How to Keep Your Church From Becoming an Apostate Church

H ow can you help keep your church from becoming an apostate church?

An Apostate

How can you help keep your church from becoming an apostate church? First of all, who or what is an apostate? The word Apostasy comes from the Greek word apostasia, meaning “a total desertion of, or departure from, one’s faith, principles, or party.” [1] An apostate is someone who’s inside God’s covenantal community, and is part of the visible Church, and someone whose professed faith in Christ, and to the naked eye, seems to be a believer. The probably even partake of the Lord’s Supper and is a member of that congregation, and then later, they consciously and intentionally repudiate their belief in Christ and make it some sort of “Jesus + something = Salvation.” They may leave their present church and join another false one, even following a false leader. Note that every other religion is about doing something…do this, plus do that, or don’t do this, or don’t do that, so cults and false religions are thus: do, do, do, but with Christ, it’s done! We are saved, not by works (Eph 2:8-9) but to do works (Eph 2:10). If we add anything to grace, it is no longer grace, and if no longer by grace alone, it is no longer salvation by faith in Christ alone. That faith alone saves.

Apostate Churches

An apostate church is a religious body that formally professed Christian faith but subsequently departed from core biblical doctrines and authority, often characterized by embracing heresy, worldliness, and moral compromise. As a predicted end-times phenomenon, it represents a “falling away” from true doctrine to support human-centered or false worship. We are warned that Satan can appear as an angel of light. Even though he is a sinister minister, false ministers can have eloquent speech, persuasive sayings and great charisma, yet they speak half-truths, which are a whole lies. The god of the world is Satan and he has blinded the minds of those who do not believe (2 Cor 4:3-4), so he has his own ministers, and today, Satan has his own churches and even some denominations.

… even the Devil can appear to be a preacher of righteousness …

No Inheritance

Clearly, churches that teach that homosexuality and marriage to same sex couples are not God’s churches. Jesus is not the Head of a church that disobeys the Word of God. Jesus will not condone or support any church that teaches anything contrary to Scripture and tries to rationalize their heresies by saying, “Well, they love one another.” Yes, but a bank robber loves money, but stealing is still a crime. Jesus said if you love Him, you will keep His word (John 14:15-31). God’s Word warns us against such things as “envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:21). So how can churches approve of women pastors or homosexual pastors marrying same-sex couples when God says “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God?” The Apostle Paul said “of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph 5:5). How much more so than to allow such lifestyles in the church, even condoning the immorality, in a church which Jesus wants to present as a holy Bridegroom.

Contending for the Faith

“…those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”

Contending for the original teachings of Jesus Christ was enough to change Jude’s mind about what he was going to write about. Jude intended “to write to you about our common salvation [but] I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). Why was it necessary? It was because “certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). Notice that they “crept in” and most were unaware. Don’t let this happen to your church or to you either. This is why we are told “to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them” (Rom 16:17). Avoid them and their teachings.

Last Days Deception

It was so bad, even in Paul’s day, that he warned Timothy that “the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” (1 Tim 4:1). Notice the source…demons! The mark of these false teachers is, once again, Jesus plus something, like they might “forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Tim 4:3). In other words, they condemn (i.e., our diet) what God has not forbid. That’s the mark of a cult and of apostasy. Paul was well acquainted with people forsaking the truth and departing from the faith (2 Tim 4:10). A. W. Tozer wrote, “So skilled is error at imitating truth, that the two are constantly being mistaken for each another. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which is Abel.” [2] Charles Spurgeon said it well when he said, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

Summary

The best way to avoid falling into an apostate church or having your church falling into apostasy is to know the Word of God, backward, forward, and upside down! Know it well enough and you’ll smell a lie a half mile away. Being forewarned is being forearmed. GotQuestions.org notes three distinct marks of an apostate: [3]

Apostates are subtle in their approach.
Apostates are ungodly in their actions.
Apostates are heretical in their theology.

Conclusion

I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.

Here is some related reading for you: How to Avoid Liberal or Apostate Seminaries, Pastors and Churches

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1. The Century Dictionary, vol. I, p. 265)
2. That Incredible Christian, Bailey, A., ed., Moody, 2008, ch. 14, p. 53).
3. Got Questions.org “What is apostasy and how can I recognize it?” https://www.gotquestions.org/apostasy.html (Accessed, Feb 20, 2026).

Tagged as: Apostacy, Apostate, Apostate Churches, False Teachers, Satan