The hidden exodus: Catholics becoming Protestants

Any other institution that lost one-third of its members would want to know why.....

We all have heard stories about why people leave. Parents share stories about their children. Academics talk about their students. Everyone has a friend who has left.

While personal experience can be helpful, social science research forces us to look beyond our circle of acquaintances to see what is going on in the whole church.

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has put hard numbers on the anecdotal evidence: One out of every 10 Americans is an ex-Catholic. If they were a separate denomination, they would be the third-largest denomination in the United States, after Catholics and Baptists. One of three people who were raised Catholic no longer identifies as Catholic.

Any other institution that lost one-third of its members would want to know why. But the U.S. bishops have never devoted any time at their national meetings to discussing the exodus. Nor have they spent a dime trying to find out why it is happening.

Thankfully, although the U.S. bishops have not supported research on people who have left the church, the Pew Center has.

Pew’s data shows that those leaving the church are not homogenous. They can be divided into two major groups: those who become unaffiliated and those who become Protestant. Almost half of those leaving the church become unaffiliated and almost half become Protestant. Only about 10 percent of ex-Catholics join non-Christian religions. This article will focus on Catholics who have become Protestant. I am not saying that those who become unaffiliated are not important; I am leaving that discussion to another time.

Why do people leave the Catholic church to become Protestant? Liberal Catholics will tell you that Catholics are leaving because they disagree with the church’s teaching on birth control, women priests, divorce, the bishops’ interference in American politics, etc. Conservatives blame Vatican II, liberal priests and nuns, a permissive culture and the church’s social justice agenda.

One of the reasons there is such disagreement is that we tend to think that everyone leaves for the same reason our friends, relatives and acquaintances have left. We fail to recognize that different people leave for different reasons. People who leave to join Protestant churches do so for different reasons than those who become unaffiliated. People who become evangelicals are different from Catholics who become members of mainline churches.

The principal reasons given by people who leave the church to become Protestant are that their “spiritual needs were not being met” in the Catholic church (71 percent) and they “found a religion they like more” (70 percent). Eighty-one percent of respondents say they joined their new church because they enjoy the religious service and style of worship of their new faith.

In other words, the Catholic church has failed to deliver what people consider fundamental products of religion: spiritual sustenance and a good worship service. And before conservatives blame the new liturgy, only 11 percent of those leaving complained that Catholicism had drifted too far from traditional practices such as the Latin Mass.

Dissatisfaction with how the church deals with spiritual needs and worship services dwarfs any disagreements over specific doctrines. While half of those who became Protestants say they left because they stopped believing in Catholic teaching, specific questions get much lower responses. Only 23 percent said they left because of the church’s teaching on abortion and homosexuality; only 23 percent because of the church’s teaching on divorce; only 21 percent because of the rule that priests cannot marry; only 16 percent because of the church’s teaching on birth control; only 16 percent because of the way the church treats women; only 11 percent because they were unhappy with the teachings on poverty, war and the death penalty.

The data shows that disagreement over specific doctrines is not the main reason Catholics become Protestants. We also have lots of survey data showing that many Catholics who stay disagree with specific church teachings. Despite what theologians and bishops think, doctrine is not that important either to those who become Protestant or to those who stay Catholic.

People are not becoming Protestants because they disagree with specific Catholic teachings; people are leaving because the church does not meet their spiritual needs and they find Protestant worship service better.

Nor are the people becoming Protestants lazy or lax Christians. In fact, they attend worship services at a higher rate than those who remain Catholic. While 42 percent of Catholics who stay attend services weekly, 63 percent of Catholics who become Protestants go to church every week. That is a 21 percentage-point difference.

Catholics who became Protestant also claim to have a stronger faith now than when they were children or teenagers. Seventy-one percent say their faith is “very strong,” while only 35 percent and 22 percent reported that their faith was very strong when they were children and teenagers, respectively. On the other hand, only 46 percent of those who are still Catholic report their faith as “very strong” today as an adult.

