I Timothy 4:1
“THE SPIRIT SPEAKETH EXPRESSLY, THAT IN THE LATTER TIMES, SOME SHALL DEPART FROM THE FAITH, GIVING HEED TO SEDUCING SPIRITS AND DOCTRINES OF DEVILS, SPEAKING LIES IN HYPOCRISY, AND HAVING THEIR CONSCIENCES SEARED WITH A HOT IRON...”
Some can 'depart from the faith'... and one of the ways to do that is to think one can be a servant of sin, and not be doomed even though they are a 'servant of sin'. Some say that one can never backslide, and even if that is true, then if they become servants of sin, they were never saved to begin with. If one can backslide, it is due to turning away from the salvation Jesus provided, becoming a servant of sin so long that they reject Jesus. Either way, one who condones sin, who feels no regret and repentance for sin is 'departed from the faith.'
One of the signs of this is listed in that passage also... 'their consciences seared with a hot iron'. They no longer feel conviction for sin, they condone it, or justify it. They do not continue to have a repentant (change of mind) heart about sin. It is enjoyed and not repented of if they have no conscience to tell them it is wrong.
Some people to not feel guilt, they do not worry about a judgment for sin, and to have a conscience that is seared to insensitivity to sin.
The gnostic sect tells mankind, that the God of the Old Testament is an evil God, and gave the commandments, so they too are evil. Breaking them is good, according to the gnostics. That idea is becoming more and more prevalent in the churches of today.
Some today, including the gnostics, preach a doctrine of ‘no judgment’ and no need for repentance or regret for sins committed after a supposed salvation. This denies the atoning work of the Lord that was to make them a new creation, and Christ-like, not satan like.
The adherents of that heresy, will denigrate, attack, and belittle any who mention hell, judgment, repentance, or even the word ‘sin’.
There are a lot of thoughts in this post. Almost wish you would have split them up better as it is hard to understand exactly what you are saying.
To me backsliding is personal. What I mean by that is that their are many reasons why I, personally have backslidden, but first I want to say what I think backslidden means.
To backslide in my understanding is to take a significant step backwards away from God. The key word to me is significant because I know that what is significant to me is probably very different from what it means to you (or another).
In my own testimony, I was saved when I was 12 years old. I remember it so distinctly because it was my 12th birthday. Many people come from a variety of backgrounds and I had been in foster homes from the time I was 5 yo to 10 yo and there were quite a few, if I remember correctly 8 foster homes in 5 years. Foster homes back then were very different then. A foster home was like a holding place for kids til their parents went to court or the court decided what to do with you. You spent 6 months with a family, got a new mom, dad, brothers & sisters a new school a new life and then it changed. I'm only sharing this to provide a little context to my testimony. I had 5 brothers and sisters who went through the same thing. We weren't raised together, people didn't take foster kids in groups of 5, no they took one.
I never had the 'being raised in a certain church or type of church'. I would be with unbelievers, then catholics, then baptists and so on. So I had no stability in what I thought Jesus was. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me, only to say that each 'sinner' has a different set of experiences.
I stumbled with God so often. I needed to discover who and what God was. Everyone had an opinion in my life, but I had to discover for myself because no one ever sat me down and said this is what the Word says ....
I have backslidden because as a teen friends became more important than God. I have backslidden when I thought God was so unfair and stuck me with a really bad life. Why me Lord? Do you hate me? Why do others have what I don't have? You are not fair!
Over 32 years, my Christian life has been full of ups and downs.
I wish I got the 'Bam' and now your perfect Christian life, but God never did a whammy on me. I never had that moment of deliverance some claim to have that changed them from wrong to right.
God and I walked. I walked way to fast sometimes and left God behind. I walked way to slow and my faithful Lord chided me lovingly back to Him. I rebelled. Got pi$%d. I loved Him and I was upset with Him at the same time.
God has seen it all with me. I don't pretend and I was always upfront with Him. The good, bad and the ugly.
The idea that many present on this forum of sin to me is the 'politically correct' version of Christianity.
You either decide you want to sin or decide you don't want to sin. Interesting as I always just lived life and sin happened. If God is my most loved Lord, who I love with all my heart, than He is also the one I turn to in times of sorrow, anger, and my worst times.
According to you, I should not be in Christ. I should be someone else, the 'politically correct' Christian. The conscious sinner. It's not that cut and dry, unless I have the abnormal Christian life, which may be what I have.
So who am I in Christ? In your opinion? Am I the most inwardly ugly sinful person or just a sinner making their way?
Christians are obsessed with one another's sin. Is it because to look at others is to not focus on yourself? You define me. You tell me who I am. You tell me what God means to me.
YOU DONT KNOW ME. STOP DEFINING ME AND MY SIN. I AM UNIQUE. GOD MADE ME THAT WAY. GOD.
If people keep grouping everyone in 'one nice little group', then I feel obligated to tell such people to stop 'grouping everyone into nice little groups'.
I'm sure I will be repenting for this tonight.