Heresy and Apostasy
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The words "heresy" and "apostasy" are two
of the most often used words to refer to doctrinal error and practice
in the Church Age.
Any Christian is subject to error in his thinking about spiritual
matters. The presence of the sin nature in the soul guarantees
that we will have a constant battle to distinguish between human
and divine viewpoints. Error may be the result of ignorance, of
a lack of doctrine, or of deliberately adopting some point of
view or activity.
The open-minded Christian who is positive to the teaching of the
Bible and who is willing for the Lord to deal with him in doctrinal
matters will find that his erroneous ideas will be replaced with
the truth of the Word of God. As he grows in Christ, he will avoid
heresy and any deliberate apostasy.
Heresy itself, which is the result of making a wrong choice among
competing ideas, may have been entered into as a result of being
deceived (EPH. 4:11-18) or of falling into a snare of Satan. Heresy
becomes apostasy, however, whenever a person deliberately decides
to reject Bible truth and maintain and promote false ideas. This
paper is written to help believers avoid error, heresy, or apostasy.
The word "heresy" comes from the Greek (hairesis)
meaning, "a choice; a taking for oneself; a sect or school
of philosophy". Hence, in the Bible, it means, (1) a chosen
course of thought or action; (2) dissensions arising from diversity
of opinions and aims; or (3) doctrinal departures from revealed
truth, or erroneous doctrinal views.
The apostles warned the church continuously against such non-Biblical
views. Note particularly the stern directions to Titus regarding
the correction of problems caused in Crete by Judaistic heresies.
In the Apostolic Age we find three fundamental forms of heresy.
These have appeared in one form or another in every generation
Judaistic Christianity is the false counterpart of Jewish Christianity
which insists on combining Jewish practice with Christianity.
This tends to cause Christianity to sink to the level of Judaism
in that it makes the Gospel merely the perfection which they suppose
can be obtained by keeping the Law. Judaism regards Christ as
a mere prophet, a second Moses; it denies His divine nature, His
priestly function, and His kingly offices.
Judaism holds that circumcision, sacrifice, etc. are to be binding
on Christians and necessary for salvation. There is no conception
of Christianity as a new, free, and universal religion. Judaism
appears in the 2nd Century A.D. in a more fully developed version
under the name of Ebionism.
Gnosticism spread through the whole church during the first two
or three centuries after Christ. This heresy was an opposite reaction
to Judaism. It separated Christianity completely from Jewish influence
with the result that it tried to eliminate any connection to the
true historical foundations of Christianity. Gnosticism denies
the humanity of Christ, and it adulterates Christianity with pagan
ideas and practices.
Syncretism combines Judaism, and then Christianity, with heathen
philosophies, especially those of Pythagoras and Plato, so that,
under the Christian name, there appeared confused combinations
of these opposing systems, forming either a paganized Judaism
or a Christianized paganism, depending on which element prevailed.
Whatever the differences in the heresies, all amount to a distinct
denial of the Gospel, the incarnation of the Son of God for the
salvation of the world. They make Christ either a mere man or
a mere superhuman phantom; they allow no real and lasting union
of the Divine and human natures in the person of the Redeemer.
Heresy disturbed the unity of doctrine and of fellowship in the
early church, which was therefore forced to exclude those holding
false doctrine from it communion (TITUS 3:10). Once excluded,
however, heretics formed societies of their own.
Heresy becomes apostasy when there is a deliberate holding to
error in spite of knowing the truth of the Word of God. A heretic
becomes apostate at the point when he hears the truth and decides
Apostasy is the deliberate act of a professing Christian who knowingly
and deliberately rejects revealed truth regarding the deity of
Jesus Christ, redemption through His atoning sacrifice, or any
part of the doctrines related to Salvation. The apostate is in
revolt against God. He maintains an outward profession of faith
and a facade of true spirituality; but he departs from the faith.
Apostasy, then, is insidious, subtle, and quite devastating.
Some of the characteristics, or synonyms, of apostasy are mentioned
in the Bible, including: seducing spirits, doctrines of demons,
hypocritical lying, a seared conscience, forbidding of marriage
and meats, and a form of godliness without the power thereof.
The rest of this paper contains a number of points about apostasy
along with an extensive listing of Bible references for further
study of the subject.
- Satan is the author of apostasy, JOHN 8:44, "Ye are
of your father, the devil..." and 2 COR. 4:4, "In whom
the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine
- Demons help to carry out apostasy in the world, 1 TIM. 4:1.
- Examples of apostasy in the human race mentioned in Jude
Cain - who rejected the Word of God and went religious.
Balaam - who accepted a bribe to curse Israel and fell
victim to slavery to the details of life.
Korah - who led a revolt against authority, was anti-establishment.
- Religious apostasy has many facets:
False gospels: GAL. 1:6-12; 2 COR. 11:3,4
False doctrines: 1 TIM. 4:1,2; 2 PET. 2:1; 1 JOHN 4:3
False messiahs: JOHN 5:43; MATT. 24:5
False prophets, teachers, and evangelists: 2 PET. 2:1; 1 JOHN
4:1; 2 COR. 11:13-15
False ritual: 1 COR. 10:20,21; ROM. 11:9; ISA. 1:10-14
False Gods: 1 COR. 8:5; 10:19-21
False righteousness: Phil. 3:9; Matt. 5:20
- Characteristics of apostate doctrines:
They repudiate the Person and work of Christ, 2 PET. 2:1; 1 JOHN
2:22,23; 2 JOHN 9,10
They repudiate the veracity of the Word of God, 2 PET. 3:3,4
They ignore the judgments of God, 2 PET. 3:5,6
- Apostasy appeals to the trends of the sin nature; the trend
toward asceticism, 1 TIM. 4:1-3, and the trend toward licentiousness,
2 PET. 2
- Apostasy is judged by God:
Angels were judged for their apostasy, 2 PET. 2:4; JUDE 6.
Civilizations are judged for apostasy, 2 PET. 2:5.
Cities and national entities are judged for apostasy, 2 PET.
2:6; JUDE 7; JER. 23.
- Apostates are described in the Bible as:
Animals of instinct, minus doctrine and minus morality, operating
on emotional impulses and licentious desires, 2 PET. 2:12.
Fruitless trees that are twice dead; they are spiritually dead,
and they will go to the Lake of Fire, JUDE 12.
Waterless clouds, unstable, driven by the wind, 2 PET. 2:17;
Vicious waves of the sea, dangerous and to be avoided, JUDE 13.
Wandering stars, living in delusion and error, JUDE 13.
- Apostasy is prevalent in the last days of each dispensation:
Age of the Gentiles, GEN. 11:1-9.
Age of Israel, REV. 13; 2 THESS. 2
Church Age, 2 PET. 3:3; 2 TIM. 3:1.
- Apostasy is prevalent in the last days of a national entity,
- There will be no apostasy during the Millennial Kingdom,
REV. 20:1-3; COL. 2:15; ZECH. 13:2,3; ISA. 2:1-4; ISA. 11:9.
- A brief period of apostasy will follow the Millennial reign
of Christ, REV. 20:7-11.
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