What is backsliding, and how can it be reversed?
Backsliding is deterioration in quality of spiritual life after a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior has been made. It is well to realize that in some cases an authentic profession of faith may not have taken place and, if so, the proof of this becomes evident as time passes. Jesus gave us this standard of judgment in Matthew 7:15 “you will know them by their fruits.” The apostles Paul, (II Timothy 3:13), and Peter, (II Peter 2:20), describes the backsliding condition as that of going from bad to worse. Some of its causes are pursuit of secular success, bad associations, shallowness, lack of spiritual insight, and desire for material possessions. Results include selfishness (Proverbs 14:14), indifference to Jesus (Matthew 24:12), unfitness for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62), (Galatians 1:6), dependence on works (Galatians 4:9-10), Gods displeasure (Hebrews 10:38), (II Peter 2:20), and an evident and intentional loss of enthusiasm for God and His work (Revelation 2:4
