THE DANGER OF BACKSLIDING

2 Peter 2:20-22 (AMPC) 
“For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through [the full, personal] knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition is worse [for them] than the first.
 
21 For never to have obtained a [full, personal] knowledge of the way of righteousness would have been better for them than, having obtained [such knowledge], to turn back from the holy commandment which was [verbally] delivered to them.
 
22 There has befallen them the thing spoken of in the true proverb, the dog turns back to his own vomit, and, the sow is washed only to wallow again in the mire. [Prov. 26:11.]
 
Dear people of God, it does appear that those who profess Christianity while living a clearly backslidden life of sinful practice are not in tune with the reality of what awaits them in future should they die in sin.
 
Some years ago, it was all over the news media in Nigeria that a pastor of a church who was also a University lecturer was involved in demanding sexual gratification to pass his students.
 
It took the action of one of his students in recording his ungodly conversation with her to expose the man, which eventually led to termination of his appointment as a lecturer.
 
Few days after, another report has surfaced with a video of another Nigerian University lecturer who is also a pastor of a popular church involved in trying to sexually assault a prospective “student yet to be admitted” into the school.
 
I underlined a portion of the last statement because it was actually a BBC reporter posing as a prospective student that was involved in the sting operation that exposed the lecturer, who has been suspended both by the University and the church.
 
What is appalling is that this lecturer was seen and heard in the video praying for the student, leading her to Christ and then going ahead to say they should go to the business of the day, which was to sexually assault the lady.
 
Again, I have read of a pastor this time around in Kenya who invited 13 underage girls, some as young as 12 years to a birthday party in his home and gave them alcohol to drink until they were drunk.
 
Some neighbours that discovered the girls and raised the alarm were said to have found condoms in the pastor’s house and while the pastor escaped two of the men found in his home were arrested.
 
Dear people of God, I have brought these stories to light to reveal how some pastors, claiming to serve God Almighty and Father of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ have deviated from their calling (if at all they were called by Christ) to become agents of satan to assault unsuspecting girls.
 
No doubt, in the University environment, one would find girls who dress immorally and provocatively to entice men while some lazy ones are more than willing to sell their bodies to obtain examination marks but what is the relationship with immorality of students with lecturers who are pastors that should reveal the light of Christ to a lost generation as we have in today’s world?
 
No doubt, there is also the failure and culpability of parents who sent their under aged girls to a pastor’s home only for the pastor and his friends to make them drunk from alcohol and then sexually assault them.
 
However, as you would notice from today’s lead Holy Bible text, it would have been better if these pastors had never known Christ because they have slipped into a worse condition than before they knew Christ.
 
This is the point to which I want to bring attention because some reading this may not see it. Yes, eternal damnation awaits all who die in sin but a stricter judgement and greater punishment awaits those who knew Christ but backslid into sin before they died.
 
This is why those who preach the doctrine of eternal security (once saved, forever saved even if living in sin thereafter) are preaching error and leading themselves and others into HELL.
 
Dear friend, God would NEVER lower His standard of righteousness and holiness as He expects everyone who professes Christ to abide in His Word. He is clear on His expectations of those who claim to know Christ and claim to be His children.
 
Even if you have been 40 or 50 or 60 years in ministry, it does not make you more precious in God’s sight than others. God has no favourites but expects everyone in every nation to obey Him – Acts 10:34-35.
 
What God wants is total and complete obedience to His commandments in the Holy Bible.
 
Do not create your own standards and give excuses for living in sin. If God says something is wrong, then it is.
 
I therefore urge Christians everywhere to enter into a personal relationship with God themselves through prayer, study and meditation of God’s Word in the Bible to know the Truth for themselves and not become spiritually lazy to rely on others to mislead them into an eternal damnation.
 
Many spend a lot of time chasing material well-being for themselves and their families to the detriment of their spiritual well-being. They are ignorant of the fact that God Himself has guaranteed that none of His children who are obedient to His commandments would ever lack anything good.
 
It is the spiritual that controls the physical and not the other way around.
 
Dear friend, have you read and understood this message and realised that as a Christian you have backslidden? Christ is warning you today through this message to repent and come back to Him before it is too late for you.
 
Stop bringing shame to the body of Christ in your own interest. This may be the very last opportunity you would have before you die or the Rapture Trumpet sounds and saints are taken away whilst deceivers and hypocrites are left behind to face the music of the devil.
 
Are you yet to surrender your life to Christ to become a Christian as His child? Christ is inviting you today and now to take heed and come to Him as you study and reflect on this message.
 
This may be the very last opportunity you would have before death comes and takes you out of this world where regret and eternal punishment would be the only experience on the other side.
 
A Word is enough for the wise.
 
May the good Lord bless you as you heed His Word today, act on it and share with others in Jesus’ Most Righteous Name, Amen.
 
Gabriel Ama.
 
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