The phenomenon of individuals “walking away” from Christianity has become increasingly visible in contemporary Western culture. Social media platforms overflow with “deconversion” stories, testimonies of former believers, and communities dedicated to those who have left the faith. The rise of the “ex-Christian” movement demands serious theological examination—not as an exercise in judgment, but as an opportunity to understand what truly constitutes authentic Christian faith and what happens when that foundation was never properly laid.
As a believer, I have observed that the reasons people give for leaving Christianity are often symptomatic of a deeper issue: many who depart were never genuinely converted in the first place. This is not a novel or uncharitable observation, but rather one rooted firmly in Scripture itself. The apostle John wrote with striking clarity: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19). This passage suggests that apostasy—the abandonment of professed faith—reveals the absence of genuine conversion rather than the loss of authentic salvation.
The Litany of Reasons: Understanding the Stated Causes
To properly investigate this phenomenon, we must first listen carefully to what former Christians themselves say about their departure. The Reddit community r/exchristian, with its hundreds of thousands of members, provides a window into the lived experiences of those who have walked away. When asked why they left Christianity, respondents offered a diverse array of explanations that can be categorized into several major themes.
Intellectual and Theological Objections
Perhaps the most frequently cited reason involves intellectual concerns about Christian doctrine and biblical reliability. Many former believers describe their departure as the result of serious study and critical thinking. One recurring theme centers on the problem of evil and suffering—the age-old question of how an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God could permit such profound pain in the world. Others point to perceived contradictions in Scripture, questions about biblical authorship and transmission, or conflicts between religious claims and scientific understanding.
As one blogger examining this issue notes, people often leave because “they have intellectual questions that go unanswered.” The failure to receive satisfactory responses to deep theological questions can create a crisis of faith, particularly for those whose belief system was never grounded in a transformative encounter with Christ but rather in intellectual assent to propositions.
Moral and Ethical Disillusionment
A second major category involves moral objections to Christian teaching or practice. Many former Christians cite the church’s historical or contemporary positions on issues like sexuality, gender roles, or social justice as incompatible with their evolving moral consciousness. They describe feeling forced to choose between their conscience and their faith community, ultimately deciding that the moral framework they had developed was superior to biblical ethics.
Additionally, the problem of hypocrisy—both institutional and personal—features prominently in deconversion narratives. The sexual abuse scandals that have rocked various denominations, the political entanglements of American evangelicalism, and the general failure of Christians to live according to the standards they profess have driven many away. As one article observes, people leave when they see “the church is full of hypocrites” and conclude that Christianity itself must be false if its adherents cannot embody its teachings.
Baptist News: I asked people why they’re leaving Christianity
The behavior of Christians
Beyond the issue of LGBTQ inclusion, Stanley did get one thing right: Many people object to the behavior of Christians, and that’s not something new.
When writing a letter to C.S. Lewis about potentially converting to Christianity, author Sheldon Vanauken wrestled with this exact thing in his book A Severe Mercy:
The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians — when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.
Apparently, some things never change — the behavior of Christians is a massive stumbling block for people coming to the religion and walking away. However, instead of dying a thousand deaths, Christianity is dying millions.
Relational and Experiential Pain
The relational dimension of faith departure cannot be overstated. Numerous former Christians describe toxic church environments, spiritual abuse by leaders, or the painful experience of being shunned or rejected when they expressed doubts or questions. Baptist News reports hearing from people who felt judged, excluded, or wounded by the very communities that were supposed to represent Christ’s love.
Others speak of prayers that seemingly went unanswered, particularly in moments of crisis or tragedy. When a loved one dies despite fervent prayer, when a marriage crumbles, when mental illness goes unhealed—these experiences can shake the foundation of faith, particularly if that faith was built primarily on expectations of divine intervention rather than on a relationship with Christ Himself.
Cultural and Political Factors
The increasing identification of American Christianity with particular political movements, especially right-wing politics, has alienated many who cannot reconcile their understanding of Jesus with partisan agendas. The co-opting of Christian language and symbols for political purposes has led some to conclude that Christianity is fundamentally about power and control rather than love and redemption.
