How to Come Back to God after Falling Away

It is indeed possible for a Christian to lose salvation. So there may be fear in the hearts of people who have been Christians, but who are fallen from grace. These are not people who simply sinned (because that isn’t what causes a fall from grace). These are people who have at one time been a Christian who have now rejected Christ.

Yes, there are those who were REALLY Christians that left the faith. There are a number of reasons they will give for their falling from grace. Some claim that God left them or somehow broke His word. The attack of Satan has caused them to harden their hearts towards God.

But once they come to a place where their heart can be softened again is there any hope of salvation? These people have tasted and seen that God is good and yet walked away from Him. No doubt, there are many asking how to come back to God after falling away.

The answer is yes! There is hope for those who have once been in the faith and yet left it. Some may think that is untrue because of certain scriptures such as Hebrews 6, which we will be talking about in this unit. But the truth is that even those who have known God but renounced the faith have a chance to return.

What Happens When a Christian Departs from the Faith

We spoke of what it means to be born again in unit 3:4b. It means the soul of a person, which was dead in sins and distant from God, has new life breathed into it. This new life comes from the Holy Spirit, which takes up residence within a person. At that point, a person has their own soul brought to life because the Spirit of God, which is the breath of life, is abiding with us.

So if a person’s soul has been “born again” (had life breathed into it) what happens if that life breathing Spirit of God departs? Obviously, without the Spirit of God, which gives life, there is only death.

Now, I know I just hit a nerve with some people by using the words “Spirit of God departs.“ After all, Jesus said He would never leave us nor forsake us. This is the truth. Jesus did say that and His word is sure. It will not fail. If He said it then He meant it!

But what happens if WE are the ones doing the forsaking? That would mean the statement Jesus made has not been broken, and yet there is still a separation. God remains who He is, and where He is, but we are the ones who moved. We are the ones who rejected Him.

So even though the Spirit of God Himself will not leave you it doesn’t mean that you can not depart from Him. Of course, there is still another objection about this that someone may try to raise, which I would like to answer now as well.

Many believe these passages are great scriptures to prove that once a person is saved they can not lose salvation. They also believe these verses show that we can not walk away from God through our own will. They say there is no escape from the hand of God.

This does seem logical, in a certain way. Since God is all powerful there is no way that ANYTHING could escape His grasp. But does that mean He will not allow us to walk away? No, He WILL allow us to do that.

In earlier units, we already spoke of the difference between the promise and the reality of salvation. We also gave verses which show without a question that even a Christian can become lost. That is obviously a direct contradiction to the thought that we can not walk away from God if we so chose.

So let’s examine the scriptures above and see if they really do say what some people believe them to say.

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,” Jesus is speaking of the sheep that follow Him. Thus, those who FOLLOW Him are given eternal life and they will never perish. Remember, we have the promise of eternal life when we follow Jesus, but the reality has not yet come to pass until we are actually raised from the dead.

“Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” This is not saying a person can not leave on their own freewill. It says no man can pluck them out of my hand. In other words, it is saying no outside force can snatch you away (plucked out). This does not, however, say that no one on the INSIDE can remove THEMSELVES from God’s hand.

Verse 29 follows the same thought. No outside force can remove you from the hands of God. But, it does not say that God will deny a person the right to leave, on their own freewill.

Romans 8:35 And 38-39 also speak of an outside force. It does not speak of someone on the inside being held as a prisoner. The hands of God are protection, not prison. Another thing to note is that you can love someone even if they are lost. The love of the Father, which is also in Christ Jesus (as they are one), is not dependent on a person being righteous or not.

You can love what you hate. The two are not incompatible. A person may love food, but hate it at the same time, because even though they enjoy it they do not enjoy what it does to them. A parent can love their child and yet still hate them at the same time because of their actions. You can love and hate at the same time. Hate is not the opposite of love.

So now that we have addressed that issue we can move on.

When a Person Falls from Grace

When a person chooses to deny the faith that they once had they depart from God, and fall from grace. This causes their soul to, once again, take on death since they have left the source of life. The Holy Ghost is no longer in communion with their soul.

There are many verses which speak of the Holy Spirit as being a seal that preserves us. It is called the earnest of our inheritance. This means as long as the Holy Spirit is within us, breathing life into our souls, we are protected from death.

Again, God will not forsake us. But, He will not imprison us either. If we forsake Him then He will not force us to remain with Him. He will let us walk away.

