What Is Apostasy?
by Kyle Pope
via Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015
The word apostasy means, “1) Abandonment or renunciation of one’s religious faith or moral allegiance... 2) By extension, the abandonment of principles or party generally” [Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, Vol. 1, p. 390]. It is derived from the Greek word apostasia, meaning “a defection or falling away” [Strongs Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament No. 646]. The Greek word is used twice in the New Testament. The first, in an accusation made against Paul that he was teaching the Jews to “forsake (apostasia)” the Law of Moses (Acts 21:21), and the second, in a passage offering comfort to the brethren in Thessalonica that Judgment Day had not already passed—first “the falling away (apostasia)” must come (II Thessalonians 2:3). The New Testament makes it very clear that very soon after its deliverance into the world “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), would suffer from attempts to “pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:7). In our lives personally and in matters of doctrine and practice, Christians must always be on guard against apostasy (or turning away) from sound faith.
If you spoke to the average person in many churches throughout the religious world, they would probably tell you that it doesn’t matter much what a church does as long as the attitude of its members is right. The Bible indeed teaches a great deal about the attitude with which we should approach God in worship. However, it also says a great deal about what a church practices. Paul told the church in Thessalonica, “if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed” (II Thessalonians 3:14). He wasn’t just talking about good attitudes—they were to walk “according to the traditions received from us” (II Thessalonians 3:6). In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, although he devoted a great deal of time to moral issues, such as chastity (I Corinthians 6:12-20), marital faithfulness ((I Corinthians 7:1-40), respect for the conscience of others ((I Corinthians 8:1-3), self-denial ((I Corinthians 9:1-27), and love ((I Corinthians 13:1-8), he also firmly taught them about proper conduct in the assembly ((I Corinthians 14:26-40), proper observation of the Lord’s Supper ((I Corinthians 11:17-34), personal responsibility within the church ((I Corinthians 12:1-31), and proper use of the church collection ((I Corinthians 16:1-4). In this very epistle, Paul asserted, “the things that I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” ((I Corinthians 14:37). Certainly, our attitude must be right. Still, in practice and doctrine, it is clear that churches must do only those things for which we can establish authority in Scripture. To do otherwise is to turn to apostasy.
Most of the religious world considers it legalistic to hold to only those things that the Bible teaches and to reject (so-called) “improvements” or “additions.” In their view, people who do this “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24)—the description Jesus used of the Pharisee, whom he charged had neglected the “weightier matters of the law” such as “justice, mercy, and faith” in their meticulous tithing of even their spices (see Matthew 23:23). In this text, however, Jesus doesn’t teach that God is unconcerned with small things. On the contrary, concerning tithing of spices Jesus said, “these you ought to have done without leaving the others [i.e. the “weightier matters of the law”] undone” (Matthew 23:23). In other words, those who follow Christ should make certain that their attitudes and their actions are right in the sight of God. How can anyone say that it doesn’t matter to God whether churches follow the Bible or not? Jesus said, “not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Paul spoke of those “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (II Timothy 3:5). It is possible to be religious—it is possible to call Jesus “Lord,” without having a true relationship with God in Christ— without enjoying the “power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). This is apostasy.
