33 Bible Verses about Warnings Against Apostasy
Most Relevant Verses
For it is impossible for those who have once for all been enlightened and have experienced the gift from heaven, who have been made sharers of the Holy Spirit and have experienced how good God's message is and the mighty powers of the age to come, and then have fallen by the wayside -- it is impossible, I say, to keep on restoring them to their first repentance, since they continue to crucify the Son of God to their detriment and hold Him up to contempt.read more.
For a piece of ground that drinks in the rains so frequently falling on it, and continues yielding vegetation useful to those for whose sakes it is cultivated, receives from God His blessings. But if it continues to yield thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and in danger of being cursed, and its final fate is burning.
And what was sown upon the thin rocky soil illustrates the man who hears the message and bubbling over with joy at once accepts it, but it takes no real root in him, and he lasts only a little while, and just as soon as suffering and persecution come for the truth's sake, he at once yields and falls.
In like manner these are the ones sown on rocky ground; as soon as they hear the truth, they accept it with ecstasy, but it does not take real root in them, and so they last only a little while; then when trouble or persecution comes on account of the truth, they at once fall by the way.
The portion of them on the rock illustrates those who accept the message, bubbling over with joy when they first hear it, but it takes no real root. They believe for awhile, but in the time of testing they fall away.
Then one of the Twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the high priests, and said, "What will you give me to turn Him over to you?" Then they paid him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he kept looking for a good opportunity to turn Him over to them.
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the high priests to betray Him to them. They were delighted to hear it, and promised to pay him for it. So he kept looking for a good opportunity to betray Him to them.
Then many will fall by the way, and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will appear and mislead many people; and because of the increasing crime wave, most people's love will grow cold.
For if we go willfully sinning after we have received full knowledge of the truth, there is no sacrifice left to be offered for our sins, but only a terrifying prospect of judgment and that fiery indignation which is going to devour God's enemies. Anyone who breaks the law of Moses pays the death penalty without any show of pity, on the evidence of two or three witnesses only.read more.
How much severer punishment do you suppose that one deserves who tramples the Son of God underfoot, and counts as a common thing the blood of the covenant by which he was consecrated, and has insulted the Spirit that grants God's unmerited favor? For we know who it was that said, "Vengeance belongs to me, I will pay back!" and again, "The Lord will be His people's judge." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the ever living God!
I am astonished that you are beginning so soon to turn away from Him who called you by the favor of Christ, to a different good news,
But Satan entered into Judas, who is called Iscariot, who belonged to the circle of the Twelve. So he went off and discussed with the high priests and captains of the temple how he could betray Him to them. They were delighted and made a bargain to pay him for it.read more.
He in turn accepted their offer and began to seek a favorable opportunity to betray Him to them without exciting an uprising.
Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But He will say to you, 'I do not know where you come from. Go away from me, all you wrongdoers!'
Do not let anybody at all deceive you about this, because that cannot take place until the great revolt occurs and the representative of lawlessness is uncovered, the one who is doomed to destruction,
For whoever is ashamed of me and my teaching in this unfaithful, sinful age, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when He comes back in His Father's splendor with the holy angels."
For a time will come when they will not listen to wholesome teaching, but to gratify their own evil desires will surround themselves with teachers who teach to gratify their own evil desires, because their ears are itching so to be tickled, and they will cease to listen to the truth and will turn to listen to myths.
but anyone who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.
Now the Spirit distinctly declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, because they continuously give their attention to deceiving spirits and the things that demons teach
If anyone does not remain in union with me, he is thrown away as a mere branch and is dried up; then it is picked up and thrown into the fire and burned up.
They have gone out from our own number, but they did not really belong to us; for if they had, they would have stayed with us. It was to show that none of those who went out really belonged to us.
"If we patiently endure, we will reign with Him too. If we disown Him, He will disown us too.
See to it, my brothers, that no wicked, unbelieving heart is found in any of you, as shown by your turning away from the ever-living God,
So, dearly beloved, since you have been forewarned, you must always be on your guard against being led astray by the errors of lawless men, and so against falling away from your present firmness;
As a result of this many of His disciples turned their backs on Him and stopped accompanying Him.
