Term Paper

Warning to Avoid Apostasy

Course Title: GBNT 642 Epistles to the Hebrews

Prepared by: Rafael N. Vargas Gonzalez

Prepared to: Dr. Charles Legg

Program: Doctor of Ministry Degree

Date: 11-22-2018

The word apostasy comes from the Latin word “apostasia” which means “to

revolt” and “to defect.” It is literally, a “standing off.” In other words, apostasy is

revolting against the truth, defecting to the side error, and standing off, and not on, the

teaching of Scripture. It is more over an abandonment of what a person once believed

(Wellman)

The Greeks used the word apostasy (apostanai) referring to “standing apart

from” or “deserting” from something or someone. To further explain, apostasy is

voluntarily abandoning or standing in defiance of something that was once believed and

practiced as true. It can also entail abandoning our own principles, morals, and values.

Either way, it is a falling back or a falling away from something. In this case, the truth

(John 14:6).
 During his early ministry, Jesus gave us several signs that would precede His

return. One of them is that “many will fall away and betray one another and hate

another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray: (Matt 24:10-11)

Throughout the Bible there are warning signs about an eschatological time that

we are living. More than ever we must remain committed, immovable and always

abounding in the work of the Lord. We must remember that our labor in the Lord is not

in vain. The Apostle Paul warned Timothy, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later

times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and

teachings of demons” (1st Tim 4:1)

Two of the theological systems that attempt to explain the relationship between

God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the matter of salvation are the Calvinism

and Arminianism (History of the Calvinist—Ariminian debate, 2018). Briefly talking about

both perspectives we can see the following differences:

 Calvinists deny that true Christians can commit apostasy and lose their salvation,

stressing the final perseverance of the saints.

 Arminians agree that true Christians can indeed commit apostasy and lose their

salvation, stressing the free will of man. (Wilson, (year).

This debate begins in the early 17th century and continues today, in the subject of

soteriology, and includes disputes about total depravity, predestination, and atonement
(History of the Calvinist—Arminian debate, 2018). Nevertheless, despite our position to

this doctrine, the writer of the Book of Hebrews seems to support more the Arminianism

due to the five warnings found in the book of Hebrews that we must consider.

When Hebrews was first written it admonished the people living at the end of an era,

or at least at the very near end of the era, where Jerusalem in a few years would be

falling. It was going to be overrun and destroyed by the Romans, thus ending a long

period of time in which Jerusalem was the headquarters of Judaism. We too live at the

end of an era—a far greater end than that one they were facing. It is the end of the

Babylonish system, and at this end is going to culminate in the Tribulation and the Day

of the Lord. (Ritenbaugh, 2001).

These same warnings that were presented to the Hebrews over 1900 years ago can

be applied to current day Christians that are weak in their faith. These warnings remind

the reader of certain standards that should be upheld and illustrate the warning signs of

an individual that is falling away. All Christians should closely review these warnings

occasionally in order to evaluate themselves to ensure that they are not in jeopardy of

falling away.

Each warning is an indication of the danger that the author perceives. More than

ever before, these warnings are imperative in these days of Apostasy that we are living.

The Original Audience of Hebrews was composed of Jewish Christians. At the time that

this book was written, Jewish converts to Christianity were under persecution from the

Romans and their families. These Christians were in danger returning to Judaism in
order to become accepted by their families and avoid persecution from the Romans.

This letter urges these Christians to remember the superiority of Christ and what they

would lose by turning back to Judaism. Let us explain each warning followed by an

exhortation:

1. Do not neglect the message/scripture

Hebrews 2:1-4 (NIV): We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we

have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was

binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how

shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first

announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also

testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit

distributed according to his will."

The word neglect means, “to disregard, to fail to care for, to remiss, to overlook,

to ignore, to be inattentive to, and to let slide by”. The word indicates disrespect,

carelessness, indifference, laziness, shortsightedness and forgetfulness. The

following data shows how just reading the word of God has been neglecting in

recent years:

 19% of churchgoers personally read the Bible every day.

 18% of churchgoers NEVER read the Bible.

 25% of churchgoers read the Bible several times a week.

 14% of churchgoers read the Bible once a week.

