Can Backsliders Be Restored? by David K. Bernard Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript) Kind: teaching Scripture: Romans 1:16-17, James 5:19-20, 1 John 1:9, Acts 8 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--can-backsliders-be-restored Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ the short answer is yes a person who has backslidden can be restored now yes as you point out the term backslider is kind of like a Pentecostal term or used by other conservative groups as well it really comes to the Old Testament not the New Testament but we use it to mean someone who was once an active part of the church saved so we would understand that to mean baptized in Jesus name filled with the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues coming faithful to church and then for whatever reason they drop out of church they're not coming anymore they're not living the Christian Life they're not paying their tithes generally they're not following some teachings whether it be modesty of dress or sexual morality uh they're they're just living a sinful life so they're once living a holy life Life coming to church Faithfully born again now they're not coming to church and they're living a sinful life so we call that backslidden now I we don't believe the so-called once saved always say and we I think we discussed that in an earlier podcast so if someone turns you know we we're saved by grace through faith but faith is a relationship it's a way of life uh Romans 1 16. the gospel is the power of God to Salvation everyone who believes and then verse 17 says they'll go from Faith to Faith the just shall live by faith so we believe uh faith is a way of life as long as you're continuing to walk by faith you should have Assurance of Salvation confidence in your salvation yes you're saved even though you're not perfect and if you sin you repent you confess it and God forgives you you continue on in your holy life you are saved you are continually in a condition of salvation but if you deliberately walk away from God rejecting the life of Faith then you step out of Faith No you're not saved and when the Lord comes if you're in that condition whether it's by death or the Rapture you won't be ready because you have you've stepped away from God you've come out of that relationship of Faith you're not living for God so the question becomes well what if somebody is in that condition can they come back and the answer is yes now there are some passages in the book of Hebrews that are very very strong warnings against backsliders that would indicate well maybe no you can't but those are what are what we would call apostasy apostasy is more than backsliding apostasy is denying the faith in denying the reality of the faith you have to understand the book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians he was warning them some were thinking or maybe even going back to Old Testament sacrifices and the writer of Hebrews is saying if you turn away from Christ and try to go back to the old Covenant Ceremonies for your salvation you can't be saved because Jesus is the only savior the Old Testament was pointing toward Christ the ceremonies ceremony alone the types have been fulfilled in Christ so your salvation is in Christ If you deny Christ deny that he's a savior and try to be saved through through the sacrificial system of the temple then you can't be saved even then I don't think he's saying if you wake up realize your air repent and call out to Jesus Christ for help no you can't be saved he's saying once you've known Jesus and you've been born again and then you come to the point saying I deny Jesus I reject Jesus I'm going to be a Buddhist or I'm going to be a a on a Jew or I'm going to be an atheist well then you can't be saved like that um so that's why the strong warning then there's also this the so-called unpardonable sin which I think I've also referenced and that again is not that you get to a point where God refuses to forgive you it's you get to the point where you've rejected the Lord You've rejected the work of the spirit having truly known the work of the spirit to deny it to say it's nothing to say it's of the devil say psychological and reject reject you reject you get to a point where you've hardened your heart God hasn't cut you off but you've cut God off and even when God if he were to try to talk to her if other people would pray for you and ask God to move upon you you can't even recognize that and let me just give you a very quick statement here many people fear they've committed the unpardonable sin well if you are concerned about it to me that is proof you haven't got to that point because if you had gotten to that point you wouldn't care you wouldn't even believe you wouldn't so if you have a conscious if you have conviction if you have a desire to be saved to me that shows you're still capable of experiencing God's grace so no it would be a trick of the devil to say you've committed the unpardonable sin so with those exceptions in in general we say yes of course a backsider can be restored and there are many many passages but over and over Old Testament New Testament God calls his people repent turn to me not just people who've never known God but to his own people and you have the the well-known story in the Gospel of Luke of the prodigal son or the lost son the whole story shows about someone who is in The Father's House who walked away who lost the inheritance but yet repents comes back and and is restored so that's a great example another statement Jesus uh the the Apostle Peter asked Jesus when he was talking about forgiveness you know how many times should I forgive my brother if he sins against me and so he tried to think of well an exaggerated number seven times you know the number of Perfections surely that would be enough and Jesus answered no Seventy Times Seven and he wasn't meaning 490 he was meaning as long as your brother sincerely repents forgiven well if Jesus is telling us do that obviously God would do no less he will forgive us let me give you some