T. A. McMahon

Apostasy is the desertion of one’s faith or religion. It is the forsaking  of the belief to which one had previously adhered. In Acts 21:21 the  Apostle Paul is falsely accused of encouraging the Jews to “forsake” the  teachings of Moses. The Greek term that is translated “forsake” is apostasia.  Apostasy, however, rarely comes about abruptly. It is more often a  process, and some may contribute to it without becoming complete  apostates.

It  began in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were in a perfect environment  and in perfect fellowship with God. They submitted to God in all things–until, that is, Eve got into a dialog with God’s adversary, Satan, the first apostate (see also Isaiah 14:12-14).  He had her reconsidering God’s Word by questioning what He commanded:  “Yea, hath God said…?” The Serpent’s objective was to get her to  “forsake” the commandment God had given to Adam: they were not to eat of  the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:1). Eve succumbed to the seduction, Adam joined his spouse in rebellion against God, and the seeds of apostasy took root.

The  seed of apostasy sprouted in Cain, who forsook God’s instructions for  bringing an acceptable sacrifice and instituted his own type of  offering. Apostasy increased with the building of the city and the tower  of Babel. It unified people to the degree that God had to “confound the  language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:9).  Later, among the Israelites, Aaron participated in apostasy when he  assisted them in their idolatrous worship of the golden calf (Exodus 32).

Throughout  the history of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel many of the  kings became apostate. King Ahaz of Judah was a prime example. William  MacDonald suggests in his commentary that the prefix of Ahaz’s name,  “Jeho,” which stands for the name of Jehovah God in “Jehoahaz,” may have  been omitted by the Holy Spirit “because Ahaz was an apostate” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, pp. 409-10).  He endorsed idolatry in Judah and had his son pass through the fire in a  ritual to the god Molech. Submitting to Ahaz’s instructions, Urijah the  priest (who is nevertheless commended in Isaiah) participated in the  apostasy by carrying out the king’s command to make a copy of a pagan  altar and set it up for divination purposes. Ahaz then had the altar  incorporated in the Temple worship in Jerusalem.

Apostasy  has been a part of every generation since the fall of mankind.  Scripture tells us that it will culminate in the last days when the  Antichrist is revealed. His religion will be an apostate Christianity–the  total antithesis of biblical Christianity. It will accommodate all  religions. Although the apostasy will not be fully realized until after  the Rapture of the church, its development has been ongoing from the  time when sin entered the human race. Furthermore, down through biblical  and church history, many true believers, either in ignorance or because  of the weaknesses of their flesh, have contributed to apostasy. Solomon  seems to exemplify this. As a believer, he was used of the Holy Spirit  to build the Temple and to write much of the Book of Proverbs, Song of  Songs, and Ecclesiastes, yet he also married many pagan women, which was  contrary to Scripture. These women turned him to idolatry and he built  temples for them to worship their false gods.

In  church history, men such as Augustine and Martin Luther are regarded as  true believers, especially by those who hold to Reformation theology.  Yet Augustine conceptualized many of the dogmas that are foundational to  the false theology and false gospel of the largest apostate institution  in Christendom–the  Roman Catholic Church. Luther is to be commended for his heroic stance  against the Church of Rome but certainly not for his replacement  theology and his anti-biblical hatred of the Jews. Later church history  is replete with professing and confessing Christians who (knowingly or  unknowingly) participated in the development of apostasy.

In  summary of the above, apostasy began with the sin of mankind, will  greatly increase in the Last Days, and will be complete when the  Antichrist rules this earth during the seven-year Great Tribulation  period. Therefore, as the world moves toward the apostasy’s total  fulfillment, all Christians will be vulnerable to its destructive seduction.

What  is the antidote? How can we keep ourselves from succumbing to those  things that would draw us into the apostasy? Let’s start with the  prevention program presented in Psalm 1: Blessed is the man that  walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of  sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

The  psalmist gives instructions for a spiritually fruitful life in the  Lord. These instructions are centered upon our being strengthened by  God’s Word and begin with the admonition that we are not to follow the  counsel of the ungodly. This doesn’t mean avoiding counsel only from  those who are obviously evil but rather rejecting any counsel that does not conform to what is taught in the Word of God. Twice we find in Proverbs (14:12; 16:25) that there is a way that seems right to people but it is not God’s  way. If it is not God’s way, it leads to the ways of death, which means  a separation from God’s truth that will ultimately lead to destruction  in one’s life.

A  major factor related to the apostasy’s subversion of the evangelical  church is that fewer and fewer professing Christians really believe in  the sufficiency of the Word of God for “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).  Instead, evangelicals are turning more and more to the ungodly wisdom  of the world. The evangelical church is one of the leading referral  entities for psychological counseling services. The shepherds are  turning their flocks over to professional psychotherapists, who are, in a  sense, the biblical equivalent of hirelings. In addition, they are  attempting to increase the numbers of their flocks by turning to  marketing techniques, which the Church Growth Movement gleaned from the  world. These have proven deadly to biblical faith.