  22% of churchgoers read the Bible once a month (www.christianitytoday.com)

These results are just based on reading the Bible, not studying the Bible per se—which

could display more astonishing numbers.

We are living in a time where Christians worldwide will rather read other books than

their own Bible. Most of the time people tend to learn 10 steps of the formula of

achieving things rather than going to the main source which is the word of the living God

and the main root of these days.

Another issue is the use of clichés. Christians have a full box of clichés that are used

in faith circles but without biblical foundation. Most of these people start repeating those

clichés without knowing the origin of them.

The first man, Adam, failed because he neglected the word of God. This is the

result of laziness and carelessness instead of delightedly seeking God’s word and have

pleasure reading it. From Adam, most of the great man of God failed because they

neglected the word spoken by God. Although the first Adam failed by neglecting the

word of God, the second Adam conquered and had victory through the word in the

dessert and believing the word in the cross.

The opposite of neglect is to value and what we value we work and take care of.

Thus, what we highly value we naturally enjoy and give our time and energies to. We
must start enjoying the word of God and the messages it contains for our spiritual

benefit.

That is the reason why the writer of the book of Hebrews says: “We must pay

more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away”

and paying attention is to value because otherwise how can we escape if we neglect

our salvation? This indirectly implies the very real and true possibility of Christian

apostasy.

The gospel offers great salvation from the "just punishment" from breaking the

Law. But the opposite -- neglecting this salvation -- cuts off any hope of escaping from

the terrors of punishment. (Wilson, Jesus Walk Bible Study Series).There is no greater

Messenger. There is no greater message than His gospel

2. Danger of Hardening the Heart

Hebrews 3:7-11(NIV) So, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear his voice, do not

harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the

wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw

what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always

going astray, and they have not known my ways. So I declared on oath in my anger,

‘They shall never enter my rest.

 This is a warning against doubt, because at the base of their neglect is going to be a

waning of faith. It is telling us do not allow rebellion or false doctrine harden your heart

and cause disobedience or sin.

In the book of Luke there is an interesting question: “However, when the Son of Man

comes, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8b NVI)” This time of apostasy (which is

neglecting and abandoning the faith) is the time where man and woman of God must

activate and cultivate the faith in Jesus. The Bible is clear and shows us that faith

comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about

Christ (Romans 10:17 NVI).

The word “hear” could mean (obey, pay attention, understand), so the hardening of

the heart that they had could have been caused by a misunderstanding of the word of

God. So this warning dovetails perfectly with the first warning that was directly tied to

their greatly undervaluing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The author of Hebrews says, "Listen!", "Tend to" and "Give attention to." This is what

we have to do. This is why I frequently emphasize that God gives us patterns in the

Bible so that we can have faith. He is calling upon them to make sure that we pay

attention, and this attention will produce understanding, and their faith then would be

strengthened (Ritenbaugh, 2001).

 3. Danger of not maturing

Hebrews 5:11-14 (NKJ) we have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it

clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you

ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s

word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still

an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for

the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

The first three warnings are directly linked. The first two talks about neglect and

not hearing things properly. The third deals with spiritual immaturity and the exhortation

to mature. Is telling the people, “You are dull of hearing.” It is not maybe, it is that they

ARE. So in these three warnings the author not only states his point but also provides

evidence (Ritenbaugh, 2001).

Immaturity of understanding biblical doctrine leads to immature thinking and

living. Consequently, many believers do not live up to their calling in Christ to be salt

and light to the world. A person moves towards spiritual maturity by building the

principles of God’s Word into their life in such a manner that they become more and

more like Christ in the way they think and act.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “When I was a child, I talked like a

child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the

ways of childhood behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV)

 God's desire for us is that we grow, mature, and become more like Christ. However,

in order to achieve the desired maturity we must omit all distractions; rather we must

discipline ourselves to attend to their very serious spiritual responsibility and meditate in

the word of God. As a child grows it requires more solid food – It’s the same during our

spiritual growth.

4. Danger of Shrinking Back

Hebrews 10:26-31 (NIV)- If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received

the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of

judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected

the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How

much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the

Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant

that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who

said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is

a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

The fourth warning is the result of the first three. It’s what I call a “Domino effect.”

