Oh complete nonsense. Though the new believer may be spiritually immature the spirit of God and the Spirit of antichrist do not coexist within the same person. Matthew 12:43 also does not refer to a beleiver but a demon possessed man who had the demon cast out without also preaching the gospel to the man and getting Him saved.
And though believer may fall away they do not lose their salvation. For God's gifts are without repentance Rom 11:29
Dear Christinal,
There are many scriptures which teach that the churches that were started in the 1st century all became apostate shortly after Paul's death.
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
This revelation was very distressing news for Paul because he loved the churches very much. Even to this day, nothing has changed over the centuries since the churches all became apostate. The apostate church consists of nearly 2,000 different denominations/sects/groups of spiritually blind believers (babes). Though there are many different beliefs taught in these churches, the one common denominator they all have that is they all teach a gospel which mixes works with faith. It is from this false gospel that Satan kills the saints (Mat 24:9 & Rev 11:7).
"Falling away" is the term that Paul uses to describe a believer (a babe) who starts mixing their own "works" with faith. This is the sin that leads to death that both Paul and John mention in their letters.
Consider the scripture below which describes how Satan builds his apostate church.
My comments are in blue.
Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts (converted Elect believers). 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11 For with stammering lips and another language (spiritual language) will he speak to this people. 12 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they (babes) might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken (by Satan).
Christ begins the salvation process for a person when He comes to them (without their asking or permission) and gives them the
Early Rain of the Spirit. This is what the apostles received when they walked with Christ and is what Paul received on the Damascus Road.
With the small amount of the Early Rain of the Spirit, the person will have a "measure of faith" and certain spiritual gifts. But the Early Rain of the Spirit will leave the new believer (a babe)
spiritually blind,
carnally minded and
unconverted. In this condition, Satan will easily deceive the new believer and cause them to "fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken". No new believer can avoid becoming apostate because we all start the pathway to salvation as a "babe".
For the believers who have been chosen for salvation in this age (the Elect), Christ will come to them a second time and pour out the
Latter Rain of the Spirit. The apostles received the Latter Rain of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and Paul received the Latter Rain of the Spirit after being in Damascus for three days.
With the baptism of the Spirit, the believer's spiritual blindness will be healed and they will "see" the Abomination of Desolation that previously occurred within themselves when the spirit of anti-Christ indwelt them. Judgment will then fall and remove and destroy the spirit of anti-Christ and the Great Harlot from within the believer (Mat 24:37-41). The believer will then be converted and saved.
Christ also described how the apostasy happens to a new believer in the scripture below:
Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself SEVEN other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
The spiritual symbol of an unclean spirit represents a spirit which teaches Satan's false truth through lies and deceptions.
Since a new believer remains
spiritually blind (
Mark 8:21-25) after receiving the Early Rain of the Spirit, they cannot replace their worldly false beliefs with the truth of Christ. ONE unclean spirit leaves but comes back with SEVEN more. The number "seven" represents perfection. In this case, the number seven represents the perfection of Satan's lies/deceptions which come to a believer by the indwelling of the spirit of anti-Christ. Now, instead of ONE unclean spirit within the believer, they now have EIGHT. The number eight is a spiritual symbol which represents a
new spiritual condition. In this case, the new spiritual condition is
worse than the first.
This "worse than the first" spiritual condition causes the believer to become a
False Prophet, a
Man of Sin, a
Minister of Satan and a
Seven Headed Beast with Ten Horns & Crowns.
The parable of the Wheat and the Tares also describes how a new believer becomes apostate.
Shortly after Christ plants His seed of the Early Rain within the person (represented by the "field"), Satan will come to them "at night" (time of their spiritual blindness) and plant his seed of the spirit of anti-Christ within the believer, too. Both seeds will grow within the believer which will cause a spiritual war to develop within the person. Since the Early Rain of the Spirit was given in "measure", the spirit of anti-Christ will win the war and begin governing the new believer. This is when the believer falls away and becomes apostate. When the time for the harvest arrives, Christ will "come again" and pour the Latter Rain of the Spirit. This will restore the believer's faith (no works) which will make Christ's pathway straight for Him to appear. When He appears, He will gather the new child of God to heaven (the barn) and commence His judgment upon the believer to remove the tares. The believer will then be converted and saved.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins teaches this same truth about the apostasy but instead of Christ using the farming analogy, He uses the marriage analogy. All ten people are made virgins when Christ gives each of them the Early Rain of the Spirit. They all then begin waiting for the Bridegroom to return for the marriage. As they wait, they all sleep and slumber (represents spiritually dying) during the night (time of their spiritual blindness). When the call goes out at midnight (the deepest time of blindness when the person has become a man of sin) that the Bridegroom is returning, the Wise Virgins will use the
extra oil to light their way to meet the Bridegroom. The extra oil represents the Latter Rain of the Spirit which restores their faith. When the Bridegroom appears, He will take His virgin back for the marriage.
All the parables that begin with the phrase "the Kingdom of Heaven is like" are teaching on certain aspects of the pathway to salvation that all the Elect will travel before they die.
Here is a very short one that also teaches how the apostasy occurs within a believer:
Mat 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
The "leaven" represents Satan's lies/deceptions. The woman is the Great Harlot. She represents the carnal spirit that is within all mankind. She takes the leaven from Satan via the spirit of anti-Christ which is within the believer. She
secretly mixes the leaven in 3 measures of meal (truth) until the whole loaf is leavened. When the believer consumes this loaf, they unknowingly come under Satan's deceptions and fall away.
There are many other such teachings in scripture which describe the pathway to salvation that all the Elect (
since Paul's death) will travel. No believer has any free will ability to avoid it.
Joe