Furthermore, growing exposure to other worldviews and religions, combined with cultural shifts toward pluralism and relativism, has led many to question why Christianity should be considered uniquely true among world religions. The exclusive claims of Christ become stumbling blocks in a culture that values tolerance and inclusion above doctrinal distinctives.
The Burden of Legalism and Performance
Many departure stories include descriptions of exhaustion from trying to maintain religious performance standards. The constant pressure to conform, to perform spiritual disciplines, to maintain appearances, and to suppress doubt created an unsustainable burden. When faith is presented primarily as a system of rules and behavioral requirements rather than as a grace-based relationship, burnout becomes inevitable.
One resource examining why people leave Christianity notes that some “grew tired of living under the burden of legalism,” finding the Christian life to be “more about rules than relationship.” This resonates with countless testimonies from those who describe their former faith as a joyless obligation rather than a liberating truth.
Quotes from the Reddit community r/exchristian:
Turns out, the bible actually does have a lot of examples of god hating, torturing, and murdering people for stupid reasons. He’s a bloodthirsty psychopath. Horrified, I started searching to see if anyone else noticed that. Plenty of people had. I started learning more about the origins of this religion to figure out why people decided to worship someone so heartless.
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I read the bible, realized god is evil, started researching, and found out that the whole religion is a plagiarized mess of repurposed legends and holidays from the cultures that Christianity took over.
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After forty years of being a Christian there was a huge empty hole where I was told god was. Silence, emptiness, nothing. I knocked, I asked, and I looked and found no god. Whilst I was looking, asking and knocking I served as best I could and in the end I begged on my hands and knees for god to respond. Silence. The Bible had some lovely passages, and occasionally I found wisdom. But as decisions needed to be made that had real life consequences, god was absent.
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For me it was learning about Christianity’s role in slavery. As a black woman I genuinely find Christianity to be holding black people back from true freedom and liberation. We will never be free under a religion that was literally forced upon us to keep us enslaved, whether it be in shackles or psychologically.
Theological Analysis: The Nature of True Conversion
While these stated reasons for departure deserve respectful consideration, a biblical-theological analysis reveals something profound: most of these explanations, however sincere, describe the experience of individuals who never experienced genuine regeneration. This is not to dismiss the reality of their pain or to suggest that their struggles were not authentic—but rather to recognize that true Christian faith, as biblically defined, possesses certain characteristics that make apostasy impossible.
The Biblical Doctrine of Perseverance
Scripture consistently teaches that those who are genuinely saved will persevere in faith. Jesus Himself declared, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). This promise is not conditional upon the believer’s strength or consistency, but upon Christ’s keeping power. The Good Shepherd does not lose His sheep.
The writer of Hebrews addresses apostasy directly: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left” (Hebrews 10:26). Significantly, this warning is given to those who have “received the knowledge of the truth”—intellectual awareness—rather than those who the truth has transformed. The passage goes on to describe how genuine believers “have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19), suggesting a fundamental difference between those who merely know about Christianity and those who have been brought into living relationship with God through Christ.
The Witness of the Holy Spirit
Perhaps the most significant biblical truth regarding authentic conversion involves the internal witness of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” This is not merely an emotional feeling or a psychological state—it is the supernatural testimony of God Himself dwelling within the believer, assuring salvation.
This internal witness manifests in several ways. First, the Holy Spirit produces conviction of sin and leads believers toward repentance and holiness. As one theological resource explains, the Spirit “convicts the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). This ongoing conviction is markedly different from the crushing condemnation of legalism; it is the loving correction of a Father to His children.
Second, the Holy Spirit empowers believers to live transformed lives. As noted in Back to the Bible’s examination of the Spirit’s role, believers receive “power from on high” that enables them to “be witnesses” for Christ. This power is not self-generated willpower or human effort, but supernatural enablement. Where this power is absent, genuine conversion must be questioned.