Thus, both as believers and as worshipers, Catholics who become Protestants are statistically better Christians than those who stay Catholic. We are losing the best, not the worst.

Some of the common explanations of why people leave do not pan out in the data. For example, only 21 percent of those becoming Protestant mention the sex abuse scandal as a reason for leaving. Only 3 percent say they left because they became separated or divorced.

If you believed liberals, most Catholics who leave the church would be joining mainline churches, like the Episcopal church. In fact, almost two-thirds of former Catholics who join a Protestant church join an evangelical church. Catholics who become evangelicals and Catholics who join mainline churches are two very distinct groups. We need to take a closer look at why each leaves the church.

Fifty-four percent of both groups say that they just gradually drifted away from Catholicism. Both groups also had almost equal numbers (82 percent evangelicals, 80 percent mainline) saying they joined their new church because they enjoyed the worship service. But compared to those who became mainline Protestants, a higher percentage of those becoming evangelicals said they left because their spiritual needs were not being met (78 percent versus 57 percent) and that they had stopped believing in Catholic teaching (62 percent versus 20 percent). They also cited the church’s teaching on the Bible (55 percent versus 16 percent) more frequently as a reason for leaving. Forty-six percent of these new evangelicals felt the Catholic church did not view the Bible literally enough. Thus, for those leaving to become evangelicals, spiritual sustenance, worship services and the Bible were key. Only 11 percent were unhappy with the church’s teachings on poverty, war, and the death penalty Ñ the same percentage as said they were unhappy with the church’s treatment of women. Contrary to what conservatives say, ex-Catholics are not flocking to the evangelicals because they think the Catholic church is politically too liberal. They are leaving to get spiritual nourishment from worship services and the Bible.

Looking at the responses of those who join mainline churches also provides some surprising results. For example, few (20 percent) say they left because they stopped believing in Catholic teachings. However, when specific issues were mentioned in the questionnaire, more of those joining mainline churches agreed that these issues influenced their decision to leave the Catholic church. Thirty-one percent cited unhappiness with the church’s teaching on abortion and homosexuality, women, and divorce and remarriage, and 26 percent mentioned birth control as a reason for leaving. Although these numbers are higher than for Catholics who become evangelicals, they are still dwarfed by the number (57 percent) who said their spiritual needs were not met in the Catholic church.

Thus, those becoming evangelicals were more generically unhappy than specifically unhappy with church teaching, while those who became mainline Protestant tended to be more specifically unhappy than generically unhappy with church teaching. The unhappiness with the church’s teaching on poverty, war and the death penalty was equally low for both groups (11 percent for evangelicals; 10 percent for mainline).

What stands out in the data on Catholics who join mainline churches is that they tend to cite personal or familiar reasons for leaving more frequently than do those who become evangelicals. Forty-four percent of the Catholics who join mainline churches say that they married someone of the faith they joined, a number that trumps all doctrinal issues. Only 22 percent of those who join the evangelicals cite this reason.

Perhaps after marrying a mainline Christian and attending his or her church’s services, the Catholic found the mainline services more fulfilling than the Catholic service. And even if they were equally attractive, perhaps the exclusion of the Protestant spouse from Catholic Communion makes the more welcoming mainline church attractive to an ecumenical couple.

Those joining mainline communities also were more likely to cite dissatisfaction of the Catholic clergy (39 percent) than were those who became evangelical (23 percent). Those who join mainline churches are looking for a less clerically dominated church.

There are many lessons that we can learn from the Pew data, but I will focus on only three.

First, those who are leaving the church for Protestant churches are more interested in spiritual nourishment than doctrinal issues. Tinkering with the wording of the creed at Mass is not going to help. No one except the Vatican and the bishops cares whether Jesus is “one in being” with the Father or “consubstantial” with the Father. That the hierarchy thinks this is important shows how out of it they are.

