Apostate – A person who renounces a religious or political belief or principle; a deserter, a runaway slave: to defect.
This word NEVER APPEARS IN Scripture but is often heard in religious-circles.
Concerning Israel, the northern ten tribes became apostate in judges 17 when they abandoned God’s Levitican service and system of government. At that time, they established their religious system of Judaism.
Concerning God today, it is impossible to be apostate, God never instituted Christianity.
Having begun in Christianity, when I began to believe God Exclusively and Explicitly according to Rightly Divided Scripture, I became an apostate to the Christian religion; I renounced their beliefs and practices and ran-away from their disregard for the truth of God.
See also Believe, Church, Faith