-Backsliding And Restoration

Backsliding And Restoration

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God’s people in every age are prone to spiritual decline. The reason we drift from God is the presence of sin, the flesh, or the “old man” in our lives. When we are regenerated we are saved from the penalty and power of sin, but not from its presence. All the causes of wandering from God are traced to that enemy of holiness, which Scripture calls the “flesh.”

We must distinguish between regeneration and restoration. Regeneration is God’s gracious work for the natural man, the unsaved. Restoration is God’s gracious work for His wayward children, and has nothing to do with the unsaved. God’s Old Testament people, Israel, confessed, “Our backslidings are many, we have sinned against You” (Jer. 14:7 NKJV). God Himself testified concerning Israel: “My people are bent on backsliding from Me” (Hos. 11:7). The word “backslide” does not appear in the New Testament, but it is an ill to which every believer is prone.

Backsliding
Backsliding is a sad state signified by a decay in grace, a decline in spirituality, and a waning of affection for the Savior. This results in loss of interest in divine things, carelessness in the use of grace, and formality in the performance of duty. The backsliding saint allows the worthless things of the world to draw his heart away from the Lord. “The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways” (Prov. 14:14).

There is no one more pitiful than a backslidden believer. His communion with God is broken; his joy of the Word is gone; his prayer is quenched. Formerly, he walked in happy fellowship with Christ; now he’s no longer occupied with Him. Previously, he rejoiced in the Lord; now the joy of his salvation is gone. From salvation he had “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:7); now he finds no rest in his soul. His waywardness grieves the Spirit and comfort is withheld. He was previously controlled by the Spirit; now he is controlled by indwelling sin. No more is the sweet “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23) evident in his life. Instead, the ugly “works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19-21) rear their heads in his experience.

It is important to know the causes of backsliding so we can avoid them. Sin is its root: “Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Mt. 24:12). But there are other causes too, such as neglect and carelessness. The Christian life – likened to a race, a warfare, and a fight – calls for diligence. Neglecting prayer and the reading of God’s Word both cause decline. Failing to continually “put to death the works of the flesh” (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5) causes backsliding. Neglecting to guard our heart (Prov. 4:23) causes us to drift. To lose eternal perspective and be charmed by things of the world, is to pour water on the fire of our love for God.

Divine Work Of Restoration
The divine work of restoration involves seven things:

1. The agent of restoration is God. The believer has the ability to wander, but not to return. A straying sheep never finds its way back to the fold. The work of restoring backsliders from spiritual decay is God’s, and all of grace: “The Lord is my shepherd … He restores my soul” (Ps. 23:1,3). Only the One who says, “I am the Lord who heals you” (Ex. 15:26), and declares, “I will heal their backsliding” (Hos. 14:4) can restore souls.

In the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin (Lk. 15), the shepherd went after the stray sheep, and the woman searched until she found the lost coin. Jacob was seriously backslidden in Padan-aram. To restore him, the Lord appeared twice (Gen. 31:3,13) bidding him to return home. For a year, David refused to acknowledge his sins of adultery and murder. To restore him, Jehovah sent Nathan to show him his guilt (2 Sam. 11-12). Peter denied the Lord three times, but the Lord restored him (Jn. 21). Jehovah was anxious to restore backsliding Israel: “Return to Me … you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings” (Jer. 3:1,22).

2. The basis of restoration is altogether a matter of grace. At no point does God’s amazing grace appear more conspicuous than in His attitude toward His wayward ones. Since grace is one of His perfections, He restores in a way that magnifies the riches of His grace. God performs all His works – creating, saving, providing, protecting, guiding or restoring – in a way worthy of Himself. It would be unlike Him to do anything else.

3. The call to restoration is a call to repentance. Our entire responsibility in restoration is crystallized in one crucial word – return. “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me” (Jer. 4:1). “Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings” (Jer. 3:22). The unsaved need to “turn” to God for salvation; backsliders must “return” to God for restoration.

“O Israel, return to the Lord your God” (Hos. 14:1). This means that the backslider must recognize that he has departed from the Lord, followed his heart’s evil devices, and entered forbidden paths. It means that he must judge himself, taking sides with God against sin and self. It denotes that he must humble himself before God, confessing his unworthiness and seeking mercy. Finally, he must make a whole-hearted resolution to obey again.

4. The standard of restoration is not a position, place or service – but God Himself. It is God’s prerogative to fix the standard, and He always brings the soul back to Himself: “Return, O Israel … return to Me” (Jer. 4:1). The return must be to Him, the standard of all restoration. He never lowers His standard. He is the criterion by which all conduct is measured.

5. The means of restoration is repentance, which signifies a change of mind. Christian repentance is the heart turning from sin to God. Sin is forsaking God; repentance is forsaking sin. Repentance says, “What have I to do anymore with idols?” (Hos. 14:8). Though it is painful and humbling, it results in pleasant fruit. Heavenward, it glorifies God: “If you will not hear, and … take it to heart, to give glory to My name … I will send a curse upon you” (Mal. 2:2). Manward, it brings heartfelt confession. The more we sorrow for sin, the more we rejoice in the Lord. Great is the transforming power of real repentance: “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation … but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Cor. 7:10).