While the hierarchy worries about literal translations of the Latin text, people are longing for liturgies that touch the heart and emotions. More creativity with the liturgy is needed, and that means more flexibility must be allowed. If you build it, they will come; if you do not, they will find it elsewhere. The changes that will go into effect this Advent will make matters worse, not better.

Second, thanks to Pope Pius XII, Catholic scripture scholars have had decades to produce the best thinking on scripture in the world. That Catholics are leaving to join evangelical churches because of the church teaching on the Bible is a disgrace. Too few homilists explain the scriptures to their people. Few Catholics read the Bible.

The church needs a massive Bible education program. The church needs to acknowledge that understanding the Bible is more important than memorizing the catechism. If we could get Catholics to read the Sunday scripture readings each week before they come to Mass, it would be revolutionary. If you do not read and pray the scriptures, you are not an adult Christian. Catholics who become evangelicals understand this.

Finally, the Pew data shows that two-thirds of Catholics who become Protestants do so before they reach the age of 24. The church must make a preferential option for teenagers and young adults or it will continue to bleed. Programs and liturgies that cater to their needs must take precedence over the complaints of fuddy-duddies and rubrical purists.

Current religious education programs and teen groups appear to have little effect on keeping these folks Catholic, according to the Pew data, although those who attend a Catholic high school do appear to stay at a higher rate. More research is needed to find out what works and what does not.

The Catholic church is hemorrhaging members. It needs to acknowledge this and do more to understand why. Only if we acknowledge the exodus and understand it will we be in a position to do something about it.

Amen. God very clearly from the very first said that without the shedding of blood there is NO remission of sins (Leviticus 17:11) and that the "wages" of sin is DEATH (Romans 6:23). But the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Mankind can not pay the penalty for his own sin and expect to make it to heaven because the death God speaks of is eternal separation from him. So, either we pay for our sins by eternally being separated from God in hell, or we accept His gift of grace which is eternal life in heaven with him because our sin debt has been paid in full by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

It has to be a complete and total forgiveness. Since sinful men cannot be in the presence of God, if their sin is not totally forgiven, they cannot be in His presence.

If Catholics think that there is any unpaid sin in their lives, they will end up in hell because sin cannot be in the presence of God and if the blood of Jesus isn't enough to pay for those sins, there is NOTHING else that will do it.

It's either 100% all out trust in the grace and mercy of God and heaven, or it's trusting ourselves and hell.

You can't pay for your sins in purgatory because suffering does not pay for sin, only death (the shedding of blood) can do that.

Therefore all the suffering that Catholics expect people to do in purgatory (which doesn't exist anyway) is for nothing.

It is not just Catholicism that teaches we can merit heaven by our actions, but EVERY religion in the world, if you look at them carefully, does the same. It doesn't matter really that much which religion it is - even the word religion means "to bind back". It is what man must do to merit or deserve the ultimate end - whether it's heaven, nirvana or happy hunting grounds. Each religion, of course, has different "rules", but they basically say it is up to the person to earn it.

Whereas Christianity is the opposite of all other religions because it is not what man must do to bind himself back to God but what God has done for man to bind him back to God. Only Christianity - the orthodox, genuine Christianity - teaches that man cannot bind himself back to God and that is why God reached out in grace so that we could be saved and dwell with Him for eternity. Jesus Christ is Almighty God incarnate - God became a man - so that he, through his perfect sacrifice for sin, satisfies the justice of God that demands death as payment for sin as well as the mercy and love of God who wants no person to perish but all come to repentance. Repentance is changing our mind from thinking we can earn heaven by our own righteousness and coming to understand that faith in Christ is the ONLY way to come to God. Our righteousnesses, according to God - when used to merit salvation - are nothing but filthy rags in his sight because, compared to the righteousness that is required to be in God's presence in heaven, that is ALL that they are.

