3B Apostasy in the Old Testament denotes giving up God and turning away from God to idols; in the New Testament apostasy is heresy, denoting the denial of Christ’s deity and not believing that Jesus Christ is God incarnated to be a man—John 1:1, 14; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:2-3.
4C Apostasy, or heresy, insults and damages the person of Christ, and division destroys the Body of Christ as Christ’s corporate expression; thus, apostasy and division damage the entire economy of God.
5D Because of this, the apostle Paul charges us to turn away from the divisive ones (Rom. 16:17), and the apostle John enjoins us to reject the heretical ones (2 John 9-11).
6E Like Moses in Deuteronomy and the apostles in the New Testament, we must be very strict concerning division and apostasy; we must keep the unique oneness of God’s people and the unique faith in the person and redemptive work of Christ—Eph. 4:3, 13.