Jude 1:4

A WRITTEN WARNING OF APOSTASY

Jude 1:4

Text

4.

For there are certain men crept in privily, even they who were of old written of beforehand unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Queries

9.

In your own words state why Jude is warning to contend earnestly for the faith.

10.

Does the text indicate that these false teachers would soon come, or had already come?

11.

Unto where had these ungodly men crept?

12.

What does the word crept indicate as to the manner in which the men came?

13.

The written beforehand of our text is more correct than the of old in the King James. There was a definite warning just as stated in 2 Peter chapter 3. It seems that this 2 Peter passage was written beforehand. See if you can find the exact quote in 2 Peter 3. Also note the warning given in 2 Peter 2.

14.

What is the condemnation which these men shall receive? (see 2 Peter 2:4-9)

15.

The word lasciviousness is associated with all the evils of the human heart. How could the grace of God be turned into lasciviousness?

16.

There are three words that describe the man Jesus. What are they in the text?

17.

There are three words that describe these condemned men. What are the three?

Paraphrases

A. 4.

It is necessary to fight for the faith because certain men have sneaked into the fellowship of saints for the purpose of changing the new life we have through grace into a life of evil deeds. In the process they also deny that Jesus is the Christ and our reigning Lord, who is our only Master. These are the ungodly men the former writing warned about, who, in the writing, were reserved unto a judgment of God.

B.*4.

I say this because some godless teachers have wormed their way in among you saying after we become Christians we can do just as we like without fear of God's punishment. The fate of such people was written long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Summary

He explains that these ungodly men secretly came in to deceive by changing God's grace to vile action and faith in Jesus to denial of Him. These are men who were condemned to eternal punishment.

Comment

There is something about the manner of expression that indicates the apostates have slipped in with stealth and deliberate intention to deceive. This is not a brother who has made a mistake, but a crafty deceiver who intends to lead the brother to make a mistake. These are like the false brethren in the Galatian church who unawares brought in, came privily to spy out our liberty. (Galatians 2:4) By the practice of cunning craftiness and sly deception of men they lie in wait to deceive (Ephesians 4:14).

Such a clever enemy demands our utmost care and defense. His craftiness makes his camouflage hard to spot. He may have come out from among us, or he may have come in from outside. Like a mole he remains underground where he undermines the very faith of the brethren. His doctrine makes a life of loose-living seem proper: Who can say the Christian is not supposed to enjoy the -good-' things of life? If God did not intend for us to sin a little, drink a little, lust a little, then He would not have allowed these things on earth! Besides that, we all sin a little. even the best of us. God certainly will not blame us for a little sin, for did He not give us all the same kind of a body with its appetites? Surely God will not expect us to become psychotic by restricting and inhibiting the desires which He gave us and which we all have in common.
On and on the argument goes. Such cleverness and subtle cunning tempts the elect of God to be ensnared in the tangled web of sinful disobedience, until finally he is defending that which once he preached against.

Their condemnation was before of old declared. The same expression is used in Hebrews 1:1 and translated times past. When was this declaration of their condemnation made? The first and most likely answer seems to be found in 2 Peter chapter two. Yet both this passage and the one in Jude refer to Old Testament scriptures that reveal, by their examples, a condemnation. Immediate references are made to such Old Testament historical examples. The indication is that the same judgment received by the devil and his angels, by Sodom and Gomorrah, and by the Egyptians that laid spoil on the Israelites is the judgment (condemnation) that shall be given to these apostates.

It is also proper to note the judgment (condemnation) pronounced upon the ungodly men who are deceiving apostates, and not upon the saints of the church who are contending earnestly for the faith. The church certainly suffers because of the intruders, but it is the intruders who are under condemnation. Of course, one may argue that the church members who aid and agree with the intruders in their apostasy will also share with them in their judgment; but the judgment rightly belongs to the intruders. How careful God's people must be not to share the sin of apostasy and thus share the judgment of apostasy!
Just as dangerous as leading the Christian in a life of loose-living, is the teaching that robs the saint of his faith in the person of Jesus. They deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. This particular phase of the apostasy may not appear to immediately harm the brethren, but in the long run it is the most venomous of all. The seed of doubt strikes at the very roots of the church, the foundation of the gospel, There is no teaching in the Christian system that has more importance than the teaching concerning who is this man Jesus.
The fact that Jesus is our only Master makes our relationship to Him and our understanding of who He is all the more important.

Lasciviousness describes conduct that is shameless and shocking to public decency. It is descriptive of petulant wantonness, or even licentious lechery. The apostasy is of such a nature that the good, acceptable, and complete will of God (Romans 12:2) is changed into something vile and repulsive to the general public. This is the most repugnant of all apostasy in that wholesomeness is changed to corruption. It is no wonder that the warning appears so strong.

Jesus here is identified as Lord, the very fact denied by the apostates. God's ruling power is indicated by the word. The Christian's respect and submission to the rule of God makes the transformation of his life and the salvation of his soul the proper result of God's grace. Truly blessed is the man who regards God as his absolute Lord.

That we are the servant of him whom we obey is an established fact of scripture. This is the Lord relationship. He is our Lord when we submit to Him as such. Otherwise, He is the Lord but not our Lord. The confession that Jesus is our Lord is an indirect objection to owning any other party as Lord. The man who submits to the appetites of the flesh and the deceptions of the devil by such also submits to his flesh and to the devil as his lord. As such, he has submitted himself to the very ones who will destroy his soul and bring him misery in even this life.

Apostasy of life is a result of apostasy of doctrine. The life we see, but the doctrine we believe. The most apparent problem in the church is the problem of life; but the most subtle is the problem of doctrine. Recognition and submission to the right Lord is the only foundation upon which the right life can be built.
True, the right doctrine does not guarantee the right life. One can recognize the fact of Jesus-' lordship and still not submit himself to the Lord. Many people will recognize the fact of the gospel but refuse to lay hold upon salvation. This in no way invalidates the importance of right doctrine. Jesus is the only absolute Lord and the only universal Lord, and this fact must be admitted and proclaimed before the problem of the right life can be adequately dealt with. Complete recognition of Christ as Lord is made with the life as well as with the lips.
A second fact denied by the ungodly men was that the man Jesus was the Christ promised in the Old Testament. The divinity of the Christ promised in the Old Testament was admitted, but the Gnostics claimed that no man could possess any more than a spark of the Divine; not even God Himself could put on sinful flesh. Thus, they said, Jesus was not the Christ, for such was an impossibility.
Denying the divinity of Jesus was not limited to the Gnostics. Just who was this man Jesus is the prime consideration of all Christianity and the quarrel of the modernist in religious circles today, To denounce unbelief is to denounce a large segment of religious leaders as well as many professing Christians. The fact that Jesus is the Christ is the confession of faith admitted by all true Christians and is the real mark of division.

The Messiahship of Jesus demands our recognition of Him as Lord and King. He is greater than Abraham, Moses and Solomon. He was more than a man in whom God dwelt, for He was God in the flesh. Jesus said concerning His own Person: This generation is an evil generation; it seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Ninevah shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. (Luke 11:29-32).