Overcoming Backsliding

It is has been quite a while since I've been active on this blog. So much has happened, but I thank God that through it all He has been faithful. I am glad to be back here and share some of lessons along this journey of faith. I pray that the Holy Spirit continues to use this blog to encourage, convict, and inspire you to live out the salvation that our Precious King Jesus died for on the cross.

Before I commence this blog, I want to remind you that the Christian walk is a journey, it is a steady race, and it is a fight of faith. You may have given your life to Christ in a a sweet and serenading moment, where you felt the warmth and love of Christ embrace you. Tears may have billowed down your cheeks as you lifted your hands in surrender and proclaimed your love for Jesus. 

But then what happened next? Some of you may have continued on the upward trend of the sweet parts of your new found relationship with Jesus however, many of us may have been met with battles and even the old man (your old habits, thoughts, lifestyle, and sins) trying to pull you back into the prison that Jesus once rescued from. 

It is important that every Christian builds his or her own relationship with the Holy Spirit because his job is to help us to live out our salvation and to lead us into all truth ( John 16:13). 

This blog is about overcoming backsliding, which is a shortfall that every Christian is susceptible to  because the devil's main goal is to steal, kill, and destroy the relationship we have with God (John 10:10). That is why he is always tempting us like he did to Jesus in Matthew 4. Satan is always trying to tempt us to dance with sin, entertaining how far we can go to the edge of it without touching. It is the Holy Spirit that keeps us from going back to our old life. 

I think at this point it is important to define what backsliding is. The google definition of backsliding is the action of relapsing into bad ways or error. So in short to backslide means to lapse back into the sin and old ways that God saved you from. 

BackSliding Starts in the Heart 

One thing to know about backsliding is that it starts in the heart. The heart is where the mind, will, and emotions are stored. So just like one who is in a committed relationship like husband and wife, the process of growing apart starts with how we think about our spouse in our hearts. The Bible says in Proverbs 14:14 " The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways." In Proverbs 23:7(b) the Bible also makes us understand that as a man thinks in his heart so is he. The process of drifting away from the principles of God starts in our hearts. It starts with one act of disobedience at a time, until we find ourselves in a deep pit. The questions to now ask yourself is "what have I allowed my heart to meditate upon? Are these thought in line with the Word of God? What imaginations and fantasies do I revel and muse myself with? Are these godly images?" 

This is why God tells us to guard our hearts because the issues of life can flow out of it; the heart is also very deceptive and can twist the word and commands of God to ensure it gets what it wants. See Proverbs 4:23 and Jeremiah 17:9. Your heart can deceive you into opening yourself up to premarital sex saying oh the person will be your wife or husband it's okay to sleep together, a kiss or two won't hurt. It can even make you think that you gossiping is a form of praying or discussing a deeply spiritual matter when what you are really doing is slandering a brother or sister in Christ. See 1 John 3:20; James 4:11-12.

The truth is that God knows our human hearts. Without the Holy Spirit and a renewed heart from God, we are candidates for demons to host their parties. The devil needs humans to host and push his agenda through,  so he looks as a roaring lion for those who are weak in their convictions or those flirting with sin to launch his attack through. (1 Peter 5:8).

Dangers of Backsliding 

1. Turning away from God 

It is important to note that the danger of backsliding is ultimately turning away from God completely. This is dangerous because the Bible says in Hebrews 6:14 that it is impossible to get back those who have tasted and seen the goodness of God back to Christ. In doing this, they are crucifying Christ afresh. 

I know this scripture may sound hard, but really think about it. Someone who has confessed Jesus and has been filled with the Holy Spirit and now decides that God is not real. Or that their lifestyle of sin is better than God. 

Winning this person back will only take Jesus himself! They will need to get back to the place of thirst and truly have God save them (this is possible but a very difficult process - humanly speaking.). 

2. Loosing our Salvation 

When we decide to backslide, we risk our salvation and eternity with Christ. We must remember that the Bible is not just a book of stories; the Bible is the living Word of God. It contains God's judgments, decrees, and promises. Some of the promises are also conditional on our fulfilling the Word of God. 

We cannot knowingly continue in sin and expect there to not be judgment. See Hebrews 10. Also the Bible says clearly in Galatians 5:19-21:

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Some of you may be saying well I thought Salvation is eternal. Yes it is. But we can do things that can jeopardize it. God is a just God. The Bible says that we should not be deceived. God cannot be mocked, whatever we plant good or bad, we will reap (Galatians 6). God is not unmerciful but He can return back at anytime, and what will be said of us in that time? Will we be found confessing his name and trying our best to find him? or will be found dead in sin?

We don't want our works here on earth to barely make it (as shown in 1 Corinthians 3), we want our works to be tried by fire and still stand!

3. Being Filled with the Spirit of Fear

The Bible says for those who knowingly sin there is a fearful look of judgment. When you begin on the journey of living a double life, you will always have the fear of being caught and receiving judgment. 

This happens because where there is sin there is death. Sin brings fear and darkness. Jesus tells us in John 3:19, "And this is the condemnation [judgment], that the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." When we choose to love darkness, we are left to being fearful even when no one is chasing us. (Proverbs 28:1 " The righteous are as bold as a lion, but the wicked flee when no one pursues them). 