So again, WE forsake Him and He LETS us walk away. This is why the Bible says that IF WE forsake Him HE WILL ALSO forsake us. Not because He chose to do so, but because we forced Him to no longer be with us by walking away. He will let us go (forsake us) if we chose.

How to Come Back to God after Falling Away

There are some verses that may seem to imply that a person who has left the faith can not return to God.

These are some very powerful verses. They really do seem to imply that if a Christian departs from the faith then there is no way to return to God. But this is not actually what they say. We will examine them closer (as we did above with John 10:27-39) to see if what we THINK they say is REALLY what they say or not. Because often we read more into things than is there.

But first, let me provide some other verses which would seem to contradict this thought if it is correct.

Jesus Himself was speaking to a people who had left their first love, and who had fallen from grace.

Some believe the first love it speaks of here is evangelism rather than Jesus Himself. This belief doesn’t hold up under examination though since you must love Jesus FIRST before you can love evangelism. This is the reason the greatest of the commandments begins with loving God first, and others second.

Also, in Luke 15 we find the story of the prodigal son. This was not a servant or someone unknown to the father. This was a son. The SON left his FATHER. But when he remembered from where he was fallen he repented and came to his father, now humbled. His father accepted him back as one who was dead and now alive.

This story told by Jesus does not begin with the son already out in the world. It begins with him being in his father’s household. This is one way we can know that Jesus is not speaking of someone who never knew their father.

The wonderful thing about it is that the son who had left his father came to his senses later on. His hard heart was turned back to his father and he repented. His father did not reject him when he returned but instead took him back as his son. It was as though he had never left. It was as though his son had simply died, and was now alive again.

So if these things speak of returning to God AFTER FALLING FROM GRACE then how can it be saying a person can not do so in the book of Hebrews? The simple answer is that it DOESN’T say that in Hebrews. We just read something into it that isn’t there.

Here we see it say in verses 4-6 that those who have known God and been Christians can not be renewed UNTO repentance. The word “renewed” means to “begin again, or start over from the beginning.” The word “unto” is like saying you are “going unto the end“. It simply means “to cover a distance until you reach a destination.”

So these verses say that a person who once knew of God and became a Christian can not go all the way to the beginning. They can not begin again as though they never knew God.

Like the prodigal son. He could not go back to his father and become a servant because it was impossible for him to be less than the son of his father. He could never say he did not know what it was to be a son.

This is why verse 6 also says that doing so would “crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Because it would be like saying they never knew Jesus, even though they once were Christians. It would be a denial of everything they once knew of their Father. Thus, it would be an open shame.

So these verses do not show that a person can not repent. They only show that a person can not become as if they never knew God in the first place. They can not simply have their memory wiped clear. So they don’t start over. They just return again as though they had never left.

They can not have Jesus purchase them again by His blood since He already paid the price. He doesn’t have to pay again for what is His in the first place. He can revive his “dead son” but he can not pretend the person was never His son in the first place.

In 17 we see God say that He will no longer remember their sins. This is because they are forgiven and “swept under the rug” so to speak. This is also known as “remission of sins.” So in verse 18, when we see it say that there is no more offering for sin, we have to ask, “Why would we need another?” Our sins are forgiven through Jesus, and if our sins are forgiven we no longer need a sacrifice to forgive us of something already taken care of.

Take note in these verses that it does not say a person can not be forgiven if they walk away, nor does it say that another sacrifice would be needed if they did. It simply says that since our sins are forgiven we do not need another sacrifice.

Again, we see here that there is no more sacrifice for sins even if we walk away. What does this mean? We can take this to mean that the blood of Jesus is no longer able to cover us, or we can take it to mean that there is no OTHER sacrifice that can cover us.

First, let’s look at verse 28. What was Moses’ law in relation to sacrifice? It was that if you sinned you would need a sacrifice to be forgiven of that sin. So, how could someone despise this? Simply by sinning without offering a sacrifice. Thus, they would be in disobedience by not only committing sin but also by not believing (or caring) that God would forgive them through a sacrifice.

Going on into verse 29 we will remember the context of verse 28. What does it mean for someone to “trod underfoot the Son of God?” It means that person counts it to be of little value (or beneath them). Going on from there we read the rest of the verse.

“And hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing,” Again, this person counts the blood of Jesus as having little value and unable to save them.

From there we read “and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.” Despite means “without being affected by; in spite of or contempt; disdain.” In short, a person who has done despite unto the Spirit of grace has treated the grace (goodwill) of God with contempt and counts it as ineffective.

