Why would a Christian walk away from the faith?

JohnB445 · Jun 16, 2024

And some questions
1. Can they come back even if they really wanted to?
2. Did they have the Holy Spirit to even begin with?

AV1611VET · Jun 16, 2024

JohnB445 said:
Why would a Christian walk away from the faith?

One major reason is because he embraced evolution.

Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

AV1611VET · Jun 16, 2024

JohnB445 said:
And some questions
1. Can they come back even if they really wanted to?
2. Did they have the Holy Spirit to even begin with?

1. Yes, according to the parable of the prodigal son.

2. In most cases, I doubt it.

After all, why would anyone who experienced all this ...

Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

... give it up for another faith?

HTacianas · Jun 16, 2024

JohnB445 said:
And some questions
1. Can they come back even if they really wanted to?
2. Did they have the Holy Spirit to even begin with?

People do it for different reasons. The new testament records that some left the faith to do other things, see 1 John 2:19. In Pliny's letter to Trajan circa 112 AD he writes:

Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.

According to the new testament, if a Christian falls away he cannot return, see Hebrews 6:4-6. However, the Church abrogated that after the last Roman persecution, ruling that under pain of death a person might fall away from fear. After a period of penance they would be allowed to return. The sacrament of reconciliation was extended to those who fell away under persecution.

HTacianas · Jun 16, 2024

AV1611VET said:
One major reason is because he embraced evolution.

Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Evolution has nothing to do with Christianity.

AV1611VET · Jun 16, 2024

HTacianas said:
Evolution has nothing to do with Christianity.

Are you saying you have to be one or the other?

HTacianas · Jun 16, 2024

AV1611VET said:
Are you saying you have to be one or the other?

I'm saying that the Church has no defined teaching on evolution. Neither is there one on the age of the earth. A Christian is free to hold whatever beliefs he chooses regarding either one.

d taylor · Jun 17, 2024

-

Well there are a few questions that need answering first. Is this person or persons who is identified as a christian? Have they believed in Jesus for God's free gift of Eternal Life and become a born again child of God.

If yes then they have the Holy Spirit permanently. Second they can come back, sometimes they may and many times they may not.
But even if they never come back they remain a born again child of God. But just a child who has become alienated from their Father.

Tuur · Jun 17, 2024

Umm...all this seems to be an eternal security question. Some doctrines hold you can lose salvations; others that you cannot.

Maria Billingsley · Jun 17, 2024

JohnB445 said:
And some questions
1. Can they come back even if they really wanted to?
2. Did they have the Holy Spirit to even begin with?

Typically deception in its many forms.
Blessings.

bling · Jun 17, 2024

JohnB445 said:
And some questions
1. Can they come back even if they really wanted to?
2. Did they have the Holy Spirit to even begin with?

Christians can quench the Spirit and do their own thing, but this does not mean they are lost.
Sin has its perceived pleasures for a season, while heaven is in the future as a birth right for the Christian, so like Esau the Christian can give their birthright away and pursue carnal pleasures, not caring for unselfish Godly type Love.

Guojing · Jun 18, 2024

JohnB445 said:
And some questions
1. Can they come back even if they really wanted to?
2. Did they have the Holy Spirit to even begin with?

Maybe a good question you can start is this

If you are an unbeliever, can you walk away from Satan from either

Doing good deeds
Refraining from doing bad deeds?

ViaCrucis · Jun 20, 2024

JohnB445 said:
And some questions
1. Can they come back even if they really wanted to?

Yes, the Lord is gracious, He is merciful to the thankless and the wicked. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a Good Shepherd who, when one little lamb gets lost, will go and search high and low to find it. We have the Story of the Prodigal Son to teach us of God's unconquerable love, should we spit in God's face and throw away our inheritance, we have a Father in Heaven who will run out to meet us and celebrate with feasting our return.

JohnB445 said:
2. Did they have the Holy Spirit to even begin with?

All who have faith have the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to have the Holy Spirit and not have faith; it is impossible to have faith and not have the Holy Spirit.

The danger of apostasy is a real one in Scripture, if we make shipwreck of our faith, if we quench the Spirit, and if we turn away from Christ we shall die--for He says "I am the Vine" and "Abide in Me, without Me you have nothing".

Our salvation is in Christ and Christ alone.

-CryptoLutheran

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