Third, the Spirit produces His fruit in believers’ lives: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). While Christians remain imperfect and continue to struggle with sin, the trajectory of their lives moves toward Christlikeness because of the Spirit’s sanctifying work. When someone walks away from faith entirely, showing no evidence of the Spirit’s fruit or presence, it suggests the Spirit was never truly resident within them.
The Nature of Saving Faith
Authentic Christian conversion involves more than intellectual assent to theological propositions. James reminds us that “even the demons believe—and shudder” (James 2:19). Cognitive agreement with Christian doctrine, while necessary, is insufficient for salvation. True saving faith involves what the Reformers called fiducia—trust, commitment, and reliance upon Christ Himself.
This faith is inseparable from repentance. Jesus began His ministry proclaiming, “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). Repentance is not merely feeling sorry for sins or trying harder to be good; it is a fundamental reorientation of one’s life away from self-rule and toward submission to Christ’s lordship. It involves acknowledging one’s spiritual bankruptcy and casting oneself entirely upon Christ’s mercy. Where genuine repentance has occurred, a person cannot simply “decide” to stop believing, because their faith is rooted not in intellectual conviction but in a transformative encounter with the living God.
Many who depart from Christianity describe a faith that was characterized by trying to believe hard enough, maintaining proper behaviors, or fitting into a religious community. These descriptions reveal a faith that was horizontal (focused on human effort and community standards) rather than vertical (rooted in divine relationship). When the horizontal supports crumble—when the community disappoints, when behaviors become burdensome, when questions arise—there is no vertical anchor to hold fast, because that anchor was never set in the first place.
The Question of Authenticity: Were They Ever Truly Saved?
This brings us to the unavoidable question that John’s epistle forces us to confront: Were those who abandon Christianity ever genuinely saved? The biblical evidence strongly suggests that authentic conversion results in perseverance, making apostasy not the loss of salvation but the revelation that salvation was never truly possessed.
An article examining this precise question notes that “those who fall away from the faith were never truly born again.” This is not a matter of speculative theology but of taking Scripture at its word. When Jesus spoke of the seeds sown on rocky ground that “sprang up quickly” but “withered because they had no root” (Matthew 13:5-6), He was describing people who received the word with joy but fell away when difficulty arose. The problem was not that they lost their salvation; the problem was that they never had deep roots—they never experienced genuine conversion.
This understanding is neither harsh nor uncharitable; rather, it should drive us to examine carefully what we mean when we speak of Christian conversion and to ensure that our evangelism produces genuine disciples rather than mere professors of faith. The American church has often favored decisions over discipleship, emphasizing the moment of conversion without adequately teaching the nature of the Christian life. We have made salvation sound easy—perhaps too easy—suggesting that a prayer prayed, a card signed, or a hand raised constitutes genuine conversion regardless of subsequent life transformation.
Distinguishing Between Apostasy and Doubt
It is crucial to distinguish between those who permanently apostatize and genuine believers who experience seasons of doubt or struggle. Christians throughout history have wrestled with difficult questions, experienced dark nights of the soul, and endured periods when their faith felt distant or challenging. King David cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1)—words later echoed by Christ Himself on the cross. Job questioned God’s justice. Thomas doubted the resurrection until he encountered the risen Christ.
The difference is that genuine believers, even in their doubts and struggles, do not ultimately abandon Christ. They may step away from church for a season, they may wrestle with theological questions, they may experience anger at God or periods of spiritual dryness—but they do not renounce Christ entirely and permanently. The internal witness of the Spirit continues to draw them back, convict them, and assure them of their identity as God’s children. As one resource explaining the Spirit’s witness notes, the Holy Spirit “leads us to a place of repentance” and “produces the fruit of the Spirit within us,” even when we wander.
Building Jerusalem blog: Were those who fall away from Christ ever truly saved?
What do we say about those who fall away from the Lord? Are they saved or not? Can there be forgiveness for such people? Doesn’t Hebrews 10 suggest there is no way back for such people?
