Recognition

Before we approach the subject I'd like to recognize that there are many beliefs represented today. Some have been raised in different environments and persuasions and some have no persuasion. Our belief system must be Biblical.

" It must not be popular thanking. Why? Because popular thinking means people don't think for themselves.
" It must not be common sense. Why? Because common sense is not that common today.
" It must not be opinion. Why? Because opinion is highly subjective and generally carries some form of prejudice with it.
" It must not be how many times a subject is mentioned in the Bible. Why? The expression 'born again' is only mentioned three times by Christ and Peter. Money is mentioned more than any other subject but being born again is the chief goal of salvation.

Conclusion

It has to be Biblical transcending popular thinking, common sense, opinion and how many times something mentioned. It is something we live 'up' to not something we live 'down' to. Therefore some part of this message will challenge you.

Sonship

(Romans 8:15) "…you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." In the series of born-identity we have established several Biblical absolutes from Romans chapter five that speak of our sonship:

" We have peace with God. How? Through the death of Christ God has been fully satisfied that sin has been atoned for. This is permanent part of sonship. How? (2 Corinthians 5:18) "All this is from God."
" We have gained access into the grace of God. How? Through the death of Christ who became one of us so he could invite us in from where we were. This is a permanent part of sonship. How? (2 Corinthians 5:18) "All this is from God."
" We are saved from the wrath of God to come. What is the wrath of God? It is the Day of Judgment where every thought, word and deep is judged. How are we saved from it? Through the death of Christ we have been justified already in a legal and forensic sense. This is a permanent part of sonship. How? (2 Corinthians 5:18) "All this is from God."
" We are in a changed state. How? God counted sins against Christ who knew no sin so we could become the righteousness of God. The law has been satisfied fulfilled and surpassed so God can deal with us in a new way. This is a permanent part of sonship. How? (2 Corinthians 5:18) "All this is from God."

Conclusion

Sonship is something that God alone has made possible through Christ. It is never withdrawn or changes as we see in the parable of the prodigal son. (Luke 15)

What is a backslider?

The Hebrew language of the Old Testament is translated 'turning away' from something. The Greek language of the New Testament is translated 'turning back' from something. So whether it is Old or New Testament backsliding means to 'turn' from something you have been bought into. Remember that God has brought you in through the death of Christ.

Who is a backslider?

A backslider is a Christian. A backslider cannot be an unbeliever. How can an unbeliever turn away or turn back from something they have not been brought into? Therefore Adam and Eve were not backsliders as they were created in perfection and sinned. They were not brought into any blood covenant whether Old or New Testament. Fallen angels are not backsliders because they were created in perfection and sinned. They were not brought into any blood covenant. Judas Iscariot was not a backslider because he was not a true disciple under any blood covenant. Jesus made it clear who Judas was. (John 6:70) "One of you is a devil." A backslider is someone who turns away from the sonship they have been brought into by a blood covenant as a true Israelite in the Old Testament or a Christian in the New Testament.

How does a Christian backslide?

By sinning. John spoke to the believer about sin. (1 John 1:8) "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." Christians sin and if they say they don't sin they are lying. At some point we all have to come to terms with our own backslidings. This is why the Lord's Prayer addresses this issue of sin in the believer's life on a daily basis. (Matthew 6:12) "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Our view of a backslider is someone who has continued in sin to such an extent that it is obvious. But this is not how John speaks. Bad attitudes, subtle unforgiveness or deliberate prejudice is all sin.

Examples of backsliding

The Bible is an honest book unlike many publications today. Some write about their favorite presidential candidate glossing over sin and focusing on success. Others write against candidates glossing over their success and focusing on their sin. The Bible does not gloss anything over but clearly explains the vice and virtue of an Old Testament Israelite or New Testament Christian.

Old Testament:

" Noah was naked and drunk in his tent.
" Lot wanted fellowship with the Sodomites and ruined his family.
" Moses lost his temper by striking the rock a second time.
" Abraham lied about his wife saying she was his sister.
" Samson was filled with the Holy Spirit as a true Nazarite but kept the company of questionable women.
" David took another mans wife and killed the husband.

They all turned away or turned back from the blood covenant they were brought into.

New Testament:

" Peter cussed and denied Christ.
" Paul tells us he did what he did not want to do.
" The disciples deserted Christ when he asked them to watch and pray
" Believers in Galatia turned back to Judaism by turning away from Christianity
" Believers in the church in Ephesus had lost their love for their first love.

They all turned away or turned back from the blood covenant they were brought into.

What is the result of backsliding?

(Proverbs 14:14) "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." Backsliding brings you grief and trouble not from God but from yourself. (1 Corinthians 11:30) "That is why many among you are weak and sick…" The church in Corinth was carrying on in such a way that they dishonored the Lord's Table. You start handling things in your own emotional strength and financial power instead of receiving from the riches of his grace. You begin to worry about tomorrow when God has already said (Romans 5:10) "…how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" If God has done the greater thing of providing salvation through the death of Christ surely he will 'give us this day our daily bread?' The backslider has no confidence in the provision of daily bread. The joy of your salvation is gone. David backslid by committing adultery but he prayed. (Psalm 51:12) "…restore to me the joy of your salvation…" The loss in the present is because of the believers backsliding. Lot lost his real estate, his wife and ruined his two daughters. David lost the child that the adultery gave birth to. The consequence of sin will cause you incredible loss because the blessing of the Lord is not on you. (Jeremiah 2:19) "Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me,' declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty." The way of a backslider is a very hard road to travel. The evidence of Old Testament Israelites and New Testament believers who backslide shows incredible loss in the present life.