Scripture’s  warning against walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the  path of sinners, or sitting in the seat of the scornful reveals a  progression, which is actually a regression–from waywardness to wickedness. By listening to and heeding what the lost–and even the enemies of the faith–have to say, one settles in comfortably with their  perspective and eventually practices what they preach. The tragic  result is that the heart becomes hardened to God’s truth, and one’s  attitude turns to scorn when confronted with it.

The  psalmist then shifts from what believers need to avoid to the primary  preventative measure they need to incorporate into their lives: “…his delight is in the law of the Lord[meaning the Law, the Prophets, and the Testimony], and in his law [the Scriptures] doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2).

The  main reason that apostasy is spreading so quickly among evangelicals  today is that many are functionally biblically illiterate. This means  that although nearly all “Christians” have Bibles and are able to read,  too few do  read them, and those who do don’t make it a practice that guides their  lives. This is one of the reasons for a shocking response revealed by  the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. It published a survey of  more than 35,000 American adults and found that 57 percent of those who  claim to be evangelicals believe that “many religions can lead to  eternal life.”

Obviously, they were not aware of nor did they take seriously the verses in which Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6) and Peter exclaimed, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Scripture tells us that such a condition will be pervasive in the last days: “For  the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after  their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching  ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be  turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

In  our day, biblical absolutes and an exclusive way of salvation are  viewed by the world as the epitome of intolerance, an accusation that  many evangelicals can’t handle–especially  those who don’t know the Bible well enough to give a biblical response.  Meditating upon the Word continually is the obvious solution to  rectifying such a condition. Furthermore, there is both encouragement  and help from our Lord. Consider His prayer to the Father for believers:  “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).  Jesus wants us sanctified, or set apart, as those who, regardless of  what the world thinks and says, are confident that His Word is the  truth. He said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). Part of that freedom is a confidence to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).  One cannot “contend” for something of which he is mostly ignorant.  Being able to defend one’s faith can only come about through a  disciplined study of the Scriptures.

In the Book of Proverbs we’re told, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7).  God has made His wisdom available to us in His Word. Furthermore, to  all who have put their faith in Jesus, He has given the Holy Spirit, the  Spirit of Truth, to help us to “get understanding.” Knowing the Holy  Scriptures is God’s prevention program against apostasy, and it is  available to all who seek after Him. That is the biblical criteria for  getting wisdom and understanding. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “From  a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make  thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).  Clearly, it is not a matter of one’s intellectual ability or education  but rather one’s desire to know God’s truth and to diligently pursue it.  The Lord’s choice of uneducated fishermen as apostles to be the primary  messengers of His Word–rather than those highly educated within the religious establishment–should speak volumes to anyone who thinks he doesn’t qualify.

The  believer who meditates continually on God’s Word will find that his  efforts will be both preventive against apostasy and for the  strengthening of his faith. Furthermore, it is the basis for being  spiritually fruitful: “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf  also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3). It is also the means for equipping the believer for the spiritual war that is now raging.

The  crux of the spiritual battle is over the Word of God. The adversary’s  strategy is to discredit the Scriptures in every way and by every means  possible. As we noted, it began in the Garden initially by the  questioning of God’s Word, followed immediately by the denial of its  truth (Genesis 3:4-5).  Those who do not recognize that they are in such a battle may have  already been captured by the lies of the Adversary. The Apostle Paul  wrote that we are not to be ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11)  and used military metaphors for more than a literary device; he  underscored the reality of the spiritual warfare taking place and sets  up the believer’s defense:

Wherefore  take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand  in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having  your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of  righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of  peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able  to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of  salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:13-17)

Our fight is the good fight of faith, remembering that our weapons are not carnal but spiritual (2 Corinthians 10:4). It is “warfare” over the truth, with the goal of being “able to withstand in the evil day.” Our victory is simply to stand for God’s Word.

As the battle intensifies, which Scripture indicates it will prior to the Lord’s coming for His saints, we need to be “praying  always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching  thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).  We need to circle the wagons with other believers for fellowship and  spiritual protection, for counsel, for encouragement, for correction,  for comfort, and for ministry to one another. If such things become our  practice while we wait upon the Lord, even though the Apostasy dries up  the spiritual environment around us, we shall be like a tree planted by  the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose  leaf also shall not wither; and whatever we do shall prosper in the  Lord.

 

 (Dangers in the Way Series): Resisting the Worlds Propoganda by A.W. Tozer