Traitors to the Faith

“Come out from among them and be separate.” 2 Cor. 6:17

“Do not be conformed to this world…” Romans 12:2

“Love not the world, neither the things of that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by thy truth. Thy Word is truth." John 17:16,17

Reading these scriptures should make it crystal clear, that even though those who claim the name of Christ, are in the world, we should never, ever, love the world or the things of the world, and thus never takes sides with the world.

Yet this is exactly what happens everyday as those who want to claim the name of our Lord, also want to take part in the world’s ways and also openly condone them as well. Dr. Albert Mohler said it best, “ We are not winning the culture, the culture is winning us.”

Yet still, tell many Christians in today’s feel-good churches that they are to come out from among them and be separate, to love not the world or the things of the world; mention words such as sanctification, holiness or righteousness, and most of them will look at you as if you are a member of a lost tribe recently discovered in the wilds of the Amazon, speaking some foreign tongue that they can’t understand.

Many have become traitors to the faith. They have turned their backs, defected the faith that they claim they believe, but whose lifestyles and words are opposed to the very Word of God they say they support.

You know defectors. At one time, they may have loved the Lord and His Word. There was a time when there would not be any thought of them doing, saying, or supporting anything that would even be remotely contrary to scripture. But now they are barely recognizable as a follower of the Lord Jesus.

I witnessed yet another sad example of this recently here in our area of Vicksburg, Mississippi. A local casino, Ameristar Casino, got approval from city leaders to expand along the banks of the Mississippi River. According the Jackson Clarion Ledger, “Ameristar's $150 million dollar development plan includes a 14-story 200 foot hotel and parking garage. The Vicksburg mayor and Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to waive zoning restrictions to allow the expansions. A city ordinance limits building height to 65 feet along the river to protect the view. Opponents said expansions would obstruct the view of the river from overlooks surrounding the Ameristar property. The casino is located between two historic river overlooks maintained by the military park.”

I don’t know about you, but it never surprises me when politicians act like politicians; backbones like a piece of thread. But it definitely surprised me when during a public hearing to address the issue, many supporters of the casinos project, were people I know who present themselves as Christians. I mean I know where many of them attend church, and I have even worked with some of them in the past with such projects as the National Day of Prayer. Yet, they stood before thousands and said we support the casinos. They are “sell-outs”, “compromisers”; they are as the Bible decalres “backslidden”.

They are traitors to the faith. They have abandoned the cause of our Lord and attempt to prostitute the Gospel, by placing the Name of our Lord in bed with the harlot of gambling. They have done as what is described in Exodus 32:7 as “corrupting themselves”.

There are many scripture references that tell us that in the last days before the coming of our Lord, many shall depart from the faith, fall away and give heeds to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We are witnessing that now.

Those who have defected from the faith must be called back to the Lord. They must repent of their sin and come back to God and never again takes sides with the world against our Lord.

In his book Hard to Believe, Dr. John MacArthur gives us tremendous insight, when he writes,

“Judas was drawn by the crowd. He was fascinated by the supernatural. He was thinking always of earthly images. He had no real desire to worship Christ; he sought only personal gain. He demanded what he wanted, and he made himself treasurer somehow and stole from the group’s funds. He never had a true relationship with Christ, had no understanding of divine truth, no hunger for salvation. And Judas is not a solitary figure. Every church has its Judases, and millions of them have given Jesus a kiss of betrayal.

This is a heartbreaking realization. I hope and pray with all my heart that there is no Judas reading this page who, having defected from Jesus, will walk away into the darkness and bleakest night of severest eternal judgment.

I pray for any who are superficial, who are spiritual defectors, who will be traitors because they’re attracted to Christ for all the wrong reasons. O’ God, May they see the need to worship the living Christ for who He is, to seek eternal things and temporal things.

How much more seriously will they be judged who have known the truth and turned away from it. I pray that in your grace, You would save, before it’s too late, any who have been deceived into thinking they’re true believers without any passion for the worship of the God and Savior in whom they say they believe. Reveal the truth to every heart, and bring genuine conversion to those who are not yet genuine, lest the day come when, like the people in John 6:66, they walk no more with Him, and like Judas, they go to the place of everlasting judgment reserved for such traitors.”

I agree and pray in Jesus Name, Amen.