Is It Possible To Backslide

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DustyRhodes

DustyRhodes

Senior Member
#1
Dec 30, 2016
2,117
599
113
#1
In my view, it is not. Rather than calling it backsliding,
I believe that it has never been. It is possible to read
the words, intellectually believe the words; but not
inherit the Kingdom of God through His Spirit. Once we
have surrendered to Him, there is no going back. What
is there to go back to since His Kingdom is paradise and
if paradise penetrates the soul; thoughts of the flesh no
longer exist.
 
F

FreeNChrist

Guest
#2
#2
Is it possible for a Christian to be immature, confused, unsure, deceived?
 
J

jerry2465

Senior Member
#3
Dec 28, 2016
160
10
18
#3
yes I believe you can, by this verse and others

[h=1]2 Peter 2:20-22English Standard Version (ESV)[/h] [SUP]20 [/SUP]For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. [SUP]21 [/SUP]For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. [SUP]22 [/SUP]What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
 
PrynceNY

PrynceNY

Banned
#4
Aug 16, 2016
2,184
62
0
#4
Yes you can backslide. None of us are perfect and won't be until those in Christ receive their immortal incorruptible bodies.God forgives backsliders if they confess and repent for their ways.
 
Dino246

Dino246

Senior Member
#5
Jun 30, 2015
24,676
13,364
113
#5
"If paradise penetrates the soul; thoughts of the flesh no longer exist" is not biblical, and I don't think it is biblically sound. Paul didn't write, "wretched man that I was" in Romans 7. John did write, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

Increasing sanctification, increasing conformity to Christ, decreasing overt sin, increasing sensitivity to our failures, yes. Sinless perfectionism in this life, which is what the OP appears to assert, no. The more I grow in Christ, the more I see just how much I need His mercy... continuously.
 
Magenta

Magenta

Senior Member
#6
Jul 3, 2015
55,809
25,985
113
#6
His sheep know His voice, and follow Him.

If ever you hear Him speak, His voice will penetrate to the very depths of your being.

My mind scrambled, and I faltered. I did not want to believe it was even possible.

And yet everything within me knew that God had spoken to me.

The same God I had been running from for the majority of my life was the One
Who repeatedly showed up as I sought the Truth behind that which is seen.

For me, it was a fearful thing to fall into His hands. Yet now I know
I have nothing to fear, for His perfect love has cast fear out.

People sometimes wonder, why does He not speak to them? We are to live by faith.

When God revealed Himself to me I was on the precipice of death,
willfully running from Him in rebellion and defiance. God is not slack.

As much as I tried to rationalize away the experience and find some other
explanation that was more acceptable to my natural mind, I could not.

I was forty eight years old when that happened.
A year later I was water baptized into the body of Christ :)
 
hornetguy

hornetguy

Senior Member
#8
Jan 18, 2016
6,638
1,392
113
#8
Answer to the OP... Yes.

Unless you have a different understanding of the term "backsliding" than I do.
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#9
#9
FreeNChrist said:
Is it possible for a Christian to be immature, confused, unsure, deceived?
Click to expand...
(Warning: do not have any liquids in your mouth when reading the next line. It hurts too much coming out the nose.)

It is possible for any Christian but MEEEEE!!!! :p
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#10
#10
DustyRhodes said:
In my view, it is not. Rather than calling it backsliding,
I believe that it has never been. It is possible to read
the words, intellectually believe the words; but not
inherit the Kingdom of God through His Spirit. Once we
have surrendered to Him, there is no going back. What
is there to go back to since His Kingdom is paradise and
if paradise penetrates the soul; thoughts of the flesh no
longer exist.
Click to expand...
Nice dream.

Not my reality.
 
stonesoffire

stonesoffire

Poetic Member
#11
Nov 24, 2013
10,665
1,829
113
#11
If backsliding is a momentary lapse? Yes. If backsliding is to leave Him altogether? No.
 
Utah

Utah

Banned
#12
Dec 1, 2014
9,701
251
0
#12
DustyRhodes said:
In my view, it is not. Rather than calling it backsliding,
I believe that it has never been. It is possible to read
the words, intellectually believe the words; but not
inherit the Kingdom of God through His Spirit. Once we
have surrendered to Him, there is no going back. What
is there to go back to since His Kingdom is paradise and
if paradise penetrates the soul; thoughts of the flesh no
longer exist.
Click to expand...
People endure hardships that are beyond their understanding, and in the midst of their confusion they become weak in faith, if not flat out discouraged or worse. They feel cheated or abandoned and walk away from having an active relationship with God. That backsliding. It is when the dust settles one way or another that they once again draw near to God. Sadly, not everyone returns to having faith in and a relationship with God.
 
