In 1 John 2:18-19, John writes, "Little children,
it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is
coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is
the last hour. 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 they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us."
Those who oppose or
reject Christ are anti-Christ. When Christians leave the church, which
is the body of Christ, they also leave Christ just as surely as the
prodigal son left his father when he left his home (Luke 15). When this
happens, fellowship with God and with the church are both broken.
Brother Jimmy Jividen in his book entitled, Koinonia, addresses
this problem (pp 168-69):
"The process of discipline in the church
presupposes that the one who is being disciplined is "in fellowship." If
they were not, then such action would be empty and ineffective.
Discipline involves the possibility of "withdrawing fellowship." One
cannot withdraw that which is not there…"
Brother Jividen also
correctly observes that the church cannot remain silent when such
happens, but should inform the faithful of what the apostate has done by
leaving the flock. Also, the church could not rightly extend to the
apostate the continuing, "right hand of fellowship," (Galatians 2:9).
That is, no member of a local congregation where this situation is
talking place or is accurately known could rightly extend to the person
an approving association or relationship. That sort of relationship was
forsaken by the erring member when they left the fellowship of God and
the church.
This is not to say that
the church should not reach out to the apostate member in an effort to
win them back (James 5:19-20; Galatians 6:1). However, this effort must
not include chummy, close regular contact with the person that would
give them the idea that they are "okay" with God because they are "okay"
with us. Paul deals with this in one of his epistles to Corinth:
"But now I have written
to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is
sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a
drunkard, or an extortioner; not even to eat with such a person."
(1 Corinthians 5:11). Not eating nor keeping company with the fallen
brother or sister helps state to them that they cannot persist in their
wayward choices and maintain the same old closeness with God’s children
(Ephesians 5:11).
In Acts 2:42, the text
states, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." The early church
could rightly remain in fellowship and association with the apostles
because they were also abiding in the apostles’ doctrine (teaching).
So that we do not leave
the fellowship of God and the church, we have been instructed to:
"Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief
in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it
is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness
of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast to the end," (Hebrews 3:12-14). Daily
encouragement helps keep Christians from becoming hardened by the world
and its seemingly endless forces of discouragement.
Living life for Christ
is not a struggle of constantly teetering on the brink of falling away
or going back to the world. Our faith in the Lord and our commitment to
Him should be so much stronger and deeper that the pull of the carnal
world around us (Hebrews 6:9-12). In Hebrews 10:38-39, we are told, "Now
the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no
pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition,
but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."