 | Senior Pastor Tom Hawks, of Glenn Park Christian Church for the last 30 years, was born in Wichita. He has lived here most of his life. He has been married to Ellen for 24 years. They have two children and three grandchildren. His favorite pastimes are spending time with his family, fishing and studying the Word of God. You may contact Pastor Hawks at (316) 943-4283. |
Religion
2007-06-01 09:43:00
Can you tell me about the sin of apostasy?
It seems that the universal definition of apostasy is the formal renunciation of one’s faith. If one quits practicing the Catholic faith, and becomes a member of another Church (other than Catholic), then openly criticizes Catholicism and its teachings, is one guilty of apostasy? Then, if that same person comes back to the Catholic faith, is that person guilty of committing apostasy with the other church?
The word apostasy means “the act of rebelling against, forsaking, abandoning, or falling away from what one has believed.” The Old Testament speaks of “falling away” in terms of a person’s deserting to a foreign king (Jer. 37:13-14), being “backslidden” (Jer.2:19), or the often used picture of Israel’s history of turning from God to other Gods (Jer. 2:19, 14:7-9, 8:4-7).
In the New Testament the word “Apostasy” is derived from the Greek word (apostasia) that means “to stand away from.” One of the favorite verses concerning this thought is found in Hebrews 3:12 “see to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from God.” The writer wants us to make sure we stay close to God, worship, study, pray, fellowship and trusting in His promises. Apostasy certainly is a biblical concept, but the implications of the teaching have been “holy” debated. The debate has centered on apostasy and salvation. Some hold “once saved, always saved”. Though we may stray, if we are truly “saved”, we will never stray far from God. Others hold that we go in and out of grace and must always be careful to seek forgiveness, almost in a legalistic fashion.
Whenever I have “one” who is a Christian and because of some sin they deem unforgivable, they are in fear of “Apostasy”, I encourage them that their conviction of sin in itself is a sign they have not fallen away. A desire for salvation shows one does not have “an evil heart of unbelief!” My favorite verse to remind me of staying close to Christ is found in Jude 24-25 “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!” God is able to keep us, make us blameless, triumphant because He is wise and powerful. To that I say “Amen!”
