The Process of Apostasy page 2

Romans 1:18 (AMP) “ For God's [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative. “

Romans 1: 18 (Recovery Version) “ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold down the truth in unrighteousness, “

BUT THERE IS A DANGER if the person being chastens goes too far… and rebels to the point of turning away from Jesus Christ. There is a danger of holding the truth in unrighteousness and going past chastening, and pulling the actual judgment of God upon your head.

The wording here is interesting and shows that someone who does this actually has the truth, but then represses the truth of it and twists it to suit their own desires. They repress or hold down the truth in unrighteousness.

The TRUTH of GOD is RIGHTEOUS. And when we hold down that truth, we become servants of unrighteousness or evil. We make ourselves evil in rejecting God’s truth.

You know, the GOSPEL is the power of salvation straight from God. When we reject the truth, then instead of being the servants of the Lord, we become God’s enemy.

God is giving the only way for man to be saved, and it was so important that it took Jesus’ own life and shedding His blood to empower that way or Gospel to work. When we take what the Bible says and say, “oh I think that it really means this or we don’t have to believe that!” Then you are literally saying that what Jesus did was not important or mean anything. He died so that this life could be ours. You become an enemy of God when you reject or twist the Word of God.

Romans 1:18 (KJV) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Romans 1:18 (Recovery Edition) “ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold down the truth in unrighteousness.”

Romans 1:18 (Analytical Literal Version) ‘ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all impiety [or, ungodliness] and unrighteousness of people, [upon] the ones suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. “

1. GOD

2. WRATH

3. TRUTH

4. DENYING OR CHANGING THE TRUTH

5. ALL-NO MATTER IF SAVED OR NOT

6. UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

It continues on to say that even nature teaches of a holy God and there is no excuse for anyone really. But those who have heard the gospel, or even started in the gospel and then abandoned Jesus from their lives are in far greater danger of judgment.

If you HOLD THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS (KJV)… in other words, you know the truth (and suppress it) and you MAKE THE DECISION to THUMB YOUR NOSE AT GOD AND LIVE YOUR OWN WAY… you will KNOW HIS WRATH!

Understand that this is not only to the ungodly and unsaved, but we are living in an age of apostasy (the prophetic Great Falling Away) where people who have known God and held the truth (been taught and learned the truth) have now turned from the truth following seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.

There are so many that are now clinging to “another gospel” that preaches “another Christ.” They have literally become apostates and fallen from the truth. THE BIBLE DECLARES THAT THERE WILL BE A GREAT FALLING AWAY AT THE END OF THIS AGE BEFORE JESUS RETURNS.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 (NASB) “ Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, “

The falling away or apostasy is the Greek apostasia, which means to forsake or defect to the other side. It is the Greek feminine form of the word apostasion, which means a bill of divorcement.

To fall away or apostate is to get a ”spiritual divorce” from God and to reject Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 (KJV) “ 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; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”

2 Peter 2:20-21 (KJV) “ 20 For 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. 21 For 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. “

Hebrews 6:4-6 (KJV) “4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If 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.

Revelation 3:1 (KJV) And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

Revelation 3:5 (KJV) He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

The rest of Romans 1 goes on and talks about how people become reprobates, or in the case of those who have known the truth of God, apostates where their names have been blotted out of the book of life, and their idolatry has opened up the door for more and more gross, unnatural sin.

A new kind of IDOLATRY had become the hallmark of the American culture, and most of us are not even aware of it. There is idolatry in the American Church today. The prosperity doctrine many times has become a gospel of greed and covetousness. Worldliness has become an idol in churches that have God’s name over the door.

New Age ideas have infiltrated into still others, and there are churches falling into a trap of allowing occult and Eastern Religious ideas to take over their doctrines. Still others have pushed through the Emergent Church and have decided that the best way to reach the world is to become worldly and promote worldly things.

Some, as those who embraced the teachings of Balaam, are turning to sexual sin and pleasures and saying that God loves them so it doesn’t matter that they are living in fornication or homosexuality or adultery. They “think” that they are going to heaven having a bastardized gospel that has been changed from God’s truth. They once knew the truth, but now they have lied to themselves in suppressing the truth of God.

When you hold down the Truth of God (the Gospel), then you destroy yourself. You reject the power of salvation in your own life and will help destroy anyone who happens to listen and believe you.

It is unrighteous and the path to unrighteousness. It will bring the literal wrath of God on your life (the end result of the wrath of God is the Second Death or the eternal Lake of Fire that we weren’t supposed to have anyway… that was supposed to be reserved for Satan and his angels).

It is the love of sin and the world that convinces people to listen to seducing spirits and believe the teachings of demons instead of the truth of God. It is the love of the world that chokes out the love of God and that leads to self-deception.

1 John 2:15 (KJV) “ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. “

Romans 1:19-20 (AMP) “ 19 For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [ Himself] has shown it to them. 20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], “ [Ps. 19: 1-4.]

Romans 1:19-20 (NET) “ 19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.”

God has revealed Himself to His own universe. Quite literally, we are hotwired to understand that there is a Creator, and He has given every man a “measure” of faith so that we are able (if we so choose) to believe upon Jesus Christ and be saved. There is literally no excuse.

Yes, the more that you get the gospel to people, the better the opportunities that they have to be saved which is why evangelism is so very important. But there are documented cases of people who had never heard the gospel looking up and asking if there was a God above gods to reveal themselves… and if there was no person, angels would appear and tell them where to go to learn of Jesus. One South American pastor in a secluded village was saved in just that way. An angel appeared after he prayed to the God above all gods and told him where to walk to learn of Jesus. He did, and brought the gospel back to his village. There is no excuse.

Quantum physicists have found that mere nanoseconds after the Creation Event, everything was already in perfect order. They can see the design of the creator in the first moment of creation. The checks and balances of the universe shows the hand of God. The amazing structures of life that we can observe and the ways that everything fits together shows the hand of God. And when you look at the Bible and realize that it is the only “so-called” holy writing that accurately describes the universe, and even the amazing ways that this Bible fits together though written by many human authors and centuries apart shows the truth author, the Holy Spirit. There is no excuse.

You can choose to reject the Word of God, but it is obviously the Word of God and remember who you are really rejecting is God Himself. God gives grace to the humble, but He resists the proud. It is the height of pride to say that we know something better than God! To know it and suppress it or hold it down in unrighteousness will bring THE WRATH OF GOD on our lives and lead to our damnation.

We make ourselves the enemy of God, and there is no excuse to do that. If we do, then it is us wanting our way to the point of ignoring the consequences we bring upon ourselves and those who believe us. Remember, we affect other people, and our rebellion can lead others to Hell with us.

What follows applies on one level to any human being, for God has revealed Himself through nature and the Gospel has been preached and taught widely. But it has an even sharper point to those who have known the Lord and now reject the gospel or twist it into another gospel that suits their own sin. In fact, it applies more to the person who was a believer, but became an APOSTATE.