There are a series of truths that must be held in tension. First, there are the twin truths that true believers cannot lose their salvation (John 10:28-301I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”; Rom 8:382For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,) and that real believers will persevere for Christ (Rom 11:293For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.; Heb 3:144For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.; 1 Jn 2:195They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.). However, we must also acknowledge the clear Biblical data that says those who continue in defiant sin are not true believers (1 Cor 6:96Or do you not know that the unrighteous[a] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,; Gal 5:19-217Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 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.; Heb 10:268For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,; 1 Jn 3:4-109Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.).
We cannot answer this problem by suggesting such people were saved and have ‘lost’ their salvation. First, that would suggest salvation in some way depends upon our obedience. This has the twin effect of rooting our salvation in our behaviour and making our behaviour the determinate factor in God’s action. Scripture is clear that our salvation does not depend upon our behaviour (Eph 2:8) but rests in the sovereign will of God (Rom 8:2910For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.; Eph 1:3-14).
The obvious answer to the problem is that those who fall away were never true believers in the first place. They have not lost their salvation, they simply never had it to begin with. This maintains that salvation is rooted in the will of God and that he is unable to change, unable to lie and therefore unable to revoke his gift of faith and effectual calling (Rom 11:2911For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.).
We must concede there is a fine line between those who have gone away from the Lord who were never saved at all and those who the Lord has saved and, though away from him for a time, he preserves. Nonetheless, the Bible never calls us to try and tell such people apart. Jesus tells us that we will know his disciples, and conversely those who don’t belong to him, ‘by their fruits’. That is, those who manifest the fruit of the Spirit and show a desire to glorify God in their obedience of him. What scripture does not do, is ask us to figure out the difference between a backslidden believer and one who never truly believed at all.
The Modern Context: Cultural Christianity vs. Genuine Faith
The contemporary Western church faces a particular challenge: the legacy of cultural Christianity. For generations, identifying as Christian was the social norm in much of America and Europe. Church attendance was expected, Christian morality was (at least nominally) the societal standard, and professing faith carried social benefits rather than costs. In such an environment, countless individuals adopted a Christian identity without ever experiencing genuine conversion.
As Western culture has become increasingly secular and pluralistic, the social benefits of Christian identification have largely disappeared—and in some contexts, Christian faith now carries social costs. This cultural shift has functioned as a sifting process, separating those whose faith was cultural from those whose faith is genuine. Many “deconversion” stories describe leaving a faith that was inherited, assumed, or adopted for social reasons rather than one that flowed from a transformative encounter with Christ.
Hopeforlifeonline’s examination of why people leave Christianity acknowledges that some “were never really saved to begin with,” having grown up in Christian households or communities without ever personally embracing Christ. Their departure, then, is not apostasy from genuine faith but the natural outcome of cultural Christianity colliding with a culture that no longer supports it.
This reality should prompt serious self-examination among Christian communities. How many people sit in our pews who have adopted Christian vocabulary and behaviors without ever experiencing regeneration? How many have intellectually assented to doctrines without bowing the knee to Christ as Lord? How many have been assured of salvation based on a prayer they prayed or a decision they made years ago, despite showing little evidence of the Spirit’s transforming work in their lives?
Pastoral Implications: The Response of the Church
Understanding that many who leave Christianity were likely never genuinely converted carries significant implications for how the church approaches both evangelism and discipleship.
First, we must recover a robust theology of conversion that emphasizes repentance and faith rather than mere intellectual agreement or emotional response. Our gospel presentations should call people to count the cost, acknowledge their sin, and submit to Christ’s lordship—not simply to “accept Jesus into their hearts” or “make a decision for Christ.” Jesus Himself warned, “Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Luke 14:33). While we are saved by grace through faith apart from works, genuine faith transforms our relationship to everything we possess and value.
Second, we must prioritize discipleship that helps believers develop deep roots in Christ. This includes teaching them to hear God’s voice through Scripture, to recognize the Spirit’s leading, to practice spiritual disciplines not as legalistic requirements but as means of grace, and to find their identity in Christ rather than in performance or acceptance by others. Tower View KC’s article on how the Holy Spirit shows us we’re truly in Christ emphasizes that the Spirit “enables us to live obediently,” “brings Scripture to remembrance,” and “leads us to places we wouldn’t choose ourselves.” Believers need to be taught to recognize and respond to these works of the Spirit.
