Tuesday, May 5, 2020

"For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ," (Jude 4).

Jude has written but a few sentences before he changes direction.  Wanting to rejoice with his believing readers in their common salvation, the Holy Spirit directs him to, instead, urge them to vigorously defend and hold to the historic faith that some teachers are actually attacking. 

Jude characterizes these false brethren in five ways:
(1) "certain persons have crept in unnoticed"
"Crept" implies stealth.  With appearance, speech, and behavior that deceives, the false teacher slips into position of leadership.  Often this is accomplished by a "winning" personality, saying the right things, and going through the accepted motions.  Observe that Jude says that these persons have become influential so adroitly as to be "unnoticed."  In the early years of the church, fellowships were made up of spiritually immature believers, whose senses were not trained in godliness, with few copies of the Scriptures being written and circulated.  Consequently, potential teachers were not vetted, to ascertain what they believed, why they believed it, and what they would teach concerning the major doctrines of the faith.  The challenge, then, is undoing the influence a religious unbeliever has, once he has assumed a position of leadership in the local assembly.  Too many churches are compromised in such a situation because personal popularity becomes more important than doctrinal truth.

(2) "long beforehand marked out for this condemnation"
From eternity past, the One Who sees the end from the beginning exercised His holy sovereignty by setting His heart upon some who would experience no condemnation (Rom. 8:1), and passed by those who would.  Even as there are gradations in heavenly rewards, based on faithfulness in the use of divine resources, so there are degrees of punishment in the condemnation of hell.  In James 3:1, James warns, "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment."  What is true for believing teachers (the stricter standard to which the Lord holds them) holds equally for the religious unbeliever who dares to assume the title and recognition of a teacher, (Matt. 7:15).  His/her condemnation will be the greater for betraying the trust of the hearers, leading them astray, with eternal consequences. 

(3) "ungodly persons"
Jude focuses on the character of these apostates, these false teachers.  Despite their use of religious language as a cover, their special garments to impress the masses, and their respected positions of esteemed importance, their nature is unchanged and their hearts are desperately sick (Jer. 17:9). 
As a general principle, our motives and actions are tied to our nature.  An unchanged person's nature will bear fruit (Gal. 5:19-21) of impure motives and selfish actions.  The inward lack of reverence for God revealed itself in the false teachers' infiltrating the assemblies and taking advantage of the people (vv. 15, 16, 18, 19).  Whether financially, emotionally, or spiritually, this practice persists today, with wolves in sheep's clothing gaining great wealth playing on the emotions of God's people.

(4)  "who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness"
Jude touches on a widespread doctrinal error committed by such teachers whose heart has not been redeemed: talking of grace, but using it as a covering for sin.  Paul speaks to this issue in Romans 6:15, "What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?  May it never be!" 
Using grace as a covering and excuse for a sinful lifestyle often describes the lie lived by the false teacher.  "Licentiousness" involves gross immorality and unchecked sin that characterizes the apostate's irreverent flaunting of God's undeserved and unearned favor.  He treats grace as a get-out-of-jail-free card, whereas the genuine believer knows grace as a life-long motivation for holiness.

(5) "deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ"
Apostate false teachers are religious unbelievers.  Therefore, however pious their appearance, and however spiritual their words, inwardly they serve primarily themselves and, by extension, Satan. 
Thus, as the Lord Jesus stated, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and Mammon," (Matt. 6:24).  With a deceitful and wicked heart (Jer. 17:9), the religious unbeliever is unwilling and unable to submit to the Lordship and sovereignty of the Lord Jesus, since such worship is impossible apart from the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

This is a very needed word for the church, then as well as now, for the greatest blight on the purity of the  church is the religious unbeliever.  The greatest need, then, is discernment, if we are to recognize, expose, and discipline such infiltrators.  Our God-given tools for increasing discernment are prayer and the Word.  As we delve deeply into the Scriptures, grounded in the truth, we will be better equipped to recognize error.  Prayer for the salvation of such teachers should also be followed by pleading for a spiritual awakening across our land, purifying the visible church and cleansing the entire body of Christ.

























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