Some Will Abandon the Faith

[Christsfreeservant]

“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.” (1 Timothy 4:1-2 NASB’95)​

I do believe that we are now living in those “later times” when some will depart from (fall away, abandon) the faith. And what is faith? The word means “to persuade,” and for the Christian it means to be persuaded by God, which results in fidelity and faithfulness to God and to the teachings of the Scriptures on how we are to live as those who profess the name of Jesus. For God persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die to sin and to walk in obedience to him.

And the Bible teaches faith as obedience to God, and disobedience as unbelief. For if we claim to be in fellowship with God, or to know God intimately, and to be in relationship with him, but we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, without genuine repentance, and if obedience to God is not what we practice, then we are liars who do not live by the truth. And if we do not change, but we continue on that same course, then we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips say.

Now the faith to believe in Jesus Christ comes from God, it is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, it is persuaded of God, and it is gifted to us by God, and it is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man. And it is not of our own fleshly works – not our faith and not our salvation. But we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them. And he demands death to sin and walks of obedience to him, in the power of God.

For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, and put sin to death, by the Spirit, and we walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord, then we have eternal life with God. For Jesus said that not everyone professing him as “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2]

So, to fall away from (abandon, depart from) the faith, it would seem that faith initially did exist or that there was some semblance of acceptance of at least parts of the Christian faith and practice. But many make professions of faith in Jesus Christ but they never die with him to sin and they never walk in obedience to his commands (in practice). Their confessions of faith are lip service only while they still walk in sin and do what they want to do regardless of what God demands or what is right in the eyes of God.

For they are following after deceiving spirits who are convincing them that their sins do not matter to God and that they can continue living in sin, and not in obedience to the Lord, and still have their sins forgiven, and still be in relationship with God, and still have heaven secured for them when they die. But the Scriptures dispel that notion over again. And I am not saying that a genuine follower of Jesus Christ cannot fall back into sin. We all can if we are not guarded and if we are allowing the lies to consume us, and not the truth.

But the Scriptures make a distinction between those who never did die to sin and who never walked in obedience to the Lord, but who professed faith in Jesus Christ convinced all their sins were forgiven and that heaven was secured them, and those who, by genuine faith in the Lord died to sin and now are daily putting sin to death and are walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands. And they make it clear that if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, that we will not inherit eternal life with God.

Yet many people today who profess faith in Jesus Christ are still walking in sin, still deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord, and against other humans, convinced that they do not have to repent of their sins and that they do not have to obey God, and that they will still go to heaven. And this is because they are following after deceiving spirits and teachings taught by hypocritical liars, whose consciences are seared, as with a hot iron. They are insensitive to moral wrongdoings, and so they sin without conscience.

And no matter how much they have read and/or taught the Scriptures, or how much truth they have been taught, and had reinforced in their lives, it doesn’t seem to impact them to the point of genuine heartfelt change and repentance and walks of obedience to the Lord. For they listen to the deceiving spirits, instead. And they convince themselves that the sins that they are committing will not be held against them. And they may even make false promises to change, but their hearts remain the same.

The big problem we have today is that so many prominent people in the “Christian community” are teaching a very altered and diluted version of the gospel of Christ which does not require death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. For they call that “works salvation,” and so they feel they have the freedom to keep on living for self and in sin, without conscience, convinced that all their sins are forgiven, and that heaven is guaranteed them, no matter how they live. Bad theology!!

And so we have many people giving lip service to the Lord who are still living sinful lifestyles, many in addictive sinful patterns of behavior, such as in sexual immorality and moral perversion. And even though the Scriptures teach that if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, that we will not inherit eternal life with God, they ignore those Scriptures, and they tag them as “legalism” or as “works salvation,” which they believe they can ignore. And they remain convinced that they are saved on their way to heaven.

So, please know what the Scriptures teach on the subject of faith, salvation, obedience, submission, and repentance, but please read these Scriptures in their proper context. And then die to sin and obey the Lord with your life.

[John 10:27-30; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

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Some Will Abandon the Faith
An Original Work / March 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love