Third, we must create church environments where honest questions and struggles are met with patience and wisdom rather than judgment or superficial answers. Many who leave Christianity cite intellectual questions that were dismissed or condemned. While not every question has a simple answer, believers should be able to wrestle with difficult issues within the supportive context of Christian community. Faith that cannot withstand questioning was never deep faith to begin with.
Fourth, we must model authenticity and humility, acknowledging our own struggles and failures rather than projecting an image of perfect spirituality. The hypocrisy that drives many away often stems from the church’s failure to admit that Christians are simultaneously justified and yet still sinful, saints who are being sanctified but remain works in progress. Paul could declare himself the chief of sinners while also asserting his apostolic authority—he held both realities in tension, as must we.
Tower View Baptist Church: 3 Ways the Holy Spirit Shows Us We’re Truly in Christ
Too many in Christianity are affirmed in their false assurance of salvation by well-meaning ministers who do not understand the gospel’s nature and power. Too many sit at ease in churches with a false assurance of their salvation. They are not actively believing in or looking to Christ, but are trusting in a past decision which they made years before—a decision that has had little or no discernible impact upon their lives.
The Assurance of the Believer: The Spirit’s Unbreakable Witness
For those who are genuinely in Christ, the departure of others can provoke anxiety: “Could this happen to me? How can I be certain of my own salvation?” Here, the biblical doctrine of the Spirit’s witness becomes profoundly pastoral. Romans 8:16 assures us that “the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” This testimony is not based on our feelings, our performance, or our certainty, but on the objective reality of God’s Spirit dwelling within us.
The evidence of genuine conversion includes:
- An ongoing conviction of sin and desire for holiness. Genuine believers do not become sinlessly perfect, but they also cannot remain comfortable in sin. The Spirit convicts and draws us toward righteousness.
- Love for God and for other believers. John writes, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other” (1 John 3:14). This love is supernatural—a fruit of the Spirit rather than mere human affection.
- Perseverance through trials. While believers may stumble and struggle, they do not ultimately abandon Christ. The Spirit sustains faith even through the darkest valleys.
- Transformation of desires and values. Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This transformation may be gradual, but it is real and observable.
- A hunger for God’s Word and prayer. Like newborn babies craving milk (1 Peter 2:2), genuine believers desire spiritual nourishment. They may go through dry seasons, but the fundamental orientation toward God remains.
These marks of authentic faith should assure believers while simultaneously calling us to self-examination. Paul exhorts, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). This is not a call to neurotic uncertainty but to honest assessment: Is my faith rooted in a transformative relationship with Christ, or merely in religious activity and intellectual agreement?
Back To The Bible: What Does the Holy Spirit Do?
Given that the Spirit resides in each of us, what does he do in our lives? The Holy Spirit’s primary role is to glorify Christ and apply the benefits of his life, death, and resurrection to our lives, so we can become spiritually fit. He does this in many ways, including:
Regenerating and Giving New Life
The Spirit is responsible for bringing about the new birth. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5). At the moment of salvation, the Spirit transforms us from spiritual death to life (Eph 2:1-512And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved).Indwelling and Empowering Believers
The Spirit dwells in every believer, making our bodies His temple (1 Cor 6:1913Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,). He empowers us to live the Christian life, providing strength, wisdom, and guidance. As Paul writes, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness” (Rom 8:2614Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.).Convicting of Sin and Guiding into Truth
Jesus said the Spirit would convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn 16:815And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:). He also promised, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 16:1316When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come). The Spirit illuminates Scripture, helping us understand and apply God’s Word to our lives.Producing Christlike Character
The Spirit works to conform us to the image of Christ, producing His fruit in our lives: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-2317But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.).Empowering for Ministry
The Spirit equips us with spiritual gifts for the building up of the church and the advancement of God’s kingdom (1 Cor 12:4-1118Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.). Jesus told His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:819But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”).
