A10.4 – HOW BACKSLIDING SETS IN

Backsliding does not occur suddenly; rather, it is a gradual step backward after the other.

1. It often starts with negative thoughts, Prov 23:7

2. The backslider graduates to constantly entertaining fleshly desires, Matt 5:27-30

3. Slowly, the backslider becomes indifferent to spiritual matters, Amos 6:1

4. Before too long, the backslider’s prayer life become jam-packed with other things as sports, hobbies, television, music and so on, Jam 1:13-15

5. A backslider often indulges in “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest…” Prov 24:33-34

6. As a result of minor secret sins, a backslider gets engrossed in the web of Satan. And as he makes away with little sins, he begins to attempt bigger obvious sins, Song 2:15-16

7. The backslider’s interests further degenerate to lack of hunger for the Word of God, Hos 7:1-3

8. Church attendance, fellowship with other brethren and involvement in evangelism become boring to the backslider, Rev 3:17-18

9. On a continuous basis, the backslider feels empty on the ‘inside’ but often he puts up a face of ‘all is well’. There are glaring inconsistencies in his life, Hos 6:4-7

10. Most times, a backslider finds the conviction of the Holy Spirit uncomfortable and inconvenient, 1 Cor 15:33-34

11. The original zeal for the things of God depreciates and the backslider substitutes this with worldly affairs, worldly friends and worldly materials, Hos 7:9-10

12. For the fear of what other believers will say, some backsliders find it easy pretending and thus they live hypocritical life and double standard life, Luke 6:45-46

13. Little by little, a backslider is lured into the sins he has once forsaken. The sin he once abhorred gradually becomes adored. Hos 8:1-3

14. At the height of it, a backslider willfully justifies his sinful actions and quotes the Scriptures to support himself. The sense of guilt has disappeared. His feeble, fleshy heart becomes like stone and his conscience becomes seared, 1Tim 4:1-3