Yes, the Bible talks about apostasy. In the biblical context, the term refers to the act of abandoning, deserting or rejecting the Christian faith. An apostate is someone who previously identified as a Christian, but has decided to abandon or depart from the faith they claimed to profess.
In the Bible we find examples of apostasy in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. God’s Word also clearly warns us about apostates and the effect they can have within the Church.
The Epistle of the Apostle Jude is brilliant in its description of apostates. Not only that, but in that letter the apostle Jude takes the opportunity to make a clear exhortation to the Church of Christ to persevere in faith without being deceived.
You, dear brothers, remember the message previously announced by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told them: “In the last days there will be scoffers who will live according to their own ungodly passions.” These are the ones who cause divisions and are carried away by their own instincts, because they do not have the Spirit.
(Jude vv.17-19)
You, on the other hand, dear brothers, keep yourselves in the love of God, building on the foundation of your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ, in his mercy, to grant you eternal life. (Jude vv. 20-21)
Some verses with warnings
The Spirit clearly says that, in the last times, some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful inspirations and diabolical doctrines. Such teachings come from hypocritical liars, who have a calloused conscience.
(1 Timothy 4:1-2)
The Holy Spirit revealed something important to Paul and he wrote to Timothy, his spiritual son, to tell him. He warned him about something that will happen in the end times. There will be people who will abandon the faith (fall away) to follow deceitful and diabolical teachings. They will cast aside everything they have known about Jesus and prefer to go after lies and deception.
Because the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but, led by their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers who will tell them the novels they want to hear. They will stop listening to the truth and turn to the myths.
(2 Timothy 4:3-4)
There are people who get tired of hearing the truth of the Gospel and go in search of something more innovative or “exotic”. They prefer not to hear the raw truth that we find in the Word of God because it is not different or exciting enough for them. They go in search of new things, moving away from God and from the eternal life that he offers them. Let us be careful not to imitate their behavior.
Now then, brothers, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our reunion with him, we ask you not to lose your head or be alarmed by certain prophecies, or by oral or written messages supposedly from us, that you say: «It has come! the day of the Lord!” Do not be deceived in any way, because first the rebellion against God has to come and the man of evil, the destroyer by nature, must manifest.
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)
Paul encourages both the Thessalonians and us: be alert and know the Word of God well! This is how we will stand firm against those who come with deceitful words. Before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the rapture of the Church from him, there will be a rebellion against God (apostasy will increase) and the man of wickedness (the Antichrist) will be revealed. Let’s pay attention.
Keep in mind that the patience of our Lord means salvation, as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you, with the wisdom that God gave him. In all his letters he refers to these same themes. There are in them some points difficult to understand, which the ignorant and inconstant misrepresent, as they also do with the other Scriptures, to their own perdition.
So you, dear brothers, since you already know this in advance, be alert, lest, carried away by the error of those libertines, you lose your stability and fall.
(2 Peter 3:15-17)
Peter talks about people who had a hard time understanding some of Paul’s letters. Instead of seeking the wisdom that comes from God and the direction of the Holy Spirit, they turned to twisting the Scriptures (giving them a wrong interpretation). That attitude opened the door for his downfall or apostasy.
Pedro warns the brothers about the importance of staying alert and not getting carried away by these people. The one who lets himself be dragged by a mistake, loses stability and falls. Let us stand firm on the truth of the Gospel. Let us study the Bible and ask the Lord to fill us with the wisdom that comes from him.
Jesus spoke about apostasy
In chapter 24 of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus warned his disciples about the events that will take place before the end of the world. He told them about wars, famines, earthquakes, destruction, and the persecution of God’s children, among other things. He told them, “Be careful lest anyone deceive you” (Matthew 24:4).
At that time many will turn away from the faith; they will betray and hate each other; and a great number of false prophets will arise who will deceive many. There will be so much wickedness that the love of many will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
(Matthew 24:10-13)
We see that he specifically warned against apostasy. At the end of time there will be many who will not be able to withstand the difficulties that will come as a result of persecution and will decide to turn away from the faith. The challenge that Jesus presents to his disciples and to each one of us? Stand firm! He who stands firm to the end, he will be saved.
