Take Care That You Don't Fall Away

When things don’t seem to be going our way in life, it can be all too easy to get caught up in the moment and forget about the truth that lies within us – our Christian faith in Jesus. It's something we must constantly strive to nurture, strengthen, and uphold every day of our lives; otherwise, before you know it, any setbacks or struggles may push you away from your faith and leave you feeling helpless and confused. My brothers and sisters in Christ - it is my duty as a pastor to urge each of you this day: stay committed; stay vigilant; do not fall away from what God has laid down for us when He gave His only Son. In this blog post, I want to encourage you my brothers and sisters as fellow believers in Christ on how both we as individuals and the church body can work together better equip ourselves for spiritual reflexes when life seemingly throws its curveballs at us.

Do you know someone who once professed faith in Jesus and now they live as if they have never heard of him? Maybe they were a church member and served well, but now they have not darkened the door of the church in quite a long time. What are we to make of this? What can we do to stem the tide of individuals falling away? The Bible tells us that in order to be a follower of Jesus, a disciple, a person must believe in the good news. And once that good news is believed, salvation follows us forever.

What is the good news? The good news is that there is a solution to your sin problem. The even better news is that you don’t have to pay, try to fix it, or come up with the solution on your own. God has already taken care of your sin problem in Christ. You see, each of us suffers from a sin problem (Romans 3:23) and because of this sin problem, we all must face a penalty, a penalty of death (Romans 6:23). God did not desire us to pay the penalty for our sin problem, nor could we if we wanted to pay the price. So, God came, with full knowledge of our sinfulness, and allowed his Son, Jesus to die and pay the penalty for our sin (Romans 5:8). And any who will trust in Jesus’ death and satisfaction of their penalty for sin and ask for God’s forgiveness through Jesus will be forgiven their sin, immediately filled with the Spirit, and granted eternal life (Romans 10:9-10).

But what happens when you hear the good news of Jesus, make a profession of faith, live a life according to the Scriptures for a while, but then fall away from the faith, stop professing Christ, and start living after the world again? The Bible tells us the sad reality is that these individuals, who abandon their faith, never really had it, and the salvation they once proclaimed, never actually belonged to them.

The Bible tells us the sad reality is that these individuals, who abandon their faith, never really had it, and the salvation they once proclaimed, never actually belonged to them.

Therefore, the author of Hebrews gives such a strong command in 3:12, “Take brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” Why does the author make such a statement with such intensity? Because people are prone to make emotional decisions in the heat of the moment, they do not actually carry any weight in the heart or mind and thus void that decision.

Just as in the author of Hebrews day, today, we have people who once professed faith in Christ, now living a life completely antithetical to him. As an antidote to this falling away, the author instructs us to “take care” and make sure we have a true and lasting faith in Christ and that we are following Christ in our daily lives. The phrase “take care” means to “perceive, to discern, or direct the thoughts to a thing,” and is a present active verb that means that we are to continually check up on our faith and ensure our faith is genuine. “Take care” is a command, an imperative. Checking our faith lives, attitudes, and actions and discerning if they align with the gospel is not optional to the believer.

I believe this command to be two-fold when it comes to its application in the life of the disciple. There is a personal aspect to this command and a corporate aspect. From the personal side, each believer must continually check his or her heart and mind, making sure we are believing and living according to the gospel. Do not allow yourself to grow callous in your spirit. It is not as though we can lose our salvation, but we want to ensure the faith we have is genuine faith.

Second, the phrase, “in any one of you,” also produces a sense of corporate accountability. We are called to look out for and take care of one another. Be mindful of your fellow disciples and look after their hearts and minds. Be gentle and loving and do not allow a brother or sister in Christ to isolate themselves from the body in order to hide sin or continue in spiritual apathy. The body of Christ depends on our mutual care of souls.

As we close, I want to encourage you not to fall away from your faith in Jesus. It can be easy to do- life gets busy and we get caught up in our own lives. But it is so important that we stay focused on our relationship with Christ. Watch out for your own faith. Take seriously the commands of Scripture and through grace, work to implement them into your life. As you nurture your own faith, take care to guard and protect the faith of those who walk beside you.

Questions:

1.     Have I genuinely understood and believed the gospel of Jesus?

2.     Am I guarding my mind and heart against falsehood?

3.     How am I looking after my fellow disciples?

In His Grace,

Brad