Today we’ll discuss How Christians Avoid Apostasy, which is pretty simple to understand but not easy to accomplish. It takes diligence, daily Bible study, and persistence. The “world” or, in other words, the current liberal worldview is continually trying to push and pull us down a path of apostasy. Apostasy is the formal abandonment of or rejection of a religion or certain religious doctrines by a person. It can also define it as embracing a view that is contrary to one’s previous religious beliefs. God has a straight and narrow path clearly defined in the Holy Bible. Straying from that path or adding external sources to the Holy Bible is apostasy. In the following paragraphs, I’ll share how Peter explained how to stay on the path God set before us.
II Peter 1:5-10
“…giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”
How Christians Avoid Apostasy
Peter wrote this letter to all Christians. He said, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature…” To partake, we must actively pursue the divine nature after we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Peter explains what we need to do. You start with your faith and add virtue (strength, bravery, valor, moral goodness).
Then, to your knowledge of Christ and the Scriptures, you add temperance (patience; calmness; moderation of passions, self-control). Then to your patience (temperance), you add godliness (careful compliance to the laws of God and performance of religious duties, proceeding from love and admiration for God and His commands). To our godliness, we are to add brotherly kindness, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 22:37-39.
Then Peter said to our brotherly kindness; we are to add charity (love, benevolence, goodwill). Peter says that all these things will keep you from failing to bear fruit in your Christianity. If you show all of these things to the people around you, you will lead people to Christ. They will see the difference in you and will want to have what you’ve got; a personal relationship with God.
Christian Apostasy and How Christians Avoid Apostasy
Peter continues that if you lack these attributes, you are blind, you cannot see what’s ahead of you, and you have forgotten that the blood of Jesus cleansed you from all your sins. In other words, you have slipped into apostasy. So, God, through Peter, commands us to be diligent and make sure we are practicing the faith as described in the Holy Bible. That way, we can never fall. In other words, we will not succumb to apostasy. We will not reject the parts of the Bible that we don’t like or don’t fit into the current liberal worldview. Instead, we will live as God intended. We will live by faith with virtue, knowledge, temperance, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, which will prevent apostasy in our lives and bring people to Christ.