This is how apostasy happens
“Have you heard that .__________, is no longer a Christian?” But that person had been one of the most influential, and apparently fruitful, members of our church? What would those who had been influenced by her witness to Christ say, or do? Would they be shaken to the core and now doubt their own Christian faith ? After all, the person who had pointed them to Christ no longer trusted Him. On occasion we wonder if an individual really has been converted. And sometimes we have an inexplicable, ill-defined sense that something is missing. But we cannot read the heart. Even so, we hear of friends—whose faith we never doubted—turning away from Christ. Apostasy is the old, vigorous word to describe this abandonment of Christ. The New Testament church was familiar with it. It was a major concern of the author of Hebrews . That is why he wrote the often-discussed words of Hebrews 6:4–6: Those once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit