Backsliding - by Cameron Buettel

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Here again we have a supposed Bible teacher who barely manages to quote Scripture. He has an opportunity to provide us a biblically documented teaching, but instead punts. In fact, his chief aim is not to teach, but rather to bolster his Calvinistic preferences.

He does not mention or discuss important backsliding passages like

He. 6:4-6 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Mk. 4:16-17 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

He. 10:26-27 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Nor does he explain the idea of apostasy (literally, to stand away from), a word found once in the Bible as it applies to the Church:

2Th. 2:3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

And what of a person who simply doubts, that is, waivers:

Jude 22 Be merciful to those who doubt...

None of this is discussed by Mr. Buettel.

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This post was first published during January 2016. –ed.

My early months as a Christian were a joyous feast of fellowship. There was nothing I loved more than to be with my new brothers and sisters in Christ. Every believer I knew seemed so sanctified and intimate with the Savior. I actually felt intimidated by lives that were seemingly lived on another plane of righteousness to my own sinful struggles. (Later, Mr. Buettel will write, The backsliding doctrine I had been taught was actually the result of false shepherds preaching a false gospel that demanded no repentance. His clear suggestion is that he was a part of a church that did not preach the full gospel. So our questions would be, when did he actually get saved? Is he now saved because he's a Calvinist?)

But it didn’t take long before I discovered a sub-culture my Christian peers described as “backsliders.” (We will discover that Mr. Buettel's main problem is the colloquial use of this particular word, as if the word represents a doctrinal treatise. He will tell us the proper way to understand backsliding, but then will claim it is always incorrect to use the word.)

Few things can match the shock we experience when brought face to face with those who abandon the Christian faith. And there was nothing that could have prepared me for the grief of seeing hands once raised in worship, now deployed in satanic vices—backslidden from their former Christian faith.

I could not fathom why anyone would abandon eternal rewards for a short season of wicked pleasure. My Arminian pastor assured me that backsliding was the only possible explanation, and that our job was to “persuade these backsliders to come back to church and restore the salvation they’ve lost.” (Ga. 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.)

Indeed some people were quite effective at retrieving backsliders and over the years I saw an endless stream of people who would gain their salvation, lose it, and re-gain it only to lose it again—rinse and repeat. (Is this an accurate characterization, that there's a common belief that people lost their salvation and regained it?)

My eyes were slowly opening to the reality that my church was actually a spiritual transit lounge for people in my city who periodically ventured into the kingdom of God. I could smell the problem but was unable to pinpoint the source. Did the Bible have an explanation? (So his answer will be from the Bible. We hope.)

“Backsliding” is an Old Testament term found in the prophetic books and used within the context of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. (Why does he not tell us where this word is used? We shall do Mr. Buettel's work for him. The word is meshubah, found in these verses: 

Hosea 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

Jeremiah 5:6 Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many.

Jeremiah 2:19 Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

Hosea 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

Jeremiah 3:22 “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God.”

Hosea 14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.)

John MacArthur describes it as “a word that the prophets used of apostate unbelievers.” (No, it's word used specifically regarding Israel's unfaithfulness.)

He concedes that Christians can backslide only in the sense that they “regress into a period of spiritual dullness or disobedience.” (Ah, so backsliding is a real phenomenon. So why did Mr. Buettel object to the use of the word as used by those in his former church?)

But he adds that such cases always incur God’s discipline (Hebrews 12:6–11) (Let's quote the passage:

He. 12:6-11 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” [Prov. 3:11,12] 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

The obvious thing to notice is the writer of Hebrews is telling his audience to endure. If he felt it necessary to tell them this, then the possibility exists to not endure. Thus the passage does not teach what Mr. Buettel says it does.)

and produce repentance. (Suddenly Mr. Buettel's documentation disappears. Where in the Bible does it say that God's discipline always results in repentance?)

That idea captures what most Calvinists mean if they use the term “backslider.” (Oh, so Calvinists also use the term? Is it just a matter of semantics? Or perhaps only Calvinists use the term correctly? Or maybe it's a matter of misunderstanding what the term means? To this last question, we will find that Mr. Buettel is unable to explain the term.)

There is much that could be said about what constitutes a spiritual lapse, or how far you can go before you go too far. (Why not discuss these things, Mr. Buettel? Maybe there would be some fruit in that, since there has been very little of benefit so far.)

But the important principle to grasp is that the backsliding of a believer is always temporary and always involves God’s chastening which in turn produces repentance. (Again, no documentation for these claims.)

It never means that their salvation was temporarily lost. (Who teaches that salvation can be temporarily lost?)

(For further reading on this subject I would recommend two of John’s articles: Does Scripture Leave Room for Carnal Christians? and How Far Can Christians Go in Sinning?).

John argues that “backsliding” can never refer to a person who professes faith in Christ but lives in a “perpetual state of willful rebellion or ungodly indifference.” (Now we finally get to a clear assertion. A Christian cannot backslide, according to John McArthur.  Living in a perpetual state of willful rebellion means the person isn't a Christian. But Mr. Buettel just wrote, the backsliding of a believer is always temporary. So which is it?)

Such people are not backsliding believers but rather false Christians who were never accepted by Christ in the first place (Matthew 7:21–23; 1 John 3:4–10). (Again, let's quote:

Mt. 7:15, 21-23: 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves....

“Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

We added verse 15 to provide context. We can now see that Jesus called them false prophets, but Mr. Buettel calls them false Christians. So he is wrong. In fact, there is nothing in this passage that indicates a person who backslid. Now for the second reference:

1Jn. 3:4-10 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No-one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No-one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 

The apostle provided a nuanced discussion of the nature of continued sin. However, Mr. Buettel simply tosses it out there as a "proof text" with a claim that the passage is about false Christians.) 

The backsliding doctrine I had been taught was actually the result of false shepherds preaching a false gospel that demanded no repentance. (From his anecdotal experience he makes a broad claim.)

The result was providing false pronouncements of salvation on false converts who were more than happy to march out the door and back into the arms of the world they still loved more than Christ. The apostle John nailed the issue when he said: “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). (Finally, our first Scripture. But he barely discusses it. He just offers it as a "proof text," without taking the time to demonstrate how it applies to his claim.

"Went out" is exerchomai, which means

2. figuratively;
a. ...to go out from some assembly, i. e. to forsake it: 1 John 2:19

The apostle is simply saying that these people left, never having been an actual part of their fellowship. From the surrounding verses we can infer that they were "antichrists." The apostle helpfully defines "antichrist:" 

1Jn. 2:22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist — he denies the Father and the Son.

This passage has nothing to do with backsliding. We would surmise that these folks denied Jesus was Lord, and left when they found no tolerance of their false beliefs.)

As Ray Comfort summarized; “It's those we erroneously call backsliders, who fall away, because they have never slid forward in the first place”. 

Backsliding has become a theologically tragic Christian cliché—tragic because of the ways it impugns God’s character. (But... Mr. Buettel previously admitted a correct way of understanding the term!)

It implicitly denies God’s sovereign power in regenerating sinners (Ezekiel 36:25–27), (Sigh... Let's quote the passage:

Ez. 36:25-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 

Unfortunately, Mr. Buettel quit reading. Let's continue on:

28 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the corn and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 

31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel! 

33 “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it.

This passage is not about God’s sovereign power in regenerating sinners, it is uniquely Jewish: O house of Israel. Otherwise we would have to believe the promises of living in the land of our forefathers, plentiful crops, and rebuilt towns are also for us.

Now, we certainly agree that we are new creations. But as far as God’s sovereign power in regenerating sinners, this passage simply does not teach this.

As an aside, we should tell the reader that Mr. Buettel is referencing a specifically Calvinistic doctrine, loosely described by the acronym TULIP. The five principles are [T]otal Depravity, [U]nconditional Election, [L]imited Atonement, [I]rresistible Grace, and [P]erseverance of the Saints. Three of them come to bear on this discussion:

• God sovereignly chooses who is saved [U]
• God's call to the predestined is irresistible [I], and 
• those who are saved cannot lose their salvation [P]. 

It is the last one in particular that Mr. Buettel is wrestling with. If a saved person cannot lose his salvation, then one must embark on convoluted and self-contradicting explanations like we are reading in order to account for people who seemed saved, bore fruit, lived godly-appearing lives, but then fall away. 

In other words, it's a coping mechanism.)

 resurrecting them from being dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) to a new and living creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). The idea that a Christian can backslide and lose his salvation also impugns Christ’s promise to eternally preserve the people He saves:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (John 10:27–29) (Literally, none has the power to snatch away out of the Father's hand. That would of course mean that those who are saved cannot be yanked out of their salvation. That does not speak to someone who backslides or renounces their faith. Those people are not being snatched, they are walking away.)

I’ll never forget John MacArthur’s simple and yet profound argument for the security of Christian salvation based on God’s power to keep His people—“If I could lose my salvation, I would.” (This statement is exactly what we just referred to. A person can indeed walk away. But such a person does not "lose" one's salvation, he forfeits it.)

The very idea of keeping our salvation on the basis of our own efforts (Which no one claims.)

is as preposterous as the idea of attaining our salvation in the first place because of something we did.

The modern “backslider” cannot be persuaded back into a kingdom he never entered in the first place. (Undocumented claim. And in fact, since a person out of the Kingdom can respond to God's call and get saved, it doesn't matter what their prior status may have been.)

He needs to be evangelized and called to repentance—like all unbelievers do. (A distinction without a difference.)

And if he repents, it should not be treated as a re-commitment to his salvation but rather as an outward sign of God’s inner saving work. (A person cannot re-commit? Isn't that repentance? Another undocumented assertion.

What about The Laodicean church?

Re. 3:16-19 So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, `I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

Jesus promises fellowship with those in this church if they would repent. In fact, Jesus says they will be able to sit with sit with Him on the throne!

Thus we can see this church is comprised of believers, though they are lukewarm. 

We have now seen the verbal gymnastics Calvinists need to employ to navigate this issue. But in our view, it's nothing more than a bunch of hand-wringing over a doctrine that does not matter. Yes, it does not matter. Whether a person is saved or not depends on God. Us knowing this status or parsing out what it means is really a useless endeavor. If a person is living an ungodly, unrepentant life, backslider, lukewarm, or whatever, he need to be called to repentance and faith. Simple as that.)