TEXT:- 2Pet. 2: 1-4
BY:
BRO. LUKE UJAGWUNG
INTRODUCTION
What is the faith? This the Christian lifestyle of obedience to God.(Jude 3.).
Most Christian I have known who left the faith did so for various reasons.
Some start the Christian race well but now in danger of ‘Leaving the faith’ as a result of Negligence- this suggest that are careless about most holy faith.
THE LOVE OF THE WORLD
- The lust of the flesh
- Lust of the eyes
- The pride of life.(1Jn.1:15-16)
- Persecutions- challenge of various kinds.
DISCUSSIONS:
In our discussion we shall consider the last two groups of Christians who left the Faith.
THOSE WHO LEFT BECAUSE OF DOCTRINAL TEACHING
(Jn.6:64-66)
Hard teaching such as this always reveal those Christians who feels that they know the truth and yet are faced with a teaching they do not understand.
The teaching may have been hard to understand at this time in their lives.
However, they would grown up to maturity in order to understand but they left:
THOSE WHO LEFT THE CHURCH IN CORINTH AS A RESULT OF DOCTRINAL TEACHING OF PAUL :
Christians who left the church as a result of hard teaching they did
not understand were called CARNALS (1 Cor. 3:1-4)
THOSE CHRISTIANS WHO LEFT THE CHURCH IN AD70:
Christians who left the fold to preach doctrinally against the teaching of Christ were called ANTICHRIST (1Jn 2:18-19)
NOTE:
These Christians did not give up religiosity in order to live unrighteous.
The phrase “they were not of us” means – since they left they have Not the same spirit of obedience to God with us. So they are no longer our brother and sisters.
It maybe that they had not grown in the faith to be to withstand the onslaught of false philosophies of doctrines that tossed them to and fro.(Eph. 4:14)
It may also be that they were not fully converted at the point of baptism
THOSE WHO LEFT THE PATTERN
A pattern is a form of doctrine which must be obeyed. That led Christian to be freed from sin (Rom. 6:17).
God warned Moses during the building of the TABERNACLE- a shadow of the glorious church of Christ that ‘Everything God had to be built and done according to the pattern shown to him (Ex. 25:40; Heb. 8:5).
Pages of the bible will not forget to mention the examples of people who suffered God’s anger as result of leaving the pattern of God- such as Uzzah (2Sam. 6:6-7).
Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10:1-3).
Let us not pretend or disguise our secrete through or mindset of
leaving the faith in the name of name of spreading the gospel or spreading the Church.
As our actions are compared to God’s word our hearts and mindset are revealed.