When Paul said, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9), he was expressing the very clear truth that we have no reason to boast of our own merit because it does not, nor can it, ever meet the perfection of God. Yet, God loves us so much that he made a provision for us to be as perfect as Him. When we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, we are "found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith." (Philippians 3:9) We have the righteousness of Christ through faith in Him and that will be the ONLY way we will see heaven.

Anyone who preaches a gospel of salvation that must include our works, is speaking a false gospel, Paul calls it "accursed". That is a hard thing for some people to hear, for some, it pulls the rug right out from under them because they have heard all their lives that "good boys go to heaven and bad boys go to hell". The truth is we are ALL bad boys and girls and none of us deserves the grace of God - we have ALL sinned and fall short of God's glory. But praise His name, he loves us and has redeemed us from the curse of our sin. He offers this grace as a gift and all we must do is receive it, accept it, and then we can live as the children of God he has remade us through His power. Biblical Christianity is set apart from EVERY other religion that ever existed or ever will exist because it is not man-made, it is from Almighty God.

In most religious thinking, the idea is that if the good outweighs the bad, then you merit heaven. The problem is, God's standard is absolute perfection.

If all we did in our lives was sin just ONE sin, it would still be enough to keep us out of heaven.

One was enough for God to send Adam and Eve out of the garden. One was enough for sin and death to enter the world. One was enough.

So even if we led entirely perfect lives except for ONE sin, we would still need the death of Christ to pay for that sin and no amount of works done to make up for it would be able to pay for it.

James 2:8-13 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

As I've followed this thread with one saying, “Faith and no works you can do will earn salvation”, and yet the response will be, “Faith plus works!”. Can both be right? The first will quote Paul, the other James as though they spoke in contradiction of the other.

For example Paul said, “we reckon a man is declared righteous apart from from works of law.” (Romans 3:28)

Yet as James truthfully says, “..Faith if it does not have works is dead in its self”. (James 2:17)

The salient question is: What are the works spoken of by each?

In Romans 2 Paul contrasted being under law, specifically the Mosaic Law with the exercise of faith. Elsewhere Paul tells of Abraham being declared righteous by faith (faith followed by action) long before The Law existed.

In Hebrews 11 Paul listed many of those who were remembered for their faith but Paul in every instance shows what actions these performed that demonstrated their faith.

So too James. He shows works of the “kingly law that belongs to the Scripture, “You must love your neighbor as yourself”. (James 2:8)

“So even if we led entirely perfect lives except for ONE sin, we would still need the death of Christ to pay for that sin and no amount of works done to make up for it would be able to pay for it.”

And no amount of works, whether of charity and kindness or ritual and rite would make up for a lack of faith.
Since faith produced the works of that “kingly law”, faith came first.

And it had to be a life long action producing faith as Jesus said, “He that endures to the end will be saved”. (Matt. 24:13)

But I am in a saved state right now! one may say. O.K., so was Paul when he wrote he could become “disapproved” (1 Cor. 9:27) and advised Christians to ‘keep testing whether they were in the faith or they might become disapproved’. (2 Cor. 13:5,6)

Though saved they could lose that and have their names struck.

So the works that demonstrated faith were not those of ritual but those of preaching the good news, charity toward others, high moral standards,...”the kingly law”.

>>after the Great Warning<<

CB:
After the great warning? I’ve got news for you. The warning has already been given.

+ + +

A translation, an excerpt from a message to a Brazilian seer who receives heart wrenching messages. The last
paragraph, Our Lord is talking about the Great Warning.

Light of Mary.

May 20, 2012

..YOU SURPASS THE TIME OF THE TOWER OF BABEL, men compete with his Savor. Men has created to himself confusion, errors and selfishness.

MY DEVOTION FOR MINE IS QUICKLY FORGOTTEN. In this instant My Passion of Love is seen as a remote past and I LIVE IN MY PEOPLE. Painfully I see so many souls that are lost for the lack of one good word regarding this GREAT REALITY THAT IS MY PRESENCE IN EACH HUMAN BEING.

What libertinism, irreverence, outrage, vices, degeneration and denial, I constantly hear from the mouth of those who should adore Me!

This is the reason for the pleas, of the signs that you should not let go unnoticed, since they speak for themselves.

On Earth I instituted the Church so that My people would not go astray and now navigates through a sea of storms. The society corrupts My Consecrated ones, the society distract them from their obligations, infiltrating in them human power and degrading My Teachings.

~ ~ I will come and call on men’s conscience, without warning. I will call and will enter so they will see their atrocities and repent. I will place each one in front of himself and there will be no human creature that will resist My Will in My ardent desire to save them, in spite of this some will continue to be in sin, renouncing Me... ~ ~

http://www.revelacionesmarianas.com/english_version.htm

Good to see you back smvoice!

"Whereas Christianity is the opposite of all other religions because it is not what man must do to bind himself back to God but what God has done for man to bind him back to God"

AMEN! wise and wonderfull words bb.

Right there is what I consider to be the best definition of a cult.With God,our salvation is the FIRST thing settled.With all else it is the last thing settled and in reality it is never settled.Which equals bondage.

Uncertainty brings with it fear and we have not been given that spirit.

"...deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:15)
"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:36)

"Our righteousnesses, according to God - when used to merit salvation - are nothing but filthy rags in his sight because, compared to the righteousness that is required to be in God's presence in heaven, that is ALL that they are"

Indeed.To stand before the Holy Creator of all with the notion that you have something to offer Him in the way of 'good' would be akin to standing on the surface of the sun expecting to cast a shadow. "For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29)

"And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." (John 11:44)

The above could,I think,be taken as a metaphor for a 'new born' and the assembly around him/her.

The 'new creation' has been raised from death to life but is still "bound hand and foot with graveclothes" and has obvious difficulty in seeing.ie:still wrapped in a "...body of death" along with it's carnal mind and all the associated baggage that comes with it.Those around are told "Loose him, and let him go"

Unwrap the carnal mind,throw out the baggage,encourage,build up,edify one another.Help each other to "believe all things" Help each other to take hold of,to grasp,to comprehend the things freely given to us in Christ Jesus.Help each other to take hold of the dearly bought freedom.To loose and set free."Loose him and let him go"

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:13)

To paraphrase...if you believe on Jesus name you may know 1:you have eternal life
2:you may do the work of God.

If you are not doing the "work of God" then you are still bound hand and foot with graveclothes because that work will not just happen and all who do not do it place themselves in the gravest of danger!

To be in that kind of bondage as a child of God is to have your cup half full.It is the overflow that everyone else gets and the enemy of our souls wants no-one else to get even the smallest portion of what we might have.

God's grace to you all.

And it had to be a life long action producing faith as Jesus said, “He that endures to the end will be saved”. (Matt. 24:13) But I am in a saved state right now! one may say. O.K., so was Paul when he wrote he could become “disapproved” (1 Cor. 9:27) and advised Christians to ‘keep testing whether they were in the faith or they might become disapproved’. (2 Cor. 13:5,6) Though saved they could lose that and have their names struck.

What MUST be considered is:

When Paul spoke of disciplining himself so that when he preached the Gospel to others he would not be disapproved (I Cor. 9:27), he was NOT speaking of losing his salvation. I see people read into words such as this as well as the most wrongly used one which is James 2, where it speaks of a faith that is "dead". The context as well as a study of what words were used along with other Scriptures makes the meaning better understood. First of all, we know that multiple verses say that salvation is by faith WITHOUT the works of the law OR works of righteousness. So this becomes the standard. Then, when Paul says something to the effect that he is careful to bring his body into subjection so that when he preaches the gospel, he will not be disqualified/disqualified for the prize/castaway/rejected/become disapproved, we should understand first of all that he cannot be talking about losing his salvation. There is already a precedent set that works do not earn salvation which also means not sinning does not keep us saved - we are saved, period.

