June 5th, 2024
Each of the great basketball players of yesteryear we associate with a franchise. Michael Jordan? The Chicago Bulls. Dominique Wilkins? The Atlanta Hawks. Karl Malone? The Utah Jazz. Magic Johnson? The Los Angeles Lakers. Seeing them in a different jersey, like Jordan in a Wizards uniform, just didn’t seem right.
All of that changed in 2010. In a historic and widely anticipated interview, 25-year-old Lebron James told Jim Gray that he was leaving his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and taking his “talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.” Since then, James has played for the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers (again), and the Los Angeles Lakers. Another superstar, Kevin Durant, has played for four different franchises. This is no longer the exception, but the norm.
Sportswriters debate whether this is a positive development or not. Oldtimers prefer loyalty to a franchise, while younger fans have become less attached to a city and just follow their favorite players, wherever they go.
What does this have to do with the topic of apostasy? Well, let’s consider Lebron James again. Cavaliers’ fans were deeply hurt by his decision. Why? Well, they felt he was one of them. He wore their jersey. He competed for their franchise. He won a lot of games for them. He developed programs to benefit the community. But then, all of a sudden, he was wearing a different jersey, winning championships in another city! Most NBA fans, in fact, were put off by this. He was a Cleveland Cavalier, and then he wasn’t.
When the Bible speaks of those who “fall away,” it speaks of them as if they were Christians. It certainly appeared that way. They participated in worship services, served the needy, even taught the Bible and held church office. But then one day, they weren’t Christians anymore.
Let me pause here for a moment. This is why the topic of assurance often comes up in these discussions of apostasy. We look at someone and say, “If that person could fall away, what is keeping me from doing the same? Can I lose my salvation?” Paul writes in II Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” One way to do that is to go back through the three tests of assurance – the objective test, the subjective test, and the tangible test – and be reminded of what God’s Word says about true Christians and the assurance we can have in Christ.
Still, we look around and can think of many who have departed from the faith once for all delivered to the saints. What does it mean, then, to “fall away”? Were these people believers, who then lost their salvation?
The Apostle John makes a helpful observation. The church he was writing to recently saw people leave the faith. Here’s his explanation, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (I John 2:19).
Truly, they appeared to be Christians, fellow church members, brothers and sisters in the Lord. But in reality, they did not have genuine faith. They didn’t lose their salvation; they were never saved in the first place. If they were Christians, says John, they would have continued with us. That is, in fact, a characteristic of true faith. Some might call it perseverance.
Paul uses the same word in his command to Timothy, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned, and firmly believed, knowing from who you learned it” (2 Tim. 3:14). In Colossians, Paul uses a related word when he writes that they were reconciled by Christ, “in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…” (Colossians 1:22-23).
Essentially, “falling away” is “not continuing.” It often begins with a “drifting away” (Hebrews 2:1) and ends with a full-blown rejection (1 Timothy 1:19-20). And those people confirm that they were never true believers at all. What does it mean to “fall away”? To demonstrate outwardly that here was never any true inward profession.
When Lebron James retires, perhaps he’ll retire as a Cleveland Cavalier. But we all know the truth: he wore the jersey, but he didn’t stay. He didn’t continue.
Those who wear the “Christian jersey” today, identifying with God’s people throughout history, must endeavor to persevere. What does this mean for us? Be transformed from the inside out (Romans 12:2). Continue in the things you have learned (2 Timothy 3:14). And “bear much fruit, and prove to be [Jesus’] disciples” (John 15:8).
All of that changed in 2010. In a historic and widely anticipated interview, 25-year-old Lebron James told Jim Gray that he was leaving his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and taking his “talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.” Since then, James has played for the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers (again), and the Los Angeles Lakers. Another superstar, Kevin Durant, has played for four different franchises. This is no longer the exception, but the norm.
Sportswriters debate whether this is a positive development or not. Oldtimers prefer loyalty to a franchise, while younger fans have become less attached to a city and just follow their favorite players, wherever they go.
What does this have to do with the topic of apostasy? Well, let’s consider Lebron James again. Cavaliers’ fans were deeply hurt by his decision. Why? Well, they felt he was one of them. He wore their jersey. He competed for their franchise. He won a lot of games for them. He developed programs to benefit the community. But then, all of a sudden, he was wearing a different jersey, winning championships in another city! Most NBA fans, in fact, were put off by this. He was a Cleveland Cavalier, and then he wasn’t.
When the Bible speaks of those who “fall away,” it speaks of them as if they were Christians. It certainly appeared that way. They participated in worship services, served the needy, even taught the Bible and held church office. But then one day, they weren’t Christians anymore.
Let me pause here for a moment. This is why the topic of assurance often comes up in these discussions of apostasy. We look at someone and say, “If that person could fall away, what is keeping me from doing the same? Can I lose my salvation?” Paul writes in II Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” One way to do that is to go back through the three tests of assurance – the objective test, the subjective test, and the tangible test – and be reminded of what God’s Word says about true Christians and the assurance we can have in Christ.
Still, we look around and can think of many who have departed from the faith once for all delivered to the saints. What does it mean, then, to “fall away”? Were these people believers, who then lost their salvation?
The Apostle John makes a helpful observation. The church he was writing to recently saw people leave the faith. Here’s his explanation, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (I John 2:19).
Truly, they appeared to be Christians, fellow church members, brothers and sisters in the Lord. But in reality, they did not have genuine faith. They didn’t lose their salvation; they were never saved in the first place. If they were Christians, says John, they would have continued with us. That is, in fact, a characteristic of true faith. Some might call it perseverance.
Paul uses the same word in his command to Timothy, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned, and firmly believed, knowing from who you learned it” (2 Tim. 3:14). In Colossians, Paul uses a related word when he writes that they were reconciled by Christ, “in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…” (Colossians 1:22-23).
Essentially, “falling away” is “not continuing.” It often begins with a “drifting away” (Hebrews 2:1) and ends with a full-blown rejection (1 Timothy 1:19-20). And those people confirm that they were never true believers at all. What does it mean to “fall away”? To demonstrate outwardly that here was never any true inward profession.
When Lebron James retires, perhaps he’ll retire as a Cleveland Cavalier. But we all know the truth: he wore the jersey, but he didn’t stay. He didn’t continue.
Those who wear the “Christian jersey” today, identifying with God’s people throughout history, must endeavor to persevere. What does this mean for us? Be transformed from the inside out (Romans 12:2). Continue in the things you have learned (2 Timothy 3:14). And “bear much fruit, and prove to be [Jesus’] disciples” (John 15:8).
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