4. Getting out of Intimacy with God 

One of the biggest damages of falling back into a past life with sin is that we get out of our closeness and intimacy with God. The goal of idolatry, or worship of anything outside of God, is to steal our devotion and love with God.  The more we sin, the more we chose our desires and lusts (the devil), over the Love that God has for us. Although, God is always waiting for us as his children to draw near to him and show us his love. But sin condemns us and draws us away from God.

5. Being Opened up to total Demonic Destruction 

Backsliding also opens up the door for the voice of accusation and condemnation to enter our lives. In Revelation 12, the Bible describes the devil as an accuser of the brethren. The devil comes to us in the forms of thoughts and these thoughts can often been thoughts of accusation. He will tell you once you have repented of past sin that you are no good and there is no point acting like you have been changed. 

Once we repent from sin, the devil will use accusation to keep us out of following and repenting before the Lord. This is why the Bible says that once a person is delivered from one demon, the demon leaves the body and goes around the world, and comes back and if he finds the house empty, swept, and garnished, then he takes seven more demons that are more wicked than him and enters into the house. After this the Bible says that "the last state of the man is worse than the first." (See Mathew 12:44-45)

The Bible also makes us understand in Romans 1, that when we choose sin over the wisdom of God, we are confessing ourselves to be wiser than him and after this, he gives us over to a depraved or a totally corrupt mind. When we confess ourselves to be wiser than God by choosing our own paths, we become fools. 

So how do we overcome the Danger of Backsliding?

1. Realize we are Married to God The Solution is to Return to Our Lover and Husband: God 

In Jeremiah Chapter 3, God rebuked the children of Israel and Judah from going to other foreign gods and playing a harlot and serving them/bowing down to them. 

"Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion" Jeremiah 3:14

God sees our relationship with him as marriage. Marriage is a covenant that cannot be broken except by divorce and we know that God hates divorce. 

In Ezekiel 16, the Lord describes how he saw the children of Israel when they were young, wailing in their own blood and no one loved them, and he cleaned them up and clothed them with beautiful garments and jewelry making them beautiful. The Lord came and washed them and entered into a covenant with them, and he called them "mine." 

No one likes a cheating spouse, and so we must determine to be faithful to God our husband, our Ishi as it is said in Hebrew. 

2. Return Back to God as the Prodigal Son 

After the Prodigal son came to his right senses, as described in Luke 15, he went back to his father and repented for the life of sin that he was living. The Bible said as soon as he returned to his father, his father ran to him , seeing him afar off and hugged him, and threw a party for him!

The father of the prodigal son is a direct depiction of our father in heaven. God literally runs towards us as we turn back in his direction through repentance. The Bible says God is near to the broken hearted and that when we draw near to Him, he also draws near to us! How beautiful is that! I love how God Loves us! 

The Father wants to lavish his love on us! We have to be willing to come to Him and allow him to lavish us with that love! 

3. Ask God for a New Heart and Spirit 

Psalm 51 is a prayer of repentance that David prayed after he sinned with Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. In Psalm 51, David owned up to his sin. He didn't blame anyone for his sin, he told God like the Prodigal son, that against you and you alone (talking to God) have I sinned. 

David specifically asked God in Psalm 51:10 to create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him. This specifically stood out to me because David knew that whatever led him to commit sin with Bathsheba was not the spirit of God. He also asked God to cleanse his heart. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is wicked above all, who can truly know it? 

Asking God to give us a clean heart and a right spirit is key to living out a heart of holiness and purity. It is only the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit that helps us in the journey of faith. We have to allow him guide us and disciple us.

Ephesians 4:23 AMP " and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [ having fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude." This scripture gives a very important instruction and even point of prayer. We must pray and war for the purity of our mind. 

As someone who has fought and is continually fighting against Satan's war of the mind, we must contend to have the mind of Christ. Don't allow the Devil in anyway to control of your mind! 

Meditate on the Following Passage in the Amplified Version 

The Christian Walk:

“So this I say, and solemnly affirm together with the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds [and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls], for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart. And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy], having become callous and unfeeling, have given themselves over [as prey] to unbridled sensuality, eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity [that their desires may demand]. But you did not learn Christ in this way! If in fact you have [really] heard Him and have been taught by Him, just as truth is in Jesus [revealed in His life and personified in Him], that, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires, and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude], and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation].”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬-‭24‬ ‭AMP‬‬

4. Engage the Holy Spirit 

We often forget the most important gift that Jesus left before leaving this earth and that is the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us in John 16:13 that the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth,  and in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and bring into remembrance what God has taught us. 

We must allow the Holy Spirit do his work in us and walk with us! As humans, we can be very strong-willed and stubborn minded, but let me tell you this, whatever plans we have or things we are trying to build or do, will all fail if God is not the one leading us. You may think you have gone far in covering up sin or keeping the facade that you are a hot Christian when in fact you have become cold! 

Cry out to the Holy Spirit for help! He is the best friend, confidant, teacher, and lover anyone could every ask for!

5. Decide to Pick Up Your Cross Daily (make this into an everyday confession and prayer) 

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus tells us that if any man will come after him, he must deny himself and pick up his cross and come after him! 

Please remember that this walk of Christianity is a journey. There will be ups and downs, but ask God to help you deny yourself ( to help you overcome any overpowering desires or habits that are not in alignment with God) and to pick up your cross (the life of sacrificial love for God) and walk after Jesus all the days of your life. 

God is faithful, and he will indeed help you! God is an ever-present help in a time of trouble (Psalm 45) and he is a rock, a pavilion and a place of refuge.