THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN

HEBREWS 3:12–15

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness

(Hebrews 3:13).

Apostasy is falling away from the truth. To commit the sin of apostasy, you must first of all be a professing believer, a member of God’s church. The Israelites as a nation committed apostasy in the wilderness, and God raised up a new generation to take their place. The same possibility exists for churches in every age.

Indeed, it also exists for individual Christians. Only God knows the heart, and only God knows who the elect are. We know those who have professed faith and have by baptism been admitted into the church. Possibly, however, some of these members of the “visible church” are not true members of the “invisible church.” Some of these professing Christians may fall away. They may be deluded by the deceitfulness of sin.

If many people in a church fall away from God, the church itself will fall away from God. In a massive way, this has happened to churches in Europe and the United States. A century ago the liberal movement began to take hold in churches, and it became popular and acceptable to deny the foundational truths of Christianity. These apostates did not leave the church—which would have been the honest thing to have done—but remained, redefining what Christianity is all about.

Soon the apostates in the “mainline” churches were persecuting the faithful remnant. Seminary professors heaped scorn upon conservative, Bible-believing students. Men who affirmed the doctrine of the wrath of God, or of the substitutionary atonement, or of the virgin birth were regarded with suspicion, and it became harder and harder to get ordained to the ministry if you believed such things. Eventually, most Christians left these churches and formed new ones. The new wine of the kingdom had to find new wine skins.

God warns in Hebrews 3:13–14 that apostasy is caused by sin’s deceitfulness. People do not set out to renounce the fundamentals of the faith. Rather, they become sloppy in their Christian lives, compromise in small areas, and eventually depart from the faith. Verse 14 makes it clear that we shall inherit a share in Christ only if we hold fast to the end.

CORAM DEO

2 Kings 13:1–15:7

The author of Hebrews is not writing to entertain us. He wants to make us search our lives. If you trust in Jesus and are faithfully trying to obey His Word, you are not an apostate. But, is it possible that sin’s deceitfulness has led you to compromise? Look closely and honestly in the mirror of God’s truth today.

For further study: 1 Cor. 6:9–11 • Eph. 4:17–25 • 1 Peter 2:21–22

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