In the Christian faith, the term "backslider" refers to an individual who has turned away from their faith or fallen into sin after having previously committed to following God. The Bible addresses the condition of backsliding and offers promises of restoration and forgiveness to those who return to the Lord.

Promises of Restoration:

1. Jeremiah 3:22 : "Return, O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." This verse highlights God's willingness to heal and restore those who have turned away from Him. It emphasizes the compassionate nature of God, who desires to bring His people back into a right relationship with Him.

2. Hosea 14:4 : "I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them." Here, God promises to heal the apostasy of His people and to love them freely. This assurance underscores the depth of God's mercy and His readiness to forgive those who repent.

3. Isaiah 57:18-19 : "I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, bringing praise to their lips. 'Peace, peace to those far and near,' says the LORD, 'and I will heal them.'" This passage reveals God's commitment to healing and guiding those who have strayed, offering peace and comfort to those who return.

Promises of Forgiveness:

1. 1 John 1:9 : "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This promise assures believers that confession leads to forgiveness and cleansing, highlighting God's faithfulness and justice.

2. Psalm 103:12 : "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." This verse illustrates the completeness of God's forgiveness, removing sins entirely from those who seek His mercy.

3. Micah 7:18-19 : "Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion. He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." These verses celebrate God's unique ability to forgive and His delight in showing mercy, promising to cast sins away completely.

Promises of Renewal:

1. Ezekiel 36:26-27 : "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances." This promise speaks to the transformative power of God, offering a renewed heart and spirit to those who return to Him.

2. 2 Corinthians 5:17 : "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!" This verse assures believers of their new identity in Christ, emphasizing the complete renewal available through faith.

3. Joel 2:25 : "I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you." This promise of restoration extends to the consequences of backsliding, offering hope that God can restore what has been lost.

The Bible consistently presents a message of hope and redemption for backsliders, emphasizing God's readiness to forgive, restore, and renew those who turn back to Him with sincere hearts.Leviticus 26:40-42
If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary to me;
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Deuteronomy 4:29,30
But if from there you shall seek the LORD your God, you shall find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
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Deuteronomy 30:1-10
And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where the LORD your God has driven you,
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Deuteronomy 32:26,28,29
I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
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1 Kings 8:33-53
When your people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray, and make supplication to you in this house:
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2 Chronicles 30:9
For if you turn again to the LORD, your brothers and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.
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Job 22:23-30
If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, you shall put away iniquity far from your tabernacles.
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Psalm 17:5
Hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not.
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Psalm 56:13
For you have delivered my soul from death: will not you deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
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Psalm 81:13,14
Oh that my people had listened to me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
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Isaiah 42:3
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment to truth.
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Isaiah 57:18,19
I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
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Jeremiah 3:4-7,12-22
Will you not from this time cry to me, My father, you are the guide of my youth?
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Jeremiah 4:1,2,14
If you will return, O Israel, said the LORD, return to me: and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight, then shall you not remove.
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Jeremiah 6:16
Thus said the LORD, Stand you in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
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Hosea 14:4
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for my anger is turned away from him.
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Zechariah 10:6
And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy on them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.
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Malachi 3:7
Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, said the LORD of hosts. But you said, Wherein shall we return?
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Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!
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Revelation 3:8,15-21
I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.
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Perseverance of Saints.
... any saint on earth will be, if left, with all the promises of God in ... When backsliders
are emboldened by this doctrine and rendered presumptuous, it is never by ...
/.../finney/systematic theology/lecture l perseverance of saints.htm

A Prospect of Revival
... preface the Lord proceeds to unfold to his people a series of delightful promises. ...
the signs of God's grace to his Church will be the recovery of backsliders. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 62 1916/a prospect of revival.htm

Mercy's Master Motive
... The Lord has a reason for not cutting off backsliders, and it is this"first, his
many promises must be kept in which he has declared that his chosen shall ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 18 1872/mercys master motive.htm

What are Evidences of Backsliding in Heart.
... There is no faith to accept its promises, but conviction enough left to dread ... is
often very striking and even shocking to attend a backsliders' prayer meeting ...
/.../finney/the backslider in heart/iii what are evidences of.htm

Chapter xxxi
... had made promises to Jacob previously and was now fulfilling these promises. ... Israel
lapsed into idolatry, especially in Canaan, then the backsliders would also ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter xxxi.htm

A Corps Commander
... bandmaster. Some backsliders who withstood her pleadings in life were brought
home by her death. ... debt. In came promises of different amounts. ...
/.../carpenter/the angel adjutant of twice born men/v a corps commander.htm

Letter v. Prayer and Fasting.
... that God should assure us, by so many precious promises, that he ... extent of his
requirement; that afflicted saints may be comforted, backsliders reclaimed, and ...
/.../letter v prayer and fasting.htm

Addresses on Holiness,
... exhortations in the Bible to sanctify yourselves than there are promises of God
to ... and purify your hearts ye double-minded." This was to backsliders, to people ...
//christianbookshelf.org/booth/godliness/chapter xii addresses on holiness.htm

Entire Sanctification as Taught by Paul.
... is called an up-and-down experience, not becoming confirmed backsliders, but sinning ...
The factors in his direction are God's promises and commands, alike in the ...
/.../clark/the theology of holiness/chapter vii entire sanctification as.htm

The Bishop's Burthen
... May adultery be practised with a woman who promises in exchange to point out heretics ...
But if this troop of sinners and backsliders was hard to drive, the devout ...
//christianbookshelf.org/bertrand/saint augustin/iii the bishops burthen.htm

What does it mean to backslide? | GotQuestions.org

Is a backsliding Christian still saved? | GotQuestions.org

Questions about the Christian Life (All) | GotQuestions.org

Backslider: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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