THE POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLE PROPHECY

APOSTASY Part III

DEFENDING AGAINST APOSTASY

The epistle of Jude deals almost exclusively with the problem of apostasy. Jude urges christians to stand for the faith “once delivered unto the saints” ( Verse 3 ) and to stand against the threat of apostasy. Lawlor ( PP. 42 – 44 ) notes that Jude challenges believers to ” Content earnestly,” pointing out that this determination involves a willingness to fight for something the adversary desire to take away. Jude defines apostates as those who turn the grace of God into license for excessive immorality and deny the lordship of Jesus Christ ( Verse 4 ). He explains that immorality is often the basis of apostasy. Apostasy deny the faith because they have not been transformed by the grace of God. Jude than list severals biblical examples of apostasy, including the fallen angels, the mixed multitude of the exodus, and the people of sodom and Gomorrah. Than he describes the character and conduct of the apostates. They are “dreamers” and defilers ( Verse 8 ), living in perversion and delusion. They despise authority and blaspheme God. Jude closes his epistle ( verse 20 -25 ) by reminding true believers to edify themselves in the faith, pray in the spirit, and focus on the love of God and the mercy of Christ, always reaching out to those who are about to perish.

STANDING TO THE END AGAINST APOSTASY

The New testament is clear in its warning about the danger of apostasy in every generation but especially in the last days before the rapture of the church. The apostles urges us to stand true to the faith until Jesus comes to call us home to be with him. Minor deviations of doctrines or personal preferences are not primary concerns. Apostasy involves the deliberate abandonment and repudiation of Jesus christ and the Christian Faith. — Mal Couch and Ed Hindson

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bauer, Walter: Apostasia.” in a Greek- English Lexicon of the new testament. Translated by William F. Arndt and F.W. Gingrich. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.

Couch Mal. ” The Coming Apostasy of the Church.” In The Fundamentals for the Twenty First Century. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2000.

Gunn, George and Ed Hindson. ” Apostasy” in the Dictionary of premillennial Theology. Grand Rapids Kregel, 1996.

Lawlor, George . The Epistle of Jude. philadelphia presbyterian and Reformed, 1976.

Liddel, H.G. and Robert Scott, A Greek – English Lexicon of the New Testament. London: Oxford University Press 1990.

Ryrie, Charles C. Dispensationalism. Chicago: Moody Press 1995.

Whitlock, L.G. “Apostasy” In Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Books 1984.