In all of those verses, there is NOWHERE that we find the Bible say that the blood of Jesus is not enough to cover someone who has left the faith. We find NOWHERE that it says a person can not return to Jesus, as the prodigal son who was alive, then dead, and now alive again.

In fact, it says the opposite! It says that if you count the blood of Jesus as not being enough to cover ALL sins, even of someone who once walked away, then you have done despite unto the Spirit of grace.

These are not verses which say you can not be saved from hell. These are verses that say only those who count God as unable to save them from hell can not be saved from it!

It is blasphemy to say God cannot, or will not, save the repentant soul!

So to sum this all up, we have discovered that even a Christian who has left the faith can indeed return to Jesus through repentance. They can not begin as though they never knew Him to begin with, though. They simply come to their father and ask for forgiveness. Once again, the Holy Spirit abides in them as the son of the Father and breathes life into them.

THERE IS HOPE!

In the next unit, we will be talking about one more thing that affects the topic of forgiveness and salvation. We are going to address what Jesus was talking about when He spoke of someone never having forgiveness if they blaspheme the Holy Ghost.

Continue To Unit 3:4f – What Is the Unforgivable Sin OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 3 – Repentance and Salvation

June 23, 2016 at 6:51 pm | | 115 comments

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115 responses to “How to Come Back to God after Falling Away”

1. Jane says:

   April 1, 2022 at 12:34 pm

   Truely you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to write a very important blog that will help many. I myself fell from grace a long time until dec 20/20 when I turned back to the Lord and begged for forgiveness. I can honestly say I’ve been through some major things through life. But nothing could prepare me for the darkest days of my life when I realised how big that fall from grace was. I knew then that only one could save me from that destruction and only then did I realise I truely really did need a saviour Jesus Christ. It was such a big fall. I had to find faith I never even knew I had. It was not my faith as I would have been gone from this world if it was. But only then did I realise the faith in me was not my own. It was the Lords. I never felt so alone in all my life trying to return to the Lord. He was silent but I realise He was silent to make me learn to use the measure of faith he had given me and that it was sufficient enough. I now get dreams from the Lord and I live for what He tells me in them and I hang on His evry word and promise in those beautiful pages. Because without him I would surely be gone from this world. I fell so far that the Lord had to redeem me from Sheol. If I had seen your blog sooner my fight back to life may have been encouraged to keep on in the faith as I fought to get back to my first love. As we do not know love until we are loved by God and know his love for us. I’m still learning His love for me and still reading His forgiveness for me. I know one thing. I’ll never fall away again. It just isn’t worth death. Your blog here would of been encouragement had I read it as I’m the only believer in my family and not part of a church family. So I’m alone in my walk. It’s made me cry. Even your replies back to people in depths of darkness has touched me. This blog is a blessing. And of good in depth understanding to the core. I thank God for people like you who truely are moved by the Spirit. This blog is evidence of that. And thank God Holy Spirit chose the right person to write this blog. Even though I’m on the road to recovery from those darkest days of my life I’m glad I came across your blog as it’s helped me understand where I’ve been in those dark days as I didn’t fully understand and God knew I didn’t. And even though I didn’t I still ran to the Lord in repentance. But your blog has made me understand some of what I’ve just been through. And your answers to worried believers have been very uplifting to read. Thankyou

   Reply
2. Broken sister says:

   December 10, 2021 at 12:40 am

   I tried to read most of the comments, but may have missed some. My reasons for commenting are twofold.
   Firstly- I grew up in a Christian home and gave my life to Jesus age 4 – I continued in my faith into my late teens until things at home combined with the fake facades put up at church made me decide I was done with church and christianity if this was what it was (the fakeness etc) I slipped into depression and severe eating disorders. By the time I left home to go to university, I was in a very bad place. This and the fact that I grew up in a very sheltered family (no drinking and sex etc) combined with falling into the wrong friend group sent me on a spiral headed to hell. I was sexually assaulted twice in my first year and told no one- i normalised it for myself and started sleeping around, drinking heavily and partying to continue to numb myself. I fell into a bad relationship and all the while I drifted farther away from God and my family. My brother is over a year older than me and we had always been best friends. He too struggled at uni, but I was too caught up in my own sin and self to be the sister he deserved. He actually continued with God, but then started slipping away like me. Fast forward to when he decided to move in with his gf which was obviously like a tornado ripping at our family. I was living back at home and had to deal with all the mess – my brother grew distant and I turned to an extremely toxic relationship to find what I was seeking – this’ll I had gotten a job in his neighbourhood and was ready to move away and start a life with him. All this came crashing down when we went out one night and he flipped. To the point where he screamed and swore at me till I hyperventilated and collapsed – he continued screaming. In the Uber I prayed to God that I we would get into an accident so I could die – rock bottom. I got on a plane and didn’t see him again, but had to endure extreme tormenting of him via cellphones to the point my dad had to threaten him with a restraining order. I was trying to make sense of what was going on and then one day I opened my Bible since I thought there was nothing else left to try. God mercifully saved me and i recommittedt life to Him. It’s been almost 4 years and I am never going back. God has totally transformed my life and continues to shape me and purify me and make me more like Him. So don’t lose hope – the devil is the one saying you won’t be accepted or welcomed and forgiven by God. The feelings stuff – my mom always describes it as a train engine of facts and faith pulling the cabin called feelings. It’s not about how you feel – it’s about having faith and trusting the promises God gives us in the Bible. He keeps those promises since he kept them back in history and we know that God is always the same.