" Noah lost his family. His three sons Ham, Shem and Japheth. Ham became the father of the Canaanites that the descendents of Shem and Japheth had to drive out of the Promised Land.
" Lot lost his wife who became a pillar of salt and his two daughters committed acts of incest with their own father. He lost all his real estate in Sodom and any business interest.
" Moses was stopped from entering the Promised Land.
" Samson had his head shaven and humiliated in front of the Philistines. His eyes were gouged out.
" David was passed over to be the builder of the temple in Jerusalem.
" Peter quit the ministry and thought he could prosper doing something else. He went out fishing all night and caught nothing.
" The prodigal son lost all he had because the backslider loses the blessing of the Lord. He ended up eating pig food with the pigs.

Is a backslider still saved?

If a backslider has lost the joy of their salvation do they lose their salvation? The question is very ambiguous. Did you deserve your salvation? Did you do anything to earn it, deserve it or merit it? Salvation is in Christ the gift of God. (2 Corinthians 5:18) "All this is from God." You did not deserve salvation and the backslider does not deserve restored joy salvation. But you are saved because of what God has done through Christ and so is the backslider. Christ taught a singular story about the lost son, lost coin and the lost sheep. The coin, sheep and son are still his. Salvation did not depend on your works so don't make the backslider work for it. (Ephesians 2:8) "For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."

Why is this challenging?

We all have loved ones who have backslidden. When their backsliding has also caused a personal offense (sinning against you) unforgiveness on your part will create its own doctrine to fit your subjective feelings. It then becomes easy for you to condemn them but God does not. Remember that the backslider's calamity comes upon them. (Proverbs 14:14) "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways." The torment of the backslider is that Christ still lives in them creating a painful life if you carry on in sin. Peter refers to the soul of Lot as being 'righteous' and the torment he lived. (2 Peter 2:8) "…was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds…" Lot was vexed in his own soul because the believer still has the voice of God in him. God can never forsake his own children. The loved one who is a backslider may not have a place at your table or the loved they once had from your heart but they still have a place at the table and the love of the Father with God.

Can the backslider commit the unpardonable sin?

Absolutely not! (Matthew 12:31-32) "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." This has nothing to do with cussing and taking God's name in vain. Remember Peter cussed and denied Christ but was restored. The unpardonable sin is to reject the unrelenting love of God who has made a way for you to be reconciled to him. This is done through the Holy Spirit. The unpardonable sin is not to become a Christian.

How does God treat the backslider?

When God spoke through the Old Testament prophets to Israel it was always in the singular person of a wife and lover. She was faithless, an adulteress, found in the bed of foreign gods, with other lovers. The Book of Hosea contains this theme. The prophet was told to marry an adulteress to represent that Israel had been unfaithful. (Hosea 3:1) "She is loved by another and is an adulteress." But look how God responds in his unrelenting love to Old Testament Israel. (Hosea 11:8-9) "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man--the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath." The imagery is powerful. God comes looking for his bride in a brothel and gathers her I his arms to restore her. We think that the message of John the Baptist was filled with rage. But John was preaching hope for the backslider. He himself was the fulfillment of Isaiah. He preached repentance to the crowd that gathered. But there were those present that he did not preach to. (Matthew 3:7) "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" He was saying, 'this message is not for you because I am addressing people who have backslidden.' John told them they already had the capacity to turn again to God and present the fruit of repentance because he had not left them. Remember John is the fulfillment of Isaiah who spoke to a nation who had 'turned' from God. Understand that John did not preach to the community of religion: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes and Herodians. His message was for those who had been caught up in these religions looking for something that worked. John was speaking to the religious backslider who had no joy and hope. What was John's message to the backslider? He had a double imperative (Isaiah 40:1) "Comfort, comfort my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her…that her sin has been paid for." This is the highway John built in the desert of backsliding to come back to God. John is saying that if you want to hold on to your sin then this is not for you but if you are fed up with it there is a way back because "…her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned…" God does not just pardoned but like the prodigal son God will also restore the fortunes of the backslider. (Joel 2:25) "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten--the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm…" If you are a Christian and are backsliding see that God has created a highway for you to get back to him because he has never left you. Pharaoh tried to negotiate with Moses to let the men go to the mountain and worship or the woman and the children but not everyone. Moses was a type of Christ who relentlessly stood his ground for everyone. If you could not walk someone would carry you. If you were old someone would carry you. If you were a nursing mother someone would carry you. The highway has been leveled out. "Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain laid low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places plain."

Does the backslider go to heaven?

Yes. (Romans 11:29) "…for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." (KJV) "For the gifts and call of God are without repentance." This does not mean that the backslider does not repent but that God shall never repent or regret saving a soul that backslides because they still belong to him.

If you would like to see previous transcripts you can find them here: Teaching Series