Falling away from Christ

(Hebrews 4:6-8 – Falling Away from Christ)

The saddest situation we can ever see is when people are falling away from Christ. The scripture we are looking at today speaks deeply of this issue, and it is one of the worst forms of this issue

In this scripture today we see people falling away from Christ through utter rejection of Him and all the principles and teachings of Christianity. It is the worst kind of falling away from Christ because it is deliberate. These people have seen the fullness of Christ that is offered, have come to Him, and then rejected it all.

There are other ways that people can and do fall away, but this one is the worst. And we will see the reasons why shortly. But I also will look at several other ways people are falling away from Christ, so that we can learn and avoid them.

Apostasy Against Christ

The first mechanism for falling away from Christ is seen in this scripture I Hebrews 6.

4 For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt. 7 For land which has drunk the rain that often falls upon it, and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed; its end is to be burned. (Hebrews 4:6-8)

Note the opening words here. It is impossible to restore to repentance these ones who are falling away from Christ.

The people the writer is referring to are not new Christians, nor are they those who are ignorant of the truth. These are Christian who have studied and learned the truth. They have received the Holy Spirit and the Spirit has begun the work of transformation in them, into the image of Christ. These ones have tasted what is possible and available in Christ.

And they have rejected it all. They have done worse than that by spurning Christ, holding Him in contempt and committing the act of apostasy.

When it says in verse 6 that they, “…crucify the Son of God on their own account,” it is referring to that fact that they have rejected Christ and gone back into the world. Christ was being formed in them, as is the work of the Holy Spirit. But by throwing it all away, they have killed the work and killed Christ within them. Instead of growing and maturing in Christ they murdered the work in themselves and rejected the offer of God.

And this is a deliberate and calculated decision and action. It is not a simple sliding away. It is smashing the word of truth, devastating the work of the Spirit, and killing the work of transformation in themselves.

Falling away from Christ in this way is a great devastation, both for the individual and the church. Such people can and often do cause great damage in the church when they take this path.

And we see in the scriptures above that God sees them as land that brings forth only thorns, thistles and weeds. It is useless and needs to be burned, and that will be the judgement upon such people.

The Great Falling Away from Christ

In the last days there will be a time when many will fall away from Christ. Many will find it too hard to walk with Christ in the end times.

But they are not necessarily ones who commit apostasy, and they are not irredeemable. They can return to Christ if they repent because many who fall away do so because they are spiritually weak. They have not been fed with the words of truth that come from God. Instead, they have listened to and believe lies and falsehoods based upon the teachings of men, rather than the word of God.

The scripture tells us that there will be a great falling away from Christ in the end times. This was prophesied by Jesus as one of the signs that will precede His return.

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Take heed that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: 8 all this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:3-14)

There will be a great persecution arise against the church and many will fall away from Christ as the scripture here tells us. This is just one of the many signs leading up to His return.

But there is still an opportunity to repent for these people too. We see in verse 14 in this section that, “…this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations” Jesus was not saying “any gospel” would be preached. He said THIS gospel, that is, His truth. The true gospel of salvation that sadly has become watered down and perverted by men over the past two thousand years to the point where it is almost unrecognisable.

And if the TRUE gospel is preached, then there will still be opportunity for those who have fallen away to return to Christ and repent. It may be that when the truth is preached they will understand and see the power of the true gospel of salvation and return in repentance. That is yet to be seen.

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

There is one sin that Jesus stated was an unforgivable sin. It is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The commission of this sin would almost certainly cause a person to be falling away from Christ.

I am aware that there are many Christians who worry that they have committed this sin, but in truth most don’t even know what it is. We get a clue in the following words.

28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” — 30 for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3:28-29)

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is basically to call the Holy Spirit an evil or demonic spirit.

But there are those who may have said such things out of ignorance, not knowing the truth of these matters. I believe, and I hope that those who fall into that category can be forgiven by God and that there still remains hope for their salvation when they DO learn the truth.

As for those who should know better and blaspheme the Holy Spirit, that will be between them and God as to their judgement. And I believe they would have to fall into a category similar to the group who commit apostasy. They would have to have a good understanding and knowledge of the truth, and then reject it and blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

It is my hope though that the ignorant ones will still be accepted by God if they repent and turn to Him as they do not know any better.

Falling away from Christ – Parable of the Sower

One of the best known parables in the Bible is the parable of the sower. It is an analogy for those who hear the word of God and what they do next. You can read the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, but I will copy in the explanation of the parable that Jesus gave His disciples.

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (Matthew 13:18-23)

In this parable Jesus teaches that there are basically four groups of people who hear the word of God. The second and third groups are interesting because they show groups of people who are falling away from Christ.

The first group don’t even get off the ground. They are not falling away from Christ because they were never believers in the first place.

The fourth group are those who grow and remain faithful to Christ, so they are not amongst those who are falling away from Christ either.

However, the second group are those who come to Christ, but they never get a solid grounding in the word. They don’t learn how to stand in Christ and overcome the tribulations that come upon them. I believe that many of those in the group I mentioned in the section “The Great Falling Away from Christ,” that is to happen in the last days are probably this type of person.

Those who fall away because they can’t handle the persecutions that are coming do so because they have no root or foundation in Christ. The warning then in these words is to ensure you get that foundation. Seek the truth, not in the teachings and words of men, but in the teachings and words of God. Study the Bible and learn what the truth is, then do it.

As for the third group from the parable of the sower, these are falling away from Christ because they choose the world rather than the ways of God. They have their priorities all wrong and instead of choosing Christ, they follow the world. As such they are choked by the world rather than brought to life in the truth.

In summary, there are many ways and paths for those falling away from Christ. What we must learn is to stay close to the word and seek the truth. We need to listen to the word of God as written for our instruction in the Bible. And we need to learn how to apply them in our lives so we can stand in faith and truth, taking the whole armour of God.

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