Question: “What does it mean to backslide?”

Video – Slow Fade” by Casting Crowns

If I were to ask one hundred people what does it means to Backslide? I would get a variety of answers. 

As I was study the topic backsliding, from a Christian point of view, it simply means that we are moving away from God rather that moving towards Him. A backslider is a person who is going the wrong way in life. I am going to be covering the seriousness of backsliding when it comes to ones faith.

A backslider is someone who is heading down a wrong way street, spiritually. At some point in his or her life, they committed to Jesus Christ and to live a life that is morally correct. When I see people who have been on fire for Jesus and they walk back into the life they had. When a person is being a backslider, that means you are moving away from God.

There are a number of families that I am worried about when it comes to them replacing other things in their lives instead of spending time with the Lord. When I talked to them about what they do all day, they will say they play games and such,I can see in one family that somehow they got turned around.The backsliders is someone who has some a lot of things to demonstrate a committment to christ.There ways reverted back to the person they once was.

Answer: The word backslide, in a Christian context, implies movement away from Christ rather than toward Him. A backslider is someone who is going the wrong way, spiritually. He is regressing rather than progressing.The backslider had at one time demonstrated a commitment to Christ or maintained a certain standard of behavior, but he has since reverted to old ways. Backsliding may manifest itself in several ways, e.g., dropping out of church, losing fervor for the Lord, walking away from a ministry or a family, or falling back into old habits.

I have been thinking about this topic for some time. I want to cover how easily it is for mankind to slip on the slippery slopes in our life. I want to discuss the dangers of backsliding. I’m not sure if this is considered a common term anymore. A person who backsides is a Christian who is distancing themselves from the Lord.

I have been pacifically for a young family who has been getting further and further from the Lord. They don’t say that, but I notice it as well as others do. Before they always made sure of what they did and said when it come to their faith. Slowly, the world is creeping in and trying to stick at them. I totally understand why they don’t feel they can find the right church for them or for others. I find it more disheartened that they do go try out others and not let what happened at once church cause them to make it so someone doesn’t go anywhere. It’s better to keep going forward instead of going backwards which makes Satan upset when you go further.

As Christians, whenever we come across certain Biblical names either of people or places or use of certain words, we may have no other option but to shudder and search our hearts.  Names of people like Judas Iscariot (Matthew 10: 4); Damas (2 Timothy 4: 10); Diotrephes (3 John 9).  David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11: 3-4); Samson and Delilah (Judges 16: 20) and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5: 1) point our attention to something very important in our Christian journey.  Then names of places such as Sodom (Genesis 13: 13) and Sardis (Revelation 3: 1) make us have similar feelings.  And to cap it, the presence and use of certain words or expressions In the scripture such as disqualified (1 Corinthians 9: 27); reprobate (2 Corinthians 13: 5, KJV); prodigal; and the expression in Revelation 2: 4, “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”; more than anything else, cause us to think seriously about today’s topic

Here are Some verse about Backsliding

• When we wander away from Christ, no loud bang is created because it is a gradual thing. Mention various things a Christian can be involved in that can lead to spiritual decay?  (Col. 3: 1-3; 2 Timothy 4: 10, Prov. 13: 20).  What are the likely outward evidences     or signs of backsliding in a Christian?  (2 Timothy 3: 1-6)
• Fear is a logical response to living outside the will of God. Why do you think Saul was afraid according to today’s text?  Mention other  dangers we are exposed to whenever we fall out of touch with God  (I Samuel 28: 5 & 6; 2 Peter 2: 20-22).
• Our Lord Jesus Christ has made enough provision for us to be more than conquerors. However, every Christian is still faced with the danger and the possibility of spiritual relapse.  What steps can we take or what Biblical guidance can we adopt to survive every temptation that can make us backslide?  (Songs of Sol. 2: 15; Hebrews 2: 1, Hebrews 3: 12-13, Hebrews 10: 29, Matt. 24: 42)

Who is a backslider?  A backslider is a Christian who gets out of touch with the Lord.  This happens when someone who is devoted to God, begins to take his or her relationship with Him less seriously as a result of carelessness, disobedience or negligence.  The backslider is isolated between two worlds – he is not able to enjoy the Lord and he cannot enjoy the world.  Backsliding does not necessarily mean a loss of salvation, but it can certainly lead to it.  This is why the Bible warns believers many times not to compromise their faith in Christ and to repent when they receive the chastening of the Lord.  “And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?  He said, do not make light of the LORD’s discipline, and do not give up when he corrects you.  For the Lord discipline those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child”  (Hebrews 12: 5-6 NLT).