The Nature and Causes of Apostasy – Part 19

Apostasy From the Holiness of the Gospel: Part 2

By John Fast

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. – Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB)

“It is one of the clearest principles of Divine revelation, that holiness is the fruit of truth; and it is one of the plainest inferences from that principle, that the exhibition of the truth is the best means of promoting holiness. Christians regard the word of God as the only infallible teacher of those truths which relate to the salvation of men. But are the Scriptures really a revelation from God? If they are, what doctrines do they teach? And what influence should those doctrines exert on our heart and life?”[1] Read more »

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The Nature and Causes of Apostasy – Part 18

Apostasy From the Holiness of the Gospel

By John Fast

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. – Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB)

We live in a time when despite all the money and effort expended by modern Christianity to make itself successful, relevant, and popular, fewer and fewer people see or feel any need or value for faith and religion in general, and for true Christianity in particular. Every year we are told by pollsters and statisticians that fewer people identify themselves as being Christian, and every year more people identify themselves as having no religious affiliation whatsoever. Read more »

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The Nature and Causes of Apostasy – Part 17

Love of This World and its Passing Pleasures: Another Cause of Apostasy

By John Fast

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. – Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB)

Before the days of GPS and satellite navigation, ships and planes were dependent upon a skilled navigator to guide them to their destination. The slightest error could cause a ship or plane to wander hundreds of miles off course from its intended destination without ever knowing until it was too late. Read more »

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The Nature and Causes of Apostasy – Part 16

False Security: Another Cause of Apostasy

By John Fast

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. – Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB)

The divinely inspired author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, after delivering a stern and sober warning to his readers of the danger of apostasy (Hb 6:4-8), the warning which forms the foundation for this series of studies, and a danger that was all too real due to  their neglect of the gospel (Hb 2:1-3), and from their having “become dull of hearing” (Hb 5:11), and from having been Christians long enough so that they “ought to be teachers”, Read more »

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The Nature and Causes of Apostasy – Part 15

Pride: Another Cause of Apostasy

By John Fast

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. – Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB)

If there is one thing that virtually all forms of modern Christianity have in common it is they all, in one way or another, pander to and flatter the pride of man. Some more so than others, some more subtly than others, but the difference is only a matter of degree, not practice. Read more »

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