Backsliding in Christianity: An Exhaustive and Lucid Exposition
Is there anything like backsliding in Christianity? The question is controversial in the Christian community. One school of thought believes that once a person is born again, their sins don’t count, so they can never backslide. Conversely, another school of thought believes that a Christian can backslide. Today’s article will fully address the issue of backsliding in Christianity.
Scriptural Reference
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. (Galatians 6:1 NLT)
Can a Christian Backslide?
The best way to answer this question is to find the true meaning of backsliding. Knowing the meaning will help us ascertain whether a believer can backslide.
What is Backsliding in Christianity?
To understand the meaning of backsliding in Christianity, we must first understand who a Christian is. A Christian does not mean someone who attends church, fasts, prays, or reads their Bible. Engaging in such things is good, but they don’t indicate one is Christian.
To become a Christian, one must confess that Jesus is Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9 NIV). Unfortunately, many people declare that Jesus is Lord but don’t believe that God raised Christ from the dead. Consequently, such people profess Jesus without knowing they are not Christians.
When we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead, we are saved automatically. Notably, our old man, the body of sin, is crucified with Christ, enabling us to stop serving sin (Romans 6:6 KJV). After our old man dies, we are raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1 KJV) as new creatures — born of God (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV).
When we are born of God, we adopt God’s nature and seed and, for that reason, lose the ability to sin (1 John 3:9 KJV). In other words, genuine Christians have God’s seed and do not sin.
When a Christian indulges in sin, today’s scripture says godly ones should help put the person back on the right path. For the scripture to say that godly ones should put a believer back onto the right path means that a believer can go off the right path. Backsliding in Christianity is defined as a believer going off the right path.
Further, if a believer who indulges in sin is required to be put back onto the right path, it means that indulging in sin takes a believer off the right path. Hence, in layperson’s language, backsliding in Christianity means a believer indulging in sin.
Don’t let anyone deceive you by telling you that God does not regard a Christian’s sin. God hates sin so much that He sacrificed His only Son to take away our sins and reconcile us to Him. If you are reconciled to God, you will have His seed and lose the ability to sin (1 John 3:9). If you mistakenly sin, you have to be put back onto the right path (Galatians 6:1 NLT).
If you profess Christ and still live in sin, it’s possible you are not born of God yet. You probably didn’t believe when receiving Christ, didn’t confess the right words, or didn’t even confess Christ. In that case, confess that Jesus is Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead. If you confess believing, you will become a new creature, and sin will no longer have dominion over you (Romans 6:14 KJV ).
Further Study
1 John 3:7-9 KJV
Prayer Point
Dear Father, thank you for making me a new creature.
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