What is an apostate?

Pastor Mike’s Answer (edited)

An apostate is someone who has been substantially informed about biblical Christianity, often through long participation in a church, and then deliberately renounces and deserts the faith he or she once professed. It is more than visiting a church and deciding not to return.

Pastor Mike understands apostasy as evidence that the person’s earlier profession was not genuine saving faith. First John describes such people as going out because they were never truly “of us.” Churches will always contain some who outwardly associate with believers without inwardly belonging to Christ.

Apostate describes the person, while apostasy describes the act or broader falling away. Scripture warns that false Christianity and religious systems that retain Christian language while denying its power will become increasingly prominent.