   Second reason for posting here is for prayer for my brother who has continued to walk further and further away from God. I cry out to Him to save my brother and have mercy. I got a verse in James – end of I think? Where it says mercy is greater than judgement and in 2nd Peter God says it is not in his will that one should perish. Run back to God all of you – His love is greater than anything you have done and will still do. Please pray for my brother that he will turn back and repent.

   I will be praying for all of you that you find your way back to our Good Shepherd – love and blessings

   Reply
   • Jason Evans says:

     January 28, 2024 at 1:30 pm

     Honestly, your comment is a breath of fresh air. The number one issue that I hear on this subject is that people don’t feel saved. But you got it absolutely right! Feelings are not facts. Gods word is fact. Once someone grasps it they will be able to return to Him.

     Reply
3. happy says:

   November 18, 2021 at 3:20 am

   i felt i was not loved by anybody and God so i deviated so bad. i gambled, and lost so much out of my desires. i became an addict, lost friends, family even my dad love. i have seen that i really need God back because i have run in debt of so much and would only need the lords hep to bring me back in faith and direct me also.

   Reply
4. Andrew says:

   October 21, 2021 at 7:11 am

   My name is Andrew,

   I became a Christian 3 years ago and was “born again” I beleive. I have many things change in me and many works of the Holy spirit. Recently I began getting demonic thoughts and started to beleive they were coming from me. They got so bad that I could work a full day and I would cry out to God to help me, he was bring peace temporarily and then I said God I can’t do this much longer, if these thoughts don’t go away I want to die. I didn’t act on it. But now I literally have no care about anything. I was terrified of everything before but now I’m not. The only think I’m terrified of now is that I’m beyond saving and damned to hell. In only 27 and don’t know what I would do if this were true. How could I live a normal life knowing I’m irredeemable? I’m so down and depressed. I hate it.

   Reply
   • Jason Evans says:

     January 28, 2024 at 12:59 pm

     It sounds like you might need some mental health medical attention. Please reach out to someone.

     I do want you to know though that you are not the only one who has dealt with this. In fact, some of the strongest Christians I know suffer from these things. I myself suffer from PTSD. You are not alone and it can get better.

     Sadly the church as a whole often do not understand mental health and there’s a lot of problems with people equating it to a lack of faith. This is untrue. So please reach out to someone to get the help you and many others need.

     Reply
5. Chloe Owenr says:

   October 13, 2021 at 6:30 am

   Hello i was worried he may not forgive me due to was verses above were wrote it’s not that i didn’t think his blood would cover my sins have i done despite against the spirit because of my anxiety and sorrow of this? I know he can forgive us :(

   Reply
   • Jason Evans says:

     January 28, 2024 at 12:50 pm

     My friend, your fear is confusing you. If you at one point didn’t believe he would save you, or even if you DID NOT believe His blood was enough the question is what do you think now? Is His blood able to cover the sins of an unbeliever and even the sins of one that at one time denied the power of His blood?

     The answer is simple. You either take Him at His word that He will save or you don’t. At no time before death does that change no matter what you do or think.

     Perfect love casts out fear. Let go of your fear and hold onto faith in Jesus.