Many so-called "aesthetics" put themselves through self-mortification and all kinds of self-denial and rigid painful acts because of a false understanding of this verse. They took it to mean that Paul beat himself up so that he could prove he was not ruled by his sin nature and would be counted worthy of eternal life. That after all that he had endured for the cause of Christ, he might somehow mess up and be sent to hell after all. Yet if this really was what he was saying, then he would be contradicting not only his own writings but the other Scripture writers as well. We are NOT saved by the works we do and it means we are not kept saved by the things we do. It is all by grace THROUGH faith NOT of ourselves. To me, Paul is talking about how his message will be received by the lost. He could explain the gospel but if his life did not demonstrate the life-changing Spirit of God and he lived carnally, his gospel would be rejected - HE would be rejected by those he sought to lead to Christ.

We have assurance from the Lord that our names ARE written in the Lamb's Book of Life - they will NOT be blotted out - because God is who enables us to endure to the end. Those that are His, remain His, and Jesus said he would not LOSE one of us.

I think that some leaders get "spooked" by this truth and they imagine that teaching this will somehow make people think they can live anyway they choose and sin all they want because they are saved and they can't get kicked out. We see this same argument given a lot on these threads, yet Paul dealt with the same question even back then. He said:

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. (Romans 6:1-9)

There is no need to scare people into behaving with threats that they can go to hell if they mess up. No, our Heavenly Father knows what we are made of and He is the good father that loves His children enough to not only enable us to live holy lives but disciplines us when we don't. That is how we know we are His and will always be His.

Psalm 103:8-14 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

God is faithful even when we are faithless.

When one considers the lengths God went to to save us, it's abundantly clear how much He WANTS to save us. In general people have this mentality of God as a God who is just waiting for us to slip up and ZOT! too bad for you, you didn't make it.

However, in light of His great love, I have to believe that God is looking more for excuses to save us instead of looking for excuses to damn us. When I consider how incapable we are of doing anything right and really, truly understanding God, if His requirements were as strict as many make them out to be, NOBODY could make it.

When we look at ourselves and others, we see great degrees of goodness and evil, faith and lack of faith, from person to person, and yet compared to God, they must not seem all that different compared to His perfection.

Moses was a murderer and he was called a friend of God.

David was an adulterer and murderer and called a man after God's own heart.

Lot, well hardly a man I'd consider righteous, and yet the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to call Lot "righteous Lot".

I think the enemy of our souls just so delights in getting us so bound up in fear of failure in our faith that we live a life of bondage and fear instead of the joy and freedom and confidence we have in our relationship with Christ. The last thing he wants is joyful, effective, fruitful believers who love and trust their God.

Sealed with the promised Holy Spirit until the day of redemption is sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. Transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the Son He loves is transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the Son He loves.

It's a done deal and there's tremendous peace and security in knowing that God accepts us as we are and will not reject us based on OUR abilities and efforts.

In every instance Paul spoke of faith there in Hebrews 11 he showed it was a faith demonstrated by action and that is how our faith is expressed, by the kind of life we live, by our obedience to God as James made clear. An inactive faith is dead.

It's not a matter of earning or deserving but producing fruitage in obedience to Christ's commandments. (John 15: 1-10) Otherwise those branches would be removed from the vine and destroyed. They would have lost their salvation.

Exactly what Paul talking about, becoming disapproved, and the reason why we would keep testing whether we were still in the faith lest we become disapproved (by God).

The Israelites that came through the Red Sea were saved but lost that salvation in the wilderness as they were condemned to death.

“That after all that he had endured for the cause of Christ, he might somehow mess up and be sent to hell after all. Yet if this really was what he was saying, then he would be contradicting not only his own writings but the other Scripture writers as well”

What Scriptures show even a faithful person cannot become unfaithful, apostate and be condemned?

There can be intellectual assent to the existence of God but that is not necessarily trusting Him for salvation. That is a form of faith because it is believing in that which is unseen, but it does not translate into saving faith because no will has been involved, no repentance and confession. So no, THAT kind of "faith" cannot save you.

But once you are saved, you cannot lose it by failing to walk it out all the time. We all fall into sin and most sin begins in the heart anyway. Otherwise, you end up with the situation of Galatians 3 of beginning in the Spirit and expecting to be perfected in the flesh.

If you could gain salvation by works, then you could lose it by works. If salvation is gained by putting your trust in Christ for salvation, *accepting* Christ, then the only way to *lose* it would be to consciously choose to reject that gift and hand it back. Backsliding and falling into sin is not choosing to reject Christ. God knows our frame and remembers that we are dust.

Tell me, what's the difference in God's eyes between the very *small* sins of the godly and the gross sins of the tax collectors and prostitutes that Jesus hung around with?

"If salvation is gained by putting your trust in Christ for salvation, *accepting* Christ,

Which heart assent is a faith response, as even such, as is baptism, but it is God-given repentant faith that appropriates justficiation, which effects the “obedience of faith.” (Rm. 16:28)

then the only way to *lose* it would be to consciously choose to reject that gift and hand it back."

That forfeiture of what faith appropriated is what the Galatians were being warned against in Gal. 5:1-4, that of apostasy, in assenting to a different gospel in which souls are actually righteousness enough for Heaven because of his works, after they had been made free, and were in grace, and had the Holy Spirit in them, (Gal. 4:6; 5:1,4)

In Hebrews this was also warned against, of drawing back from Christ, "whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end," (Hebrews 3:6) unlike Israel's rebellion after having been given a great salvation, (Num. 14) and having “an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God,” (Heb. 3:12) with will-full impenitent sinning which was evidenced by forsaking the fellowship of the saints. (Heb. 10:25-39) To which is contrasted holding “the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end," (Hebrews 3:14) “which hath great recompence of reward.” (Heb. 10:35)

There can be intellectual assent to the existence of God but that.. does not translate into saving faith because no will has been involved, no repentance and confession. So no, THAT kind of "faith" cannot save you.

This is true, as faith, if it is salvific faith, will effect obedience toward its Object, the Lord Jesus, correspondent to the light one has, and thus in the moral sense, one who does not take care of his own family has denied the faith. (1Tim. 5:8) And thus God works to chasten disobedient souls unto repentance, for "when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." (1 Corinthians 11:32)

“what's the difference in God's eyes between the very *small* sins of the godly and the gross sins of the tax collectors and prostitutes that Jesus hung around with?

There is a difference between an overall good man who struggles with a temper versus a habitual cold-blooded murderer, and the overall difference is between what characterizes a believers life, that of overall manifesting the “obedience of faith,” which includes repentance when convicted of not doing so (as David did after his sins regarding Bathsheba), versus impenitenly practicing unrighteousness even when convicted, or as one “past feeling,” having “given themselves over unto lasciviousness...” (Eph. 19) And with some there can be such a lack of “things which accompany salvation,” (Heb. 6:9) both in profession and repentance, by which Paul was sure that the Thessalonians were of the elect, (1Thes. 1:3,4) that he said of some, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? " (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Relative to this, 1John describes the characteristics of the saved versus the lost, and based upon “these things” souls may know that they have eternal life. (1Jn. 5:13)

Yet we cannot “hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end” unless we rest in Christ for our salvation, not that we actually deserve it, for "to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the unGodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. " (Romans 4:5) This speaks as to the actual basis for justification, versus actually being worthy, for what we actually deserve is the second death, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. " (Romans 6:23)

Yet again, as faith is manifested by what it effects, thus we are “joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together," (Romans 8:17) as "not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified," (Romans 2:13) as the intent and effect of grace is "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:4)

Such does not mean souls earn salvation by the moral merit of their works, but we are counted righteous by a faith which will characteristically effect works of faith through the Spirit. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God," (Romans 8:14) and insofar as we do we “do mortify the deeds of the body.” (v.13; cf. Col. 3) overcoming evil with good. (Rm. 12:21)

If we rest in Christ for salvation, we will seek to glorify Him, not be seekng to earn eternal life for ourselves, but in reality, we should be seeking to do all to the glory of God (in a way that does) and all that will honor and glorify God, (thus ministering to God and others) in response to “so great salvation” (Heb. 32) at so great a cost. (Rm. 8:32) And which should so preoccupy us that that we should be willing to go to Hell if that would do so the most, as both Moses and Paul were, (Ex. 32:32; Rm. 9:3) having a true pastors heart.