Conclusion: The Unchangeable Gospel and the Faithful God
The phenomenon of people leaving Christianity demands that we return to biblical first principles about the nature of salvation, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the perseverance of the saints. While we must listen compassionately to the pain and struggles that drive people away from the church, we must also affirm the truth that Scripture consistently teaches: those who are genuinely born again, who have been regenerated by the Spirit and brought into living relationship with Christ, will persevere in faith.
This is not because believers are strong, faithful, or worthy—we are none of these things. Perseverance is possible solely because of the faithfulness of God, who “will keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8). The salvation Christ accomplished is complete and sufficient. The Spirit He sends to dwell within believers is the guarantee of our inheritance, In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Father’s grip on His children cannot be loosened, My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (John 10:29).
When individuals walk away from Christianity, renouncing faith and joining the ranks of the ex-Christian movement, we should respond with both grief and biblical clarity. We grieve because any soul moving away from Christ is a tragedy, and we recognize that the church may have failed in various ways—poor teaching, spiritual abuse, inadequate discipleship, or mere cultural Christianity that never presented the true gospel. We should examine ourselves and our communities, repenting where we have contributed to this exodus.
Yet we must also affirm what Scripture clearly teaches: their departure demonstrates that they never possessed genuine saving faith in the first place. They may have had intellectual knowledge of Christianity, religious experiences, or moral transformation, but they never experienced regeneration by the Holy Spirit. They never came to that place of total surrender and trust where Christ became not just a belief system but their very life. As John wrote, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.”
For those who remain, who continue to trust in Christ despite questions, struggles, and the cultural headwinds pressing against faith, take heart. Your perseverance is not proof of your own strength but evidence of the Spirit’s presence. You may doubt, struggle, and waver, but you will not ultimately fall away, because you are held not by your grip on God but by God’s grip on you. The Spirit who testifies with your spirit that you are God’s child will continue that testimony, drawing you back when you wander, convicting you when you sin, comforting you when you grieve, and ultimately presenting you blameless before the Father.
Hope for Life: What Can We Do?
Here are seven things that we can all do, as believers, to stand strong in the faith and to come alongside those who are struggling.
• PRAY. Pray for those who you know are susceptible. (Lk 21:36; Rom 12:12; Eph 6:18; Phil 4:6-7; Col 4:2; 1 Thess 5:17; 1 Pet 4:7)
• BE IN THE WORD. Eagerly equip yourself in the truth of God’s written Word. (2 Tim 3:15-4:5; Heb 13:20-21; 2 Pet 1:3-4; Rom 15:4; Acts 17:11)
• KNOW YOUR ENEMY. Equip yourself in understanding these particular traits and the schemes of Satan. (2 Cor 2:11; 11:3-4, 13-15; Gen 3:1ff)
• PRACTICE DISCERNMENT. Grow in valuing and ardently practicing discernment. (1 Kgs 3:9; Prov 2:11; 3:21ff; Acts 17:11; Phil 1:9-11; 1 Thess 5:21-22; Heb 5:14)
• GROW IN GRACE. Go over the list of traits and make note of the areas that might apply to you, and pour your heart into growing in these specific areas (e.g., discernment; love for the truth and God’s Word).
• ENCOURAGE & WARN OTHERS. Find time to warn and encourage those you know are vulnerable here. (1 Thess 5:14; 2 Tim 2:23-26; 4:1-5; Jas 5:19-20)
• BE EQUIPPED. Pray for and talk to the leaders in your church and ministry about your church becoming specifically equipped in these pivotal areas.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The gospel we proclaim must be both welcoming and demanding—free yet costly, gracious yet transformative. It calls people not to add Jesus to their lives but to die to themselves that they might truly live in Christ. Only this gospel produces the kind of faith that perseveres, because only this gospel creates the deep roots that can weather any storm. May we proclaim it faithfully, knowing that those who are truly Christ’s will never perish, for they are held in the Father’s hand, sealed by the Spirit, and kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.