But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Timothy 4:1)
Dr. Francis Schaeffer maintained that we in the Western Hemisphere live in a post-Christian world. That humanism has consumed the thinking and pursuits of modern man. He defines humanism as “the system whereby men and women, beginning absolutely by themselves, try rationally to build out from themselves, having only Man as their integration point, to find all knowledge, meaning and value”1
In other words, humanism disregards the God of the universe. It is a godless philosophy of life, characterized by the repudiation of His revelation to mankind—that which provides absolute meaning, purpose and value to life. This viewpoint of life has affected the thinking of every sector of our culture: world leaders, civic leaders, business leaders, public school administrators and families. Sadly, it has also infiltrated the visible church: leaders of denominations, seminary professors, pastors—even filtering down to the individual in the pew. The focus of this study contemplates this intrusion of humanism within the Church of Jesus Christ.
Making The Case
The departure from the doctrines of inspiration of Scripture, the authority of Scripture and true spirituality is evidence of how many denominations that claim to be representatives of Christianity have embraced the humanistic values of the culture. This is substantiated by their rejection and compromise of Biblical truth, condoning degenerate sexual perversions such as homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism, transsexualism, gay marriage and openly gay ministers.
This is not the only time that there has been rebellion among God’s people. In the Age of Israel, the Jewish prophet spoke of disastrous problems having overtaken his nation. Note Jeremiah’s lament:
We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples. All our enemies open their mouths against us; panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction; my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. (Lamentations 3:42–48 ESV)
This lamentation of Jeremiah’s is regarding the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Israel at that time was God’s representative nation to the world, just as the United States had been for two centuries. Just as the Jews rebelled against God, so has a large segment of the Christian community. And just as God warned them and executed His judgment upon Israel, fundamental Christianity today is being warned by the not so subtle harassment from the political left.
Schaeffer describes this rebellion as apostasy and explains:
The book of Jeremiah and the book of Lamentations show how God looks at a culture which knew Him and deliberately turned away. But this is not just the character of Jeremiah’s day of apostasy. It’s my day. It’s your day. If we are going to help our own generation, our perspective must be that of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet...who in the midst of his tears spoke without mitigating his message of judgment to a people who had had so much and yet turned away.2
This apostasy or turning away that Schaeffer mentions is what the apostle Paul had wrote to the Thessalonians, that the day of the Lord, the end times, “will not come unless the apostasy comes first” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)3. The Greek word translated ‘apostasy’4 appears only twice in the New Testament, here and in Acts 21:21. Other modern English versions render the word as ‘rebellion’5 or ‘falling away.’6 It is a compound word meaning literally a “standing away from.”
In Acts 21:21 it is translated in most English versions as ‘forsake’, where Paul is accused of instructing the Jews “to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs [the Old Testament Judaistic practices].”
The Greek lexicons corroborate that the meaning of this word 'forsake' refers specifically to religious apostasy—the falling ‘away from the faith’ (1 Timothy 4:1). But what it does not imply is a loss of salvation or a departure “from the outward profession of Christianity” (2 Tim. 3:5).7 For the word faith refers to: “That which is believed, body of faith or belief, doctrine.”8 It is fully explained by Thomas Constable:
This is a revolt, a departure, an abandoning of a position once held. This rebellion, which will take place within the professing church, will be a departure from the truth that God has revealed in His Word...a specific distinguishable apostasy that will come in the future.9
The religious apostasy prevalent in modern 'Christian' churches today does not necessarily suggest that the Day of the Lord is at hand, since the Christian church has been beset by apostasy almost from its inception. This is made obvious from the historical account of the early Church of Rome’s persistent departure from Scripture which prompted the Protestant Reformation. But just because the apostasy of this day may not be a signal for the end times, it doesn’t mean we should stand by and do nothing.
Our Directive
We have a two-fold responsibility: first, on a personal level, we are to continue to advance in our knowledge of doctrine—acknowledging the authority of Scripture and utilizing the literal principle of interpretation. And above all, being mindful that:
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)
Secondly, we must continue to speak out against false doctrine—the present day departures from God’s truth. Jude advises us to “contend earnestly10 for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3).
But what does it mean to contend? The Greek word Jude employs is only found here in the New Testament and means to fight for or in reference to something.11 Richard Lenski’s observation is insightful:
Jude states it in a positive form: “to keep earnestly contending for the faith,” and not negatively: “against the heresies or heretics.” The negative is implied, for one contends for something when there are antagonists.12
So what Jude implies that must be contended with is stated in verse 4, ungodly persons:
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 4)
These ungodly persons (call them what they are: apostates) are indicative of those today who distort God’s Word in order to ingratiate their church, their denomination with this godless culture inundated by secular humanism. In so doing they deny the truth—for the truth is Jesus Christ (John 14:6), “our only Master and Lord.”
The Appeal
If the United States of America is to maintain its status as God’s representative nation, there must be a revival within the Body of Christ—one that returns to teaching the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith and earnestly contending for the faith by exposing and eliminating these modern heresies.
Only when this happens will there be real unity within the Body of Christ. And only then will the Truth of God’s Word have its intended impact upon this culture: by the preaching of the gospel so that a person can be saved and by the exposition of the Christian faith that provides purpose and definition to this life.
[1] Schaeffer, Francis A. (1982). The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1.9.
[2] Schaeffer, 4.213
[3] As translated in the New American Standard Bible and the Catholic New American Bible translation.
[4] The Greek word ἀποστασία comes from the noun aphístēmi meaning to depart.
[5] English Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version
[6] King James Version and the New King James Version
[7] Scofield, C. I. (1996). The Scofield
Study Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 1281 note.
[8] Arndt, W.F., Gingrich, F.W. (1957) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, p. 669 §3.
[9] Constable, T. L. (1985). In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck, Eds.), Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 2.718).
[10] “The word speaks of a vigorous, intense, determined struggle to defeat the opposition.” Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 16.235.
[11] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G1864.
[12] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 11.610.