Characteristics of apostates according to the letter of Judas
The short Epistle of the Apostle Jude gives us some good clues about the characteristics that we can find in apostates. Let’s look at the ones he mentions along with the reference Bible verse for each one.
1. Merciless people, given to licentiousness, who deny the lordship of Jesus
The problem is that you have been infiltrated among you by certain individuals who have long been marked for damnation. They are impious who change the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord.
(Jude v.4)
They are cunning people who infiltrate little by little and with great caution among the brothers. Your mission? Captivate them to cast aside sound doctrine, especially the truth about God’s grace manifested through Jesus. They take grace to such an extreme that it seems that everything is allowed. Such extremism about grace causes them to basically deny the need for Jesus as Savior and Lord.
2. They do what they want with their body, rebel against authority and do not respect spiritual beings
In the same way these individuals, carried away by their delusions, contaminate their bodies, despise authority and curse celestial beings.
(Jude v.8)
They basically live dominated by their carnal desires. They do what they want with their body and get carried away by their emotions. They despise all human or divine authority because they think they already know everything and that they are the only ones worthy of leading. They are so self-confident that they put aside the possibility that God will send them warnings or help through his angels or that the devil seeks to tempt and confuse them through demons.
3. They do not respect Christian behavior, they seek their own advantage, they are inconstant and do not bear fruit
These individuals are a hidden danger: they disrespectfully turn your brotherly love parties into shindigs. They seek only their own benefit. They are clouds without water, carried by the wind. They are trees that do not bear fruit when they should; they are doubly dead, uprooted.
(Jude v.12)
They mock the behavior that should distinguish the Christian and try to get others to imitate them. They manage to obtain their own benefit from everything and everyone, regardless of the damage they cause to other people. They have no substance and are not reliable. Lastly, they are spiritually sterile.
4. They complain, get angry and criticize. They do not know how to control their passions, they are arrogant and flattering
These individuals are grumblers and critics; they are carried away by their own passions; they speak arrogantly and flatter others to gain an advantage.
(Jude v.16)
They are haughty and feel entitled to complain and criticize everything. They are also impulsive, they get angry easily. His words show the real condition of his heart, his arrogance and his desire to gain an advantage no matter what.
5. They are dominated by their ungodly passions, they cause divisions and they do not have the Holy Spirit
They told them: “In the last days there will be scoffers who will live according to their own ungodly passions.” These are the ones who cause divisions and are carried away by their own instincts, because they do not have the Spirit.
(Jude vv.18-19)
Jude reminds his readers that the apostles warned against apostates who mock those who live to please God. The church must be very vigilant against those who live dominated by their passions and who do what they please even when it goes against the will of God.
Obviously, these people are divisive as they put pressure on others to “go with the flow.” They do it because they live under the command of their uncontrolled desires and No They are filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
4 biblical examples of apostasy:
1. The people of Israel
When the Israelites saw that Moses was slow to come down from the mountain, they went to meet Aaron and told him: You have to make gods for us to march in front of us, because we don’t know what could have happened to that Moses who brought us out of Egypt!
(Exodus 32:1)
Then the Lord raised up leaders who delivered them from the power of those invaders. But they did not listen to those leaders either, but they prostituted themselves by giving themselves to other gods and worshiping them. Very soon they departed from the path that their ancestors had followed, the path of obedience to the commandments of the Lord.
(Judges 2:16-17)
2. Saul
The word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I am sorry that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.”
(1 Samuel 15:10-11)
3. Many disciples of Jesus
Listening to him, many of his disciples exclaimed: “This teaching is very difficult; who can accept it?
(John 6:60)
Since then many of his disciples turned their backs on him and no longer walked with him.
(John 6:66a)
4. Some members of the church in Galatia
I am amazed that you are so soon leaving the one who called you by the grace of Christ, to go over to another gospel. It is not that there is another gospel, but that certain individuals are sowing confusion among you and want to misrepresent the gospel of Christ.
(Galatians 1:6-7)
Hold on tight to Jesus! “Rather, grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)
Bible verses about false prophets
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