     Reply
6. Tina says:

   May 31, 2021 at 7:55 pm

   I fell in love with a familiar spirit I thought was Jesus. I was full of lust and repented for that. But I was told to let go and stop looking back. As a woman in love, I could not.i began to wonder which one was actually God and got given over due to disobedience. I was never strong enough to let go. See my track record. I feel possessed now. I feel my body jumping, certain dreams, feel schizophrenic. I hear spirits talking and growling every time I call on Jesus. I hear ppl saying He gave me over and I’m crap to Him. But I have fallen deeper doing every thing I can to get free, even new age. Demons tell me bad things about God and I feel trapped. He promised to never forsake me. But it seems like maybe He put me down? I am constantly worried that I offended Him and maybe that Was Him I fell in love with. Still just confusion bc it never added up. All I wanted was to know Him and it seems l blew it and am in another reality. When I pray it gets worse. Should I believe the demons with all this evidence or hope in faith? When I call to Him they answer. Help pls.

   Reply
   • Jason Evans says:

     January 23, 2024 at 8:27 pm

     My heart breaks for you. It sounds like you are in a deep state of confusion. Let me first say that not every mental illness is demonic and not every demonic activity is mental illness. From what it sounds to me I would suggest seeking the help of a mental health professional.

     Reply
7. Teresa says:

   May 30, 2021 at 5:32 pm

   My name is Teresa.

   I have fallen away from God, and want to come back to him with all my heart. Will he accept me back into his grace and right standing if I did come back to hm? I was told, he is patient with us, not willing for anyone to perish, but for all to repent. I’m in need of prayers to making that first step. I to ask, once a person has been baptized once in their life, can the be baptized again, if they feel, the first conversion, was not an authentic baptism? I have been baptized at least, 3 times, and it seems, all of them, was just me going through the emotions of being baptized. I have not really, changed since I;’ve done any conversions. Please, do get back to me on this matter.

   Thank you for reading this email.

   Reply
   • Jason Evans says:

     January 23, 2024 at 8:19 pm

     In Revelation Jesus tells one of the churches they have left Him. In the KJV it says “your first love.” But He doesn’t just cast them out. He says repent and do your first works over again. These first works are to believe and trust in Him. If you feel the need for another baptism go ahead. Water baptism is the act of making a public statement that you are going to follow Jesus.

     Reply
8. Paul C Draper says:

   April 20, 2021 at 9:05 am

   Thanks for being willing to stand against the Bible Belt crowd. Too many lies out there. Too many falsely representing their interpretations as God’s Word. Misinterpretation of the Greek word for predestination. Misapplication of the term for rapture being applied to Pre-Trib “Get out of Jail Free” card. Complete denial of passages where the Lord says “Depart from Me.” in relation to “Eternal Security” tradition. The Lord seeks a true relationship with us.

   Reply
9. Jeff says:

   April 19, 2021 at 2:10 pm

   just so well done. I just wanted to comment to say thank you for this great resource and time it took to thoughtfully invest in it!

   Reply
10. Angela says:

    March 11, 2021 at 5:32 am

    Thanks for this article. For those saying that they can’t hear the Spirit( I’m there myself or I was until tonight) have you asked Him what specifically he would want you to do next? For example, my last direct orders were to tell a particular friend about the situation I had gotten myself into. I was embarrassed and didn’t follow orders ( big mistake) like huge mistake. In the meanwhile the person God told me to tell moved and I completely lost contact with her. So I can’t go back in time and confess my huge mess to her, obviously.
    I have therefore been praying for a few days “Lord Jesus I done with excuses and not doing what you ask.So what would you have me do now?”
    After I read this page, I looked up what first works means in revelation and the first thing I came across was about baptism. So trusting that the Lord is guiding my searching, I am thinking that that might be my particular answer especially because it addresses my fear of telling anyone.

    Note I am not saying that this answer will be the answer for everyone who has backslid but I think it’s my next orders. Along with getting rid of the stuff that I was putting before Christ ( obviously since it’s part repentance). The progressive difficulty of what I was supposed to do before and what getting rebaptized also fits with something I have observed before ( as well as head from other Christians). If you disobey God and later decide to obey orders you might find that it is much more difficult than if you would have just done the task as originally requested. I’m fairly certain that being swallowed by a whale made Jonah’s trip to Ninivah much more difficult).

    Since California is still in lockdown I have some time in which to get used to the idea of having to explain my issues to a whole group and time in which God could confirm his instructions or let me know if I am off base. Just thought others might find something in my experience to help them. In short, my suggestion if you can’t here the spirit is go back to the last directive that you were given if you still can and do it. If acting on that is no longer possible ask “ what’s next?”. And be prepared for the level of difficulty to be increased. I’m not an authority that is simply a suggestion based my current situation and previous experience… hope that it helps someone

    Reply
    • Jason Evans says:

      January 21, 2024 at 7:46 pm

      That’s a wonderful testimony. And, very helpful. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply