Apostasy

Apostasy is falling away from the faith once professed. Christian traditions differ on whether a true believer can finally fall away and be lost, or whether those who fall away were never truly saved, and the warnings, examples and promises each side cites are listed below.

A falling away foretold

• 2 Thessalonians 2:3
  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
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• 1 Timothy 4:1
  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
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• Matthew 24:10-12
  ¹⁰And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, ¹¹And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.and many false prophets will arise and mislead many. ¹²And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
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• 2 Timothy 4:3-4
  ³For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. ⁴And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
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Warnings against falling away

• Hebrews 3:12
  Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
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• Hebrews 6:4-6
  ⁴For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— ⁶If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.
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• Hebrews 10:38-39
  ³⁸Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.” ³⁹But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
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• 2 Peter 2:20-22
  ²⁰For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. ²¹For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. ²²But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
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• Galatians 5:4
  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
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Those who turned away

• 1 Timothy 1:19-20
  ¹⁹Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith. ²⁰Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
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• 2 Timothy 4:10
  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
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• John 6:66
  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.
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• 1 John 2:19
  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.
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Return from backsliding

• Jeremiah 3:22
  Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.“Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.
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• Hosea 14:4
  I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
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• Revelation 2:4-5
  ⁴Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. ⁵Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
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• Luke 22:31-32
  ³¹And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. ³²But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
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Kept from falling

• Jude 1:24
  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
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• John 10:28-29
  ²⁸And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
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• 1 Corinthians 10:13
  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
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See also

• Assurance of salvation
• False teachers
• Repentance
• Faith
• Unforgivable sin

Notes

1. Verses are quoted in the translation chosen in the Translation menu at the top of the page. See Translations for sources and copyright notices.
2. Each reference links to the full chapter so the verse can be read in context.