The word 'backslide' literally means to 'turn back' or 'turn away' from God, our first love, or the Word of God to satan, the world, the flesh, or evil. Backsliding is a sliding back. Though backsliding is not sudden in onset, it may escalate rapidly. Backsliding is different from falling away or apostasy, which is the extreme end of backsliding. Apostasy or falling away is the act or state of rejecting the Christian Faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. But backsliding has to do with going into sin, getting lukewarm, leaving your first love, living in compromise and worldliness, and such things. It is a sliding back − a going back − from our former good state.