What Does Backsliding Mean?

“Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” (Jeremiah 3:22)

If you attend church on a regular basis, then you’ve heard your pastor or Sunday School teacher mention backsliding. But what does it mean? Moreover, what are the common symptoms associated with backsliding?

There are some who would tell you that backsliding means to go back to your old ways. I don’t agree. Someone who goes back to his old ways is what I call a “Counterfeit Christian.” In other words, his salvation may not have been real to begin with since there is little evidence that there was true repentance. That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3)

Backsliders aren’t Counterfeit Christians. They’re just as saved as you and me. For example, when the Lord spoke through the Prophet Jeremiah, as in the above verse, he referred to backsliders as “children,” which means he knew them as their Father. Even more convincing, he once told the Prophet Hosea, “My people are bent on backsliding from me.” (Hosea 11:7)

So what does it mean to backslide? It’s really fairly simple. A backslider is one who goes backwards in his spiritual life. An 1800’s theologian said it this way:

“Backsliding…occurs when the Christian is gradually led off from close walking with God, loses the lively sense of divine things, becomes too much attached to the world, and too much occupied with secular concerns; until at length the keeping of the heart is neglected, prayer and the seeking of the Lord in private are omitted or slightly performed, zeal for the advancement of religion is quenched, and many things once rejected by a sensitive conscience are now indulged and defended.”

That’s about as good of a description of a backslider I could find even though it was written almost 200 years ago.

Mr. Alexander points out that backsliding is “gradual.’’ He’s right. That’s why others tend to notice it before we do. It’s sort of like weight gain. We may not think it’s all that obvious until we spend some time with someone who hasn’t seen us in a while. As we all know, it doesn’t take them long to notice how much we’ve changed.

So what are the symptoms of a backslider? Well I think Mr. Alexander had his arms around the problem. In fact, there are a couple of symptoms he mentioned on which I want to focus.