And did i tell you how far short i come? Let us rest in Christ for salvation, and better obey Him as Lord,. The latter testifies to the former, as He is both, to the glory of God the Father.

In the Corinthian congregation there was a man engaged in some sort of immoral relationship with his stepmother.
Paul says to not mix with such persons, not to even eat a meal with them, to remove the wicked man from themselves.
(1 Cor. 5)

This fellow was later restored it seems but until then he was in danger of losing his salvation for as Paul added in chapter 6:9-11 such actions (works) would bar one from inheriting God's kingdom.

Yet for others Paul said, “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,” (Heb. 10:26)

Willfully engaging in the practice of sin would lose one’s salvation.

“If you could gain salvation by works, then you could lose it by works”

Surely you are not saying that the salvation gained by putting faith in Christ cannot be lost by a practice of sinful “works” or actions, conduct.

Separating faith from action, belief from the doing and then supposing that one or the other was enough is exactly what James described as a “dead faith”, and Paul explained how that in every case he cited of faith it was demonstrated by what the person did, their conduct, “works” as in actively doing something.

Paul lists various acts done “by faith”, Abel offered a sacrifice, Rahab hid the spies (and ceased being a harlot), actions “by faith”.
Rahab was saved by her faith or by her works?

“Tell me, what's the difference in God's eyes between the very *small* sins of the godly and the gross sins of the tax collectors and prostitutes that Jesus hung around with?”

Sin is sin, a missing of the mark of perfection as we all do so all of us may properly be termed sinners.
Yet the Scriptures do distinguish between the small and the gross, the occasional sin due to human weakness and the habitual practice of sin. Stealing a pencil is sin but not the same as flying a jet liner into building.

1st. John discusses both a sin that incurs death and those that do not, but I'm straying away the topic of works and faith a bit.

Already mentioned are some requirements for salvation: Jesus said “endurance to the end” (Matt. 24:13), knowledge of the only true God and of Christ. (John 17:3) and more.

These are not apart from faith but an expression of it.

In the Corinthian congregation there was a man engaged in some sort of immoral relationship with his stepmother. Paul says to not mix with such persons, not to even eat a meal with them, to remove the wicked man from themselves. (1 Cor. 5)

This fellow was later restored it seems but until then he was in danger of losing his salvation for as Paul added in chapter 6:9-11 such actions (works) would bar one from inheriting God's kingdom.

The guy was not in danger of losing his salvation...He was in danger of losing his life so that he would/could be saved...

1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

And no, Paul did not say such actions would bar one from inheriting God's Kingdom...

1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

What Paul said as you can see is that prior to being washed, sanctified and justified, one would be in danger of not inheriting the kingdom...

And praise God for that...

Perhaps, but what is often missed in this oft quoted text, the context of which is fruit testifying as to who is a true believer by evidential faith, is that the works being invoked in their defense are not revelatory of character, but of spiritual gifts, but charisms, being instruments to convey grace, do not constitute character, which is what determines how and out of which motive gifts will be used.

“A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. “ (Matthew 7:18-23)

Thus the Corinthians, who came behind in no gift, (1Cor. 1:7) were yet were carnal in their strife, and thinking of men above what was written. (1Cor. 4:6)

And as a result they misused the gifts were which given for the edification of the body, but which this does not impugn gifts, though some equate it with their carnality, but it evidences that the heart determines how an instrument meant to be for grace will be used.

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