But a man named Ananias, in partnership with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and, with his wife's full knowledge of it, kept back for themselves a part of the money and brought only a part of it and put it at the disposal of the apostles. And Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan so completely possessed your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back for yourselves a part of the money received for the land?read more.
As long as it was unsold, was it not yours, and when it was sold, was not the money at your disposal? How could you have the heart to do such a thing! You did not lie to men but to God!" When Ananias heard these words, he fell dead, and a strange awe seized everybody who heard it. The younger men, however, got up, wrapped up his body, carried it out, and buried it. About three hours later, his wife came in, without having learned what had taken place. Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a sum?" She answered, "Yes, that is it." Peter said to her, "How could both of you agree in such a way to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door; they will carry you out, too." She instantly fell dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. So a strange awe seized the whole church and everybody who heard it.
by keeping your hold on faith and a good conscience; for some have thrust the latter aside and so have made shipwreck of their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan to be so disciplined that they will stop their abusive speech.
They profess to know God, but by their actions they disown Him; they are detestable, disobedient, and useless for anything good.
for Demas has forsaken me because he loved the present world, and has gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia;
Now there were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you too, who will insidiously introduce destructive heresies and deny the Master who has bought them, thus bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the true Way will be abused, In their greed they will exploit you with messages manufactured by themselves. From of old their condemnation has not been idle and their destruction has not been slumbering.
especially those who satisfy their lower nature by indulging in its evil passions which defile them, and who despise authority. Daring, headstrong men! They do not tremble when they abuse persons of majesty, whereas angels who are far superior in strength and power to these beings bring no abusive accusation against them before the Lord. These men, like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct created to be caught and killed, abuse the things that they do not understand, and so by their corruption they will be destroyed, suffering wrong as punishment for their wrongdoing.read more.
They think their daily luxurious living real pleasure; they are spots and blots, deceitfully living in luxurious pleasure while they continue their religious feasting with you. They have eyes full of adultery and insatiable by sin. They practice enticing unsteady souls. They have trained their hearts in greed. They are doomed to a curse! They have left the straight road and gone astray. They have followed the road that Balaam, the son of Beor, trod, who fell in love with the profits of wrongdoing
For if, after men have escaped the corrupting ways of the world through a full knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are conquered by them, then their last condition is worse than their former one. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of uprightness than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command committed to their trust. In them is verified the truth of the proverb, "A dog turns back to what he has vomited"; and of that other proverb, "A sow that has washed herself goes back to wallow in the mire."
For certain persons have sneaked in -- their doom was written down long ago -- godless persons, who turn the favor of our God into an excuse for licentiousness, and disown our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
In just the same way these dreamers defile the body, discard authority, and deride the majesties. But the archangel Michael himself, when he disputed and argued with the devil about Moses' body, did not dare to bring against him a charge of blasphemy, but merely said, "May the Lord rebuke you!" But these persons abuse everything they do not understand, and they are going to be destroyed by the very things they know by instinct, like the irrational animals.read more.
Alas for them, because they have trod the road that Cain did; for gain they have rushed into Balaam's error and have perished in rebellion like that of Korah! They are blots on your love feasts while they feast with you, daringly caring for no one but themselves; rainless clouds swept along by winds; leafless trees that bear no fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame; wandering stars that are forever doomed to utter darkness. It was about such men also that Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied when he said: "See! The Lord comes with myriads of His people to execute judgment upon all, to convict all the godless of their godless deeds which in their godlessness they have committed, and of all the harsh things that godless sinners have said against Him." These persons are grumblers, ever complaining about their lot. They live to satisfy their evil passions, their lips boast arrogant things, and they flatter others for personal gain.
But I hold it against you that you are tolerating that Jezebel of a woman who claims to be a prophetess, and by her teaching is misleading my slaves to practice immorality and to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality. See! I am going to lay her on a bed of sickness, and bring down to great and pressing sorrow those who practice immorality with her, unless they repent of their practices;
