The Backsliding Christian

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by

Robert Piña
in

Introduction: A Christian that begins to stray away from God is known as a backslider. If you are moving further away from God instead of closer to God, you are a backslider. To backside is to fall off; to turn gradually from the faith and practice of Christianity. Christians don’t backside from one day to the next, it is a gradual falling away that will eventually lead to a person getting away from church or from God altogether. 

A Christian is Backsliding if: 

  1. He Disobeys God’s Commands– I Samuel 15:11, 26-28 “for he is turned back from following me”. Saul’s disobedience to God’s command caused him to backslide from God. When God tells us to do something in His Word, and we don’t do it, we are backsliding.
    • God commands the believer to be in Church, read their Bible, and Pray, anything less is disobedience to God’s command.
  1. He is Selfish– Proverbs 14:14 “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways”. A selfish person will love oneself above all others. Instead of being concerned about what God says or thinks about His will and His ways, the person is only thinking about self. Luke 12:16-21 This man was selfish and it was all about him- he had backslidden. 
  1. He is Offended– Matthew 13:20-21 “for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended”. In the Christian life you will suffer tribulations and persecutions however, we shouldn’t be offended by it, we should just keep moving forward. Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them”. II Timothy 3:12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”. Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake”. 
  1. He Fears Man– Matthew 26:69-75 Peter denied the Saviour because he feared man. Proverbs 29:25 “The Fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe”. 
  1. He Looks Back– Luke 9:62 “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”. Genesis 19:26 Lott’s wife looking at things that she loved. Looking at the past that was left behind. Looking at friends or family “having fun”. 
  1. He Loves Money– I Timothy 6:10 “The Love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith”. You got a job, now you can buy things, and all of a sudden you pursue those things instead of God. Mark 10:17-22 This man chose his riches and love of money instead of “treasure in heaven and following Jesus”. 
  1. He Loves the World– II Timothy 4:10 “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world”. I John 2:15-17. Titus 2:12 “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world”. 

Conclusion: To do anything less than what God says to do is to backslide. Don’t be a backslidden Christians, doing what says to do in His Word is always the best thing for our lives.