How long will an FTO trainer last on the job if he trains his new officers in willful defiance to the standards of policy and law that he is fully aware of? Probably not long. But that is what many self-professing Christians and churches do with God’s Word.

The Bible calls such individuals and churches “apostate.”

Merrill Unger, a noted theologian, defines an Apostate as any “professing Christian” who knowingly and deliberately rejects revealed truth regarding the Deity of Christ and redemption through His atoning sacrifice.

In other words, an apostate is any person or church which claims to be “Christian” yet whose teachings diminish the authority and deity of Christ in any way; or who teach any way of salvation and forgiveness through Grace alone, by Faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

Genuine apostasy is never a simple ignorance of the Truth. It is always deliberate and willful. And the Bible warns us that there will be such people and churches. The term “look to yourselves” in the following passage literally means beware, take heed, or “WATCH OUT!”

2 John 1:7-9 “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. [8] Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. [9] Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”

Deceivers, by definition, do not do their damage by accident. Their purpose and intent is to deceive. Such are apostates, and they are definable and recognizable.

2 Peter 2:1-2 “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. [2] And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

But What if They Just Don’t Know?

Churches or individuals who teach error by accident are also mentioned in the Bible. These people chase after their own desires and ideas. They are not “apostates” in the true sense of the word because they don’t know the Truth in the first place! It basically says that they are “stupid on purpose.”

2 Peter 3:3-6 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, [4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. [5] For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: [6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”

Whether apostate or willingly ingnorant, the results are still the same. The intent really makes no difference to the person who follows the incorrect teaching. Whether the FTO purposefully rejects the law and policies for whatever reason, or whether he just doesn’t know any better, he would not keep his position as FTO. And it begs the question: How did he ever get the job in the first place?

…to be continued…

Suggested Follow-Up Studies:

On Authority
On Choosing A Church
On Truth

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