scripture here James 5 19-20 Brethren If anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back let him know that he who turns a sinner from the air of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins so this is not just talking about a momentary sin but someone who goes away from the truth but if you're able to convert him and restore and bring him back yes you saved his soul and then even thinking of daily sins or or we we should live a whole life every day but what I mean is not someone who's just going to openly backs in life for a length of time but even if you realize at a certain time I've sinned well forgiveness is available first John 1 9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness So based on these passages and many others yes whether it's the sin of the moment or going back into a sinful life over a period of time which we would say is backslidden either way when a person repents they can be restored now maybe the the question would be well what what has to happen uh do they need to be baptized again do they need to receive the Holy Ghost again what needs to happen well let me put it like this we believe that when you're baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and of course that's assuming you you truly have faith and you truly repented that's a one-time experience now if you're baptized as a baby we don't really consider that a valid baptism or it could be sometimes people are baptized as small children looking back on it they don't even remember it they question whether they just did it out of peer pressure well that might be a case there that they should be baptized but but just because you're baptized as a child or you're baptized as a new convert that didn't have a full understanding of Holiness Well everybody's like that the the main thing if at the time you're baptized there was true faith in Jesus Christ and there was a true repentance of surrendering to the Lord as far as what you knew then God accepted that that is a one time and then when you receive the Holy Ghost you speak in tongues the initial science so we call that being born again well you don't have to be born again again okay so once you're born again you're born again so it's like a child born into the family yes as that child grows up uh that child could walk away from their family reject their family never come back for holidays and be excluded from their parents will and so even though they're a child they're disinherited they don't enjoy the fellowship and they don't enjoy the inheritance but they're still the child so someone has been born again baptized in Jesus name for the Holy Ghost they're always a child it doesn't mean they're automatically saved they can walk away from the relationship and lose the benefits of the present relationship or the future inheritance but when they come back they don't have to be made a child again so I would rather say they need to be restored to their original experience and how are you restored well you have to have a genuine repentance and typically we would pray with a person until they speak in tongues again although there's not a Biblical statement regarding the backslider like that we would say if you spoke in tongues before we want to pray until there's a renewing where that same level of faith and surrender operates again so we would highly encourage them to keep praying until you once again have that Liberty and that anointing but as far as technically do you have to be baptized in Jesus name again no do you have to be baptized with the Holy Ghost again no you have to be renewed to your previous experience restored to your previous experience and so the basic Avenue that for that is a genuine repentance now I can give you scripture for this in Acts chapter 8 Philip went and preached to the Samaritans they believed they were baptized so obviously repented then Peter and John came and laid hands in them they received the Holy Spirit there was a miraculous sign which we know from other texts had to be speaking in tongues well Simon the Sorcerer he was a magician and he believed at least to the point that he was baptized so either it was a genuine repentance or at least Philip thought it was a January penance but when he saw the miracle of Peter and John laying hands of the people and then received the Holy Ghost he said I want to buy that power so that I could go lay hands on people and they start speaking in tongues you know can can I would like to purchase that well Peter rebuked him harshly and said you're in danger of Hell repent of your wickedness but interestingly he didn't say and you need to be baptized again so he said you need to repent again but he didn't say you need to be baptized again so that would be one practical example that you don't find in the New Testament that once somebody has been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ that they would need to be baptized a second time um to restore them but uh and that's why I I do say when people go the Holy Land you know and they want to be baptized in the Jordan River wait a minute if you're truly baptized in the name of Jesus Christ you don't need to be baptized again now if you want to have a symbolic commemoration you can but it has no spiritual significance it's not the Jordan River and it's not the water it's certainly not the same water uh but anyway um I would discourage people from being baptized again unless looking back they truly felt there wasn't repentance to start with or wasn't Faith to start with so our message would be one of great encouragement uh anyone who strayed from God whether it's one moment of sin or whether it's going growing cold in your heart and maybe nobody really knows it but you or whether you have just openly walked away from God into an openly sinful lifestyle what you'll find is God still loves God still cares God is a merciful and if you'll come back to where you left him and you'll truly repent and ask to be renewed to your original faith and original experience God is gracious he will forgive you and you can and will be restored