From neglect, and failure to listen, and immature laziness, would come deliberate willful

sin which, in the case of one who has already had his sins forgiven by Christ's blood,

amounts to treading the Son of God under foot and doing despite unto the spirit of

grace.
 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in

them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God (1 John 3:9

NVI). As child of God we will not continue to do the own nature of the flesh, on the

contrary, we will strive to leave a life that pleases our Almighty God. This doesn’t mean

that a new born person will never sin, but it will not continue to sin.

If we go on sinning willfully, it thus stresses a continual habitual sinning rather than a

sin that is committed inconsiderately, ignorantly, or from weakness. In other words, God

in His mercy does not take a one-time occurrence and say this is the pattern of the

person's life. But rather the evidence comes from our own lives of what we have done

over a fairly long period of time, and when it is combined with attitude, then God makes

a very fair judgment based upon those things (Rittenbaugh, 2001).

A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect produced when one

event sets off a chain of similar events. This warning tells us that obedience to God's

will is required for salvation. Mere intellectual Christianity, or acknowledgment of Christ

as Savior, is not sufficient. A mere salvation prayer is not the guarantee that we are

saved. It requires that we diligently care our salvation and shows the fruit of the spirit in

our daily walk. This warning ends with a powerful statement:." It is a dreadful thing to fall

into the hands of the living God." is very serious. It is a reminder that no one escapes

His judgment.
 This final warning is against refusing God. This warning starts the final section of

the book of Hebrews. The purpose of these final warnings in chapter 12:14-29 is to

again to warn against attitudes and behavior that lead to apostasy. Using Old

Testament examples and the contrasts of Sinai-Zion, earth-heaven, the writer warns his

readers to listen to God.

The author of the book of Hebrews says that "without faith it is impossible to

please Him," and that was the basic problem that these people were faced with, and it is

the basic problem of the church today. Faith has waned. People became confused to all

the false doctrines and bad attitudes that they were witness to in the church, and many

have become jaded. They have lost sight, and they use that in a way as their

justification for what they do.

The author of Hebrews adds, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an

evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Heb 3:12). This

means we should not be “neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but

encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb

10:25). The more you forsake the gathering with the saints to worship, the more isolated

you will become, and stray sheep that wander from the care of the Good Shepherd are

at greater risk and in danger of the enemy and are more prone to error than those who

remain at the Master’s feet.

 In conclusion I will provide some ways to avoid Apostasy. Consider the

following:

 Pray and ask God for direction before you ever change what you believe or if you

think that what you believe is not correct.

 Seek godly counsel about biblical uncertainties.

 Ask other believer’s about it.

 Do a word or subject study on the teaching.

 Find cross-reference Bible verses about it.

 Do a concordance search on the word or subject.

 Seek to have daily Bible study so you are familiar with biblical teachings.

 Attend Bible studies, Sunday school, the preaching of the Word, and small group

studies.

 The more you know the Bible, the better you’ll be equipped to notice error.
 References

Bibliography
History of the Calvinist–Arminian debate. (2018, January 31). Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Calvinist%E2%80%93Arminian_debate#ref_1-
Pawson

Ritenbaugh, J. W. (2001, February 10). Retrieved from

https://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Audio.details/ID/629/Five-Warnings-Hebrews.htm

Ritenbaugh, J. W. (2001, FEB 01). The Five Warnings of Hebrews - Their Applications to Us. Retrieved
from Church of the Great God:
https://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Audio.details/ID/629/Five-Warnings-Hebrews.htm

STETZER, E. (2012, September 13). New Research: Less Than 20% of Churchgoers Read the Bible Daily.
Retrieved from https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2012/september/new-research-
less-than-20-of-churchgoers-read-bible-daily.html

WELLMAN, J. (n.d.). What Are Warning Signs You Or Someone Else Is Falling Into Apostasy? Retrieved
from whatchristianswanttoknow: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/what-are-
warning-signs-you-or-someone-else-is-falling-into-apostasy/

Wilson, D. R. (n.d.). Jesus Walk Bible Study Series. Retrieved from

http://www.jesuswalk.com/hebrews/1_son.htm#Warning1

Wilson, D. R. (n.d.). The Five Warning Passages of Hebrews. Retrieved from JesusWalkBibleStudySerie:
http://www.jesuswalk.com/hebrews/hebrews-warnings.htm