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Old 10-28-2009, 08:53 AM
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Default Apostasy

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;



Apostasy, rebellion, covenant breaking, divorce, defection, walking away, abandonment.

αποστασία - apostasia [noun]: "rebellion, defection, apostasy"

αποστασιον - apostasion [noun]: "abandonment, walking away, divorce"

αφίστημι - aphistemi [verb]: "to abandon, to walk away, to refuse to stand firm"

2 Thessalonians 2:3 -
International Standard Version:
  • Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day cannot come unless the rebellion takes place first and the man of sin, who is destined for destruction, is revealed.
New American Standard Bible
  • Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction
King James Version
  • Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition
  • Acts 21:20-21 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.

    Matthew 19:7 They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?"

    Luke 2:36-37 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

    Hebrews 3:12 Watch out, brothers, so that there won't be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God.

    Acts 12:10 When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
Apostasia and apostasion are the feminine and neuter versions of the same word, but they are applied to different situations. They are the noun forms of the verb αφίστημι, which is formed from the words apo (away from) and histemi ("to make a stand, to stand firm, to be unwavering"). The primary difference between the nouns and the verb is that the verb can indicate EITHER PHYSICALLY walking away from an object (such as a house) with no moral implications of any kind OR violating a covenant, where the nouns are only used of walking away from a covenant.

Essentially, these two nouns mean "to walk away when we SHOULD stand firm" or "to abandon those whom we have pledged to stand with unwaveringly." Both words indicate that there was a covenant, and that the covenant has been intentionally and purposely severed by one party in the covenant. Apostasion is applied to abandoning lifelong human covenants (primarily marriage), and apostasia is applied to abandoning lifelong spiritual covenants (that is, intentionally severing a relationship with God, and thus, ABANDONING their salvation). Both are active, intentional, forceful words (one does not "accidentally" divorce a spouse - that is an intentional act that Jesus says is the result of a hard heart, likewise with apostasy).

The KJV translation is unfortunate on two accounts. First, in 2 Thessalonians the noun has the definite article attached to it, meaning it is not "A falling away," but rather, "THE falling away." And secondly, "falling away" is a passive expression in English, where this word is an ACTIVE, INTENTIONAL word in Greek. The KJV could leave the impression that someone might accidentally, or unintentionally "trip and fall." That is not what this word means. Apostasia means that the person knowingly and INTENTIONALLY turns their back, walks away, and completely abandons their covenant with God. "Rebellion," "Covenant Breaking," or "Abandoning" would be better translations.

Obviously, in the same way that you cannot get a divorce unless you are first married, you cannot walk away from a relationship with God unless you are first a believer.

This word clearly illustrates that one CAN intentionally cast away their own salvation. When a person commits "apostasion," (divorce,) obviously the two can be reconciled and remarried. However, the scriptures indicate that is not so with "apostasia." The following passage would now apply to those who have intentionally cast aside their covenant with God, abandoned their salvation, and no longer want anything to do with God.
  • Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
The following scripture uses the VERB form of apostasia (aphistemi), showing the condition of the heart of a person who willfully and intentionally walks away from God:
  • 1 Timothy 4:1-3 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
In reference to the "once saved, always saved" debate, the use of these words show difinitively that one CAN abandon one's salvation intentionally. However, such abandoning does NOT happen accidentally, nor is it the result of what someone else has done, but is an intentional, defiant, rebellious act by a believer who has consciously chosen to abandon the faith in favor of pursuing sin.

And a person who does this is in DEEP spiritual do-do :wink: .

Grace and peace to you,

Rhomphaia
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