6. The object of restoration is righteousness. “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness” (Ps. 23:3). Restoration restores us to righteousness. We are saved by grace which reigns through, not at the expense of, righteousness (Rom. 5:21). We are not restored so we may go and sin again – but that we may “go and sin no more” (Jn. 8:11).

7. The condition of restoration is confession or self-judgment. Self-judgment is important for two reasons. First, it is the one condition of fellowship, forgiveness, and cleansing: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). Second, it saves us from chastisement: “For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:31). The Father is waiting for self-judgment by His sinning child, but if there is none, the Father must chasten so that he “may not be condemned with the world.” If self-judgment is neglected, God corrects His child.

Examples Of Backsliding
Let’s now examine some examples of backsliding and restoration:

Abraham: Soon after going to Canaan Abraham faced a severe trial of faith – a famine. Instead of looking to God to meet his need, he turned to Egypt, a symbol of the world, for help and deliverance. In Egypt he had no altar to God nor communion with Him, but lots of trouble. He was delivered out of Egypt and brought back to “Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning … to the place of the altar which he had made there” (Gen. 13:3-4). His descent into Egypt was a departure from the path of obedience. He had to return to his point of departure and begin again.

Jacob: Jacob fled from the wrath of his brother Esau, to Haran where his uncle Laban lived. During his 20 years in Padan-aram we do not read one word which says he had any relationship with the Lord – no prayer, no altar, no fresh revelation from Jehovah. Jacob was an Old Testament saint, but in Haran he backslid, walking in the flesh and seeking materialism. He was busy accumulating wealth and occupied with herds, cattle, goats and camels.

In Padan-aram Jacob forgot the vow he made when the Lord first appeared to him (Gen. 28:20). But Jehovah did not forget him. In His grace He appeared to Jacob twice, with words of restoration: “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your family, and I will be with you” (Gen. 31:3,13).

David: For almost a year, David refused to confess that he had committed adultery and murder, and God’s chastising hand was heavy upon him (Ps. 32:3-4). The Lord wanted to heal His backsliding servant. He sent the prophet Nathan to David with a parable to expose his sin and guilt. Nathan ended with this soul-piercing phrase: “You are the man!” David realized his guilt and confessed, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:7,13).

In Psalm 51 we read David’s true confession. “I acknowledge my transgressions” (v. 3). He lost two things. First, he lost the joy of his salvation (salvation itself can never be lost). He prayed, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (v. 12). Second, he lost his testimony. Anticipating his restoration he said, “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways; and sinners shall be converted to You” (v. 13).

Peter: The cause of Peter’s backsliding was arrogant self-confidence: “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” Other signs were following “at a distance” and associating with the enemy. Real repentance took place when Jesus looked at him and he “wept bitterly” (Lk. 22:33-62).

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples, and restored Peter. He had denied Jesus three times, so the Lord asked three times, “Do you love me?” (Jn. 21). Peter had boasted of loyalty, so the Lord probed his sincerity. Then He commissioned him to the pastoral office of shepherd. After he was restored, he could say to the men of Israel, “You denied the Holy One and the Just” (Acts 3:14) – the very thing he’d done. Here we see Peter restored to higher ground than that from which he had fallen.

The Ephesian Church: “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember … from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works” (Rev. 2:4-5). Christ said this to the angel of the church of Ephesus.

The charge against this church is not that they have “lost” their first love, but that they have “left” it. It’s sad when a believer leaves his first love for earthly things, not heeding the exhortation to “keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21). But the “seed” of God (1 Jn. 3:9) remains in His people, even the backslidden. We receive an indestructible principle from God at regeneration: the believer’s love may decline, but it is never extinguished; its fruit may decrease, but its root remains. That’s why the charge is about leaving our first love. The Holy Spirit offers a threefold remedy for recovery, addressing the mind, heart, and will: “Remember” is for the mind. “Repent” is for the heart. “Do” is a call to the will.

“Remember” is a call to the backslider to contrast his current sad condition with his former happy one. Previously, his love for Christ was fresh, his communion was good, and “the joy of the Lord” was his “strength” (Neh. 8:10). But now that has changed. Before he delighted to think of Christ, talk about Him, and pray to Him, but now he no longer sits at Jesus’ feet, does not meditate on His Word, and does not pray. Like Job, he bemoans, “Oh, that I were … as in the days when God watched over me; when His lamp shone upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness” (Job 29:2-3).

True repentance requires conviction, contrition, and confession. It results in a true sense of sin, sincere sorrow for sin, strong loathing of sin, and future forsaking of sin. It is described in Scripture as “a broken and a contrite heart” (Ps. 51:17), and “weeping bitterly” as Peter did after denying the Lord (Mt. 26:75). It is described thus: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr. 7:14).

“Do the first works” means that the backslider should turn his back on the world, resist the temptations of Satan and desires of the flesh, deny self, and resume the task of mortification (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5). This means that the child of God should return to the One from whom he so grievously departed, surrender afresh to His Lordship, and render to Him the wholehearted obedience He deserves. Pleasing Christ should be his chief concern, walking with Him his daily business, and communing with Him his supreme joy. And he should put on the whole armor of God daily (Eph. 6:11-17).

By Maurice Basalli

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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