separated from God through unbelief. Falling away from Christ can lead man to a place of deeper deception and a permanent disobedience toward God. Falling away from Christ over and over again can lead men to a place of, "turning against God" where a root of bitterness and resentment toward God controls the heart. Turning against God is far worse than falling away or departing from the faith. Turning against God is defiance against; willful rebellion; and rejection of truth. Very dangerous? Very, very dangerous!
2 Peter 2:20-21...For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
I admit a Christian can get knocked down by the Devil and God who is rich in mercy and love will lift him back up! I admit that men can fall away from the faith and then come back into a place of belief and trust in Christ. I also admit that men can fall into various temptations, sin against God, and go right back to a penitent state, believe, and find forgiveness again over and over. But...what kind of life do you call this? I repeat, "What kind of life do you call this?" Can you classify this as a life of victory in Jesus? Or do you have a right to call it a life of peace and contentment found in Christ? Not so! Did you know that falling away from the faith in Christ over and over again can cause men to turn against God? So far away...that they can't get back...The Bible does teach that men can get so far away and willfully turn against God to a point where they cannot return. Read the following verse closely.
Heb 6:4-6...For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
There's a big difference between, "falling away from; and turning against God". The difference is the heart of man from falling away over and over gets hardened to the truth. Hardness of heart takes man further into unbelief and disobedience to God. Each time man falls, and continues to fall... over and over again... the hardened heart becomes more scarred and calloused each time, and gets further and further away from the knowledge of truth. The conscience of man also gets further and further away from an accountability to God. Soon, the conscience of man is no longer in touch with God and only controlled by self. God is smothered out of the picture and no longer in control whatsoever. Dangerous position for any man to be in. Wouldn't you agree? No peace! No contentment! Constant sorrow! Very calloused! No sensitivity to a life of obedience to Christ. A rebel against God! Hardened to the truth!
Heb 3:12-13...Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
The Holy Spirit tells the believer in Christ that he's right in the eyes of God and has to live right! Why? The child of God has a Divine Nature! This is the God given power for a child of God to do right! The Bible clearly teaches that any believer in Christ can have... and can live a life of victory every day of their life. God gives the believer power to do so! With constant peace! With constant joy! With constant victory! Why? Because of the great blessing the Holy Spirit's presence your hearts and in your lives. With a constant consciousness to the presence of Christ at Calvary and Christ in the Throneroom who controls the saint. The ministry of the Holy Spirit constantly brings Christ to mind and testifies the person of Christ in every situation in life. I admit the world we live in says something different! That's why the Bible teaches to "love not" the world. The affections of a child of God are not to be earthly!
1 John 2:15-17...Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever
Col 3:2-3...Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
GLORY! My heart sings, "Oh, victory in Jesus my Saviour forever, He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming Blood!" Come over to the Upper Room and I'll sing it to you on Thursday's and Sundays at 7:00PM. We love Christ and teach from the Bible that men can live with a constant victory "without sin"... in an evil and adulterous world that we live in. Glory!
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