P

Persuaded

Guest
#13
#13
Utah said:
People endure hardships that are beyond their understanding, and in the midst of their confusion they become weak in faith, if not flat out discouraged or worse. They feel cheated or abandoned and walk away from having an active relationship with God. That backsliding. It is when the dust settles one way or another that they once again draw near to God. Sadly, not everyone returns to having faith in and a relationship with God.
Click to expand...
Peter the night Jesus was arrested.
His world fell apart and he did not understand what was happening.
Yes, backsliding is possible.
We are all in danger at any time.
 
Grace777x70

Grace777x70

Banned
#14
Nov 22, 2015
20,436
1,430
0
#14
Can we be destroyed by what we do in this earth by living by the flesh instead of the spirit? Try taking up shooting heroin in your arms every day and you will see the Lord before your time.
 
stonesoffire

stonesoffire

Poetic Member
#15
Nov 24, 2013
10,665
1,829
113
#15
Perhaps this our individual experiences will define our answer to this OP? I've had this question come to me several times when my faith was questioned by the events of my life. Especially betrayal by loved loved ones. I had to answer where would I go?

There is no other answer. Only He has the right answers for our lives, and waiting on Him to move changed the circumstances.
 
Chester

Chester

Senior Member
#16
May 23, 2016
4,274
1,410
113
#16
DustyRhodes said:
In my view, it is not. Rather than calling it backsliding,
I believe that it has never been. It is possible to read
the words, intellectually believe the words; but not
inherit the Kingdom of God through His Spirit. Once we
have surrendered to Him, there is no going back. What
is there to go back to since His Kingdom is paradise and
if paradise penetrates the soul; thoughts of the flesh no
longer exist.
Click to expand...
"thoughts of the flesh no longer exist" -- ???? I have been a believer a long time and have not even come near to any sort of reality even close to this! I am very much living in my flesh and am very susceptible to thinking thoughts that are not of God. I would hope and pray I can come much closer to this reality, but I do not expect to find that such thoughts "no longer exist!"
 
Magenta

Magenta

Senior Member
#17
Jul 3, 2015
55,809
25,985
113
#17
Grace777x70 said:
Can we be destroyed by what we do in this earth by living by the flesh instead of the spirit? Try taking up shooting heroin in your arms every day and you will see the Lord before your time.
Click to expand...
Fentanyl deaths are an epidemic here; two people a day dying from overdoses :(

A friend of mine in the NA program used to say, we need to get ahold of these
people before the devil puts them in the ground. That made a lot of sense to me :)
 
P

Persuaded

Guest
#18
#18
Chester said:
"thoughts of the flesh no longer exist" -- ???? I have been a believer a long time and have not even come near to any sort of reality even close to this! I am very much living in my flesh and am very susceptible to thinking thoughts that are not of God. I would hope and pray I can come much closer to this reality, but I do not expect to find that such thoughts "no longer exist!"
Click to expand...
I'm with you Chester. Not proud of it , but just being honest with myself.
 
Grace777x70

Grace777x70

Banned
#19
Nov 22, 2015
20,436
1,430
0
#19
Ya'll are a bunch of reprobates and lovers of sinning!

Just kidding.....:D....we will have the flesh with us until we leave this earth suit. We don't "pretty up the flesh". The flesh will always be here with us and in that flesh is the law of sin.

This is why we can see a seemingly mature Christian like a pastor for over 30 years all of a sudden do something that he hasn't done for decades. He failed to walk by the spirit and thus gave in to the deceitfulness of the sin that is in his flesh.

We don't stop doing the works of the flesh to walk by the spirit. That's religion and backwards and that will never work. We can by our own will-power stop some things for awhile but they can creep back in.

We walk by the spirit and thus not fulfill the lusts of the flesh to do "it's" desires.

Galatians 5:16 (NASB)
[SUP]16 [/SUP] But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.


Romans 13:14 (NASB)
[SUP]14 [/SUP] But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

The truth is - we can be going to church every day that the doors are open, be pastoring a church, be reading the scriptures every day and still be in a "backslidden" place because we are not really walking by the spirit.

There is "good-looking" flesh and "bad-looking" flesh depending on our religious beliefs but in the end - it is all flesh.

Let's endeavor to learn how to walk by the spirit and put on Christ that is in us in our new creation - then people will see the love and grace of God towards them and God will be glorified in us as He bears His fruit in and through us.
 
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