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When A Christian Backslides, Does Life Get Better Or Worse? - 5 Realities To Remember!
Author : Hirwa G. Israel
Backsliding is when a Christian leaves the Way, the Truth and the Life and goes back to the former life. A backslider knows the right thing to do but has decided not to do.
It is very possible to start well on the journey of being a child of God and finish a child of the world. Since the times of the Bible to today, many people have thrown in the towel, left God and gone back to the life of sin.
King Saul was chosen by God but due to disobedience God rejected him. He lost his kingdom and was killed in war. King Solomon too lost his footing when his foreign wives turned his heart from God and his immense wisdom could not save him.
How is the life of a backslider?
Reality #1: A Backslider Cannot Fit Back In The World.
When a sinner becomes a Christian, his address changes. He becomes a citizen of heaven. He becomes a new creature and the marching orders are changed. And so when such a person tries to fit back in the world, things are not the same. What works for the people of the world no longer work for him. He will never again feel at home in the world because he has tasted the life of another wonderful world.
Reality #2: A Backslider Is Worse Off Than Before.
Because a backslider cannot fit in the world, he becomes worse than before he got saved. Apostle Peter says, “And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and savoir Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.”[1]
In the same passage, Peter likens them to a dog that returns to its vomit or a pig that’s washed and it returns to mud. Such people are reduced to the lowest level of living and will do things that shock even the people of the world.
Reality #3: It’s Hard To Bring A Backslider Back To The Faith
The author of Hebrews states so clearly that it’s impossible to bring to repentance someone who once knew the truth, who shared in the Holy Spirit, who tested the word of God and the power of the age to come. “By rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him (Jesus) to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.”[2]
Reality #4: God Will Continue Pursuing A Backslider.
God does not want anyone to perish. Jesus taught that if one sheep out of the hundred was lost, he will leave the hundred to go look for the one that was lost. God never gives up easily on anyone.
Jesus will never let go of a backslider. Because of his love for this person, he will do whatever it takes to bring such a person in the sheep fold. And God is a good parent and will discipline his children. He will allow backsliders to face sifting times that will bring them to their senses – even if it means they eat with pigs like the prodigal son.
But eventually God will not force anyone to come to him. We, in the end must choose which team we shall play on and where we end.
Reality #5: A Backslider Is Never Happy.
Once the truth has entered the heart of a person, it’s very hard to erase it. No matter how much a backslider will want to quench or drown the voice of the Holy Spirit it will not happen. No alcohol, no drug, no pleasure, no person will silence that voice.
A backslider is the most tormented person walking the earth because he knows what he oath to do but does not do it. He knows his fate but cannot bring himself to change it.
“Backsliders get what they deserve.”[3] Life cannot go well for a backslider. Their end in this life is terrible. Ask around and you will be shocked by the stories of backsliders. For a good reason Peter says that it would have been better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.” [4]
The Bible says, “Finishing is better than starting.”[5] In other words, it matters most how one finishes.
A backslider will do well to remember that God’s arms are wide open to receive him back. His love has not ended and he is always willing to forgive and forget all the wrongs a backslider has done.
A backslider may have gone very far and very deep but not to anywhere God cannot reach. Today is the day of embracing a new beginning. It is possible to finish strong and allow God to accomplish his good purpose in one’s life.
“But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls are saved.”[6]
Scripture Reference
[1] 2 Peter 2:20 [2] Heb 6:4-6 [3] Proverbs 14:14 [4] 2 Peter 2:21 [5] Eccl 7:8 [6] Heb 10:39
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