different words, convey warnings against apostasy. In the last days, tribulation and persecution will cause people to reject Christ, and false prophets will lead many others astray (Matt. 24:9–11). Paul pointed to Hymenaeus and Alexander as examples of those who had rejected the faith (1 Tim. 1:20). The apostle Peter warned that believers in Christ who knowingly turn away are “worse off than before” (2 Pet. 2:2–22). The writer of Hebrews referred to those who had believed and then departed from the