Apostasy, the act of abandoning or renouncing one's faith, is a significant theme throughout the Bible. It is often depicted as a grave sin, reflecting a turning away from God and His commandments. The following scriptures provide insight into the nature and consequences of apostasy, as well as warnings and exhortations to remain steadfast in faith.

1. Deuteronomy 13:6-10 · This passage warns against being led astray by close family members or friends who entice one to serve other gods. It underscores the seriousness of apostasy in the Israelite community, where such actions were punishable by death: "If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and worship other gods'... you must not yield to him or listen to him."

2. Jeremiah 2:19 · The prophet Jeremiah speaks to the consequences of forsaking the Lord, emphasizing that apostasy brings its own punishment: "Your own wickedness will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God."

3. Hosea 14:1 · Hosea calls for repentance from apostasy, highlighting God's willingness to forgive those who return to Him: "Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity."

4. Matthew 24:10-13 · Jesus warns of a time when many will fall away from the faith, a sign of the end times: "At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another... But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved."

5. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 · Paul speaks of a great apostasy that will occur before the return of Christ: "Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed."

6. 1 Timothy 4:1 · Paul warns Timothy about the coming apostasy, where some will abandon the faith to follow deceiving spirits: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."

7. Hebrews 3:12 · The author of Hebrews cautions believers to guard against an unbelieving heart that turns away from God: "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God."

8. Hebrews 6:4-6 · This passage describes the severity of apostasy, suggesting that those who have once been enlightened and then fall away cannot be brought back to repentance: "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened... if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance."

9. 2 Peter 2:20-22 · Peter warns of the dire state of those who return to their sinful ways after knowing the way of righteousness: "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning."

10. Jude 1:3-4 · Jude urges believers to contend for the faith, as certain individuals have secretly slipped in among them, turning the grace of God into a license for immorality: "Dear friends, although I was eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people."

These scriptures collectively underscore the gravity of apostasy and the importance of remaining faithful to God. They serve as both a warning and a call to vigilance, encouraging believers to hold fast to their faith amidst challenges and temptations.Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: you are waxen fat, you are grown thick, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
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1 Chronicles 28:9
And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever.
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Isaiah 1:28
And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
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Isaiah 65:11-16
But you are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering to that number.
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Jeremiah 17:5,6
Thus said the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.
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Ezekiel 3:20
Again, When a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand.
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Ezekiel 18:24,26
But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.
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Ezekiel 33:12,13,18
Therefore, you son of man, say to the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins.
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Matthew 13:20,21
But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;
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Matthew 24:10,12
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
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Mark 4:5-17
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
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Luke 8:13
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
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Luke 11:24-26
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he said, I will return to my house from where I came out.
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John 15:6
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
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Acts 7:39-43
To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
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1 Corinthians 9:27
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
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2 Thessalonians 2:3,11,12
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
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1 Timothy 4:1,2
Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
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2 Timothy 3:1-9
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
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2 Timothy 4:3,4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
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Hebrews 6:4-8
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
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Hebrews 10:26-29
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
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2 Peter 2:1,15,17,20-22
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
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2 Peter 3:17
You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
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Jude 1:4-6
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
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