Apostasy in the Church

How do we know if there is apostasy in the church?

If there is indeed an apostasy occurring in the Christian Church, we would not know it unless we first examined the Bible closely and then compared the present-day Church to the Word of God. It is only after a standard of truth is established that we would then have a measuring rod by which apostasy can be detected.

Where is the spreading cancer of apostasy?

The spreading cancer of apostasy in the Church is not confined to theologians and church conferences. It can be found at the grass roots level, in local churches.

What are the signs of apostasy?

Apostates are continually having vain ideas (vs. 8-10) Continuing with the idea of ignorance, apostates have vain/foolish ideas. Word of Faith teachers, for example, tell you that you can name and claim your promise from Scripture and activate a response from God based on your faith.(Gal 1:8)

What are some signs of apostasy in the Christian church?

Apostasy means to fall away from the truth. Therefore, an apostate is someone who has once believed and then rejected the truth of God. Apostasy is a rebellion against God because it is a rebellion against truth. In the Old Testament, God warned the Jewish people about their idolatry and their lack of trust in Him. In the New Testament, the epistles warn us about not falling away from the truth. Apostasy is a very real and dangerous threat to the Christian church.

“Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [Jesus’ return] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,” (2 Thess. 2:3).

The verse at the top of the page tells us that there will be an apostasy that is associated with the appearance of the Antichrist. Most Christians are looking for the arrival of the Antichrist, but very few are looking for “the apostasy” that must come first. The arrival of the Antichrist cannot occur until sufficient apostasy has happened in the world.

The Antichrist, who is the ultimate of liars, cannot abide in a world where the truth of God’s word is taught. This is why the Bible says that the apostasy will come first, and then the Antichrist will be revealed.

Therefore, we must, as Christians, ask this question, “Is there an apostasy occurring in the Christian church today?” Some would say no and others yes. But, as we look for the arrival of the Antichrist, should we not also be looking for the arrival of apostasy? And where else should we first look but in our own house for the Bible tells us that judgment will begin in the house of the Lord (1 Peter 4:17).

If there is indeed an apostasy occurring in the Christian Church, we would not know it unless we first examined the Bible closely and then compared the present-day Church to the Word of God. It is only after a standard of truth is established that we would then have a measuring rod by which apostasy can be detected. Still, we need to use the Bible as our standard, and it gives us plenty of information by which we can know what the truth really is.

What is apostasy and how can I recognize it?

Apostasy, from the Greek word apostasia, means “a defiance of an established system or authority; a rebellion; an abandonment or breach of faith.” In the first-century world, apostasy was a technical term for political revolt or defection. Just like in the first century, spiritual apostasy threatens the Body of Christ today.

There are three forms in which this word can be applied to different people or situations:

1-Apostasy is the abandonment or desertion of biblical teachings that are essential to salvation.

2-An apostate is someone who has forsaken and fallen away from biblical faith and principles.

3-To apostatize is when someone commits apostasy or the act of apostasy.

Apostasy is essentially the abandonment of the faith by someone. Tragically, these apostates place themselves under the curse of God because as Paul wrote “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Gal 1:8).

Paul had to deal with apostates in the Corinthian church as he wrote “if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough” (2 Cor 11:4) and it is “no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14) for “As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse” (Gal 1:9)!

Divorce as Apostasy.

Interestingly, the word used in Matthew 5:32 where Jesus said “anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery” is “apostasion” or apostasy as an abandonment of, in this case, their lawfully wedded spouse.

This also occurs in Matthew 19:3 and in Mark 10:4 where the same word for divorce comes from the root of the Greek words “apolyo” and “apostasia”. Here divorce is seen as abandoning someone that they vowed before God to be joined with for life. They have fallen away (apostasia or apostatizes) from the biblical teaching that marriage is for life and that no one or nothing should separate them until death they do part (Matt 19:6, Mark 10:9 ).

Apostasy in the Early Church.

It didn’t take long after the church began for apostasy to set in because the Enemy always wants to subvert and pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica about the Lord’s Day to “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction” (2 Thess 2:3).

The word “rebellion” is better translated as the Greek word indicates (apostasia) as apostasy so this verse would more accurately read “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” Here is a key point.

Apostasy is lawlessness. Any teaching that claims to be Christian yet teaches that we don’t have to keep Jesus’ commandments or the Ten Commandments is from an apostate teacher or pastor. We know this because John wrote that “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4c). Who is the ultimate source of this apostate teaching? It is “the son of destruction” (2 Thess 2:3c) or Satan himself.

Paul’s Warning of Apostasy.

We have already read one warning from Paul that before the Day of the Lord comes, apostasy will occur in the church and we are seeing this today.

Paul warns Timothy again that “the [Holy] Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim 4:1-5).

Once more we read of a Greek root word for apostasy where Paul writes that “some will depart (aphistēmi for “withdraw, remove” or “revolt”) from the faith.” The Greek root word for “depart” is “aphistēmi” or apostasy and who is this source of this revolt? It is from Satan and which is “teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars” because they teach unbiblical ideas such as abstaining from marriage (which is held as honorable to God) and from certain foods (when “everything created by God is good”).

Any time someone tries to teach you that Christians should only eat clean meats as mentioned in the Old Testament, you are to listen to or read it for This is not apostate literature , BUT be careful of listening to an apostate teacher because they will twist words like this Jesus said “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him” (Mark 7:15) and “Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”

(Thus he declared all foods clean) Which is not true ” (Mark 7:18-19). When God was telling Peter that salvation had now come to the Gentiles, who were considered unclean to the Jews, a voice from heaven spoke to him saying “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common” (Acts 10:13-15). See we have a twisting of scriptures , and we have to be careful. For an apostate teacher will use this to get you to rebel against God's food laws.

How to Recognize Apostasy.

It is so much easier to recognize apostasy when you are regularly reading the Bible. The more you read the Word of God the more that an apostate’s teachings just won’t sound right. Anytime that someone tells you that you must do this, abstain from that, do not do this but do this instead, that should alert you that something that someone is teaching or has written is unbiblical. No one is saved by abstaining from marriage, from not eating certain foods, from being told that breaking the law is not wrong, or that keeping the Old Testament Mosaic Laws is required. You must understand the true source is the Devil himself who is teaching his own doctrines for there is nothing we can add to or take away from salvation since it is fully a work of God and not our own works (Eph 2:8-9) “For we are His workmanship” not our own (Eph 2:10). If someone tells you that you must add anything to your salvation in order to get saved or to be in a right standing before God, other than repentance and trust in Christ, they are lying.

Apostasy is growing in the world today and possibly even in most of the churches because you don’t hear much of a Bible-centered, cross-proclaiming, Christ-elevating, God-glorifying message anymore. The gospel has frequently become man-centered, needs-based, happiness-oriented but Paul warns that they who teach such things have a curse from God on them (Gal 1:9) because they are teaching the doctrines of the Devil (1 Tim 4:1) and their lawlessness will catch up with them (2 Pet 3:17) and just before Christ returns there will be a great falling away (literally, apostasy) at that time (2 Tim 3:1-9). Just recognize that the essentials of the faith cannot be changed (Rom 10:9-13; Acts 4:12), and even if it appears to come from an angel (Gal 1:8) even the Devil can appear to be a preacher of righteousness (2 Cor 11:14) but the Jesus they are teaching about may not be the biblical Jesus (2 Cor 11:4). To be forewarned is to be forearmed.