37 Bible Verses about Warnings Against Apostasy

For it is impossible for those who have been once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.read more.
For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh often upon it, and bringeth forth herbs fit for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh to cursing; whose end is to be burned.

But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and immediately with joy receiveth it; Yet he hath not root in himself, but endureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, forthwith he is offended.

And these are they likewise who are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they relapse.

They on the rock are they, who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, And said, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him to you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests, to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.

And then will many be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. And many false prophets will rise, and will deceive many. And because iniquity will abound, the love of many will become cold.

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful apprehension of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses:read more.
Of how much more severe punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, by which he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, to another gospel:

Then Satan entered into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.read more.
And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude.

But whoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Then ye will begin to say, We have eaten and drank in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are: depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

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;

Whoever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also will the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

For the time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts will they multiply to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and will be turned to fables.

But he that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons;

If a man abideth not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered: and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.

If there shall arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and give thee a sign or a wonder. And the sign or the wonder shall come to pass, of which he spoke to thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.read more.
Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave to him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou remove the evil from the midst of thee. If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, who is as thy own soul, shall entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people who are around you, nigh to thee, or far off from thee, from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent to him, nor hearken to him; neither shall thy eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones that he shall die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is, among you.

But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, It appertaineth not to thee, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither will it be for thy honor from the LORD God.read more.
Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him. And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, (his wife also being privy to it) and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?read more.
While it remained, was it not thy own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thy heart? thou hast not lied to men, but to God. And Ananias hearing these words, fell down, and expired. And great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered to her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yes, for so much. Then Peter said to her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold the feet of them who have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then she fell down immediately at his feet, and expired. And the young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Holding faith and a good conscience; which some having put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander; whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and to every good work reprobate.

For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and hath departed to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will privately bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth will be evil spoken of. And through covetousness they will with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption:read more.
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day-time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: they have a heart exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Who have forsaken the right way, and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it hath happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and, The sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

For certain men have crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.read more.
Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and run greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about by winds; withered autumnal trees, without fruit, twice dead, plucked out by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convict all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have impiously committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit lewdness, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her lewdness, and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

I repent that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried to the LORD all night.