Jude: Messing With
Everyone
Peter can actually be included in this, but I want to take a look at Jude, 25 verses that go after most of the popular doctrines of today. Verse three is a favorite among Christians for good reason, but verse four adds the chilling reason for our contending for the faith. I regret that Jude is a pretty tough read in the King James. Unfortunately, the more modern translations with copyrights generally don’t let you quote more than half of a book, so we’ll struggle through some of the older English. We’ll go through this little by little and hopefully see just how bad some of our doctrines are.
“1: Jude, the servant of Jesus
Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father,
and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
2: Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3: Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye
should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints.” Jude 1-3 KJV
As already mentioned; verse 3 is a favorite and even by itself stands strong. But we are given a really good reason for doing so:
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 4 KJV
There is a lot in just this one verse. First we know that these are men who have crept into the church, who at least have some knowledge of grace. This is not people out in the world just saying we’re weird, it is internal. Second we know that they are ungodly, a word that I have found but 24 times in the King James. You can look it up, but rest assured that the ungodly are not going to Heaven unless they are justified and made righteous as Romans 4:5 indicates:
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Romans 4:5 KJV
We see that these men are ordained (in a way its like predestined) to condemnation, which is not something that Christians get, since there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
We next see that these ungodly men have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. What this means takes a bit of study. First we can see what a bunch of translations have to say, I’ve found a place with the verse in several translations:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/versions.pl?book=Jud&chapter=1&verse=4&version=KJV#4
We see things like “sensuality”, “license for immorality”, “lewdness” and the like. But for the sake of the study we’ll stay in the King James and find the other uses of “lasciviousness” and how it works. This is going to get ugly in a hurry, fasten seat belts.
First, the definition according to
Strong’s (#766 in the Greek): “From a
compound of G1 (as a negative particle) and a presumed σελγής
selgēs (of uncertain derivation, but apparently
meaning continent); licentiousness (sometimes including other vices): - filthy,
lasciviousness, wantonness.”
Now for the other five scriptures with the word:
“21: For from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22: Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil
eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark
7:21-23 KJV
We quickly see that it is included among quite a few sins here. Paul was afraid he would have to bewail people who, among other things, committed it:
“And lest, when I come again, my God
will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned
already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and
lasciviousness which they have committed.” Second Corinthians
This alone should prove that falling away into these things is cause for a Godly man to cry, it really is a big deal. Here it is as a work of the flesh:
“19: Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness,
20: Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies,
21: Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the
which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 KJV
Most interesting that heresy is also a work of the flesh and will send you to Hell, I thought the stakes were already high, it has gotten even higher in the debate over who has right doctrine.
“17: This I say therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the
vanity of their mind,
18: Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of
God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
heart:
19: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20: But ye have not so learned
Christ;” Ephesians
Walking in these things darkens your understanding and alienates you from the life of God. Man that sounds like losing your salvation to me, and these who haven’t learned Christ in this way are still warned not to follow that path.
“For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:” First Peter 4:3-4 KJV
Okay, so we see fairly plainly through these that lasciviousness is a sin that sends one to Hell, and some people have changed God’s grace so that it is included. We have a very good explanation of what God’s grace looks like in Titus:
“11: For the grace of God that
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12: Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13: Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14: Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15: These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let
no man despise thee.” Titus 2:11-15 KJV
So we get the picture that this distortion of grace becomes the opposite of Titus: that the grace of God includes salvation despite your lasciviousness, you don’t have to say “no” to it because you can still go to Heaven.
Sort of like… you can commit occasional acts of adultery and murder like King David did, remain unrepentant for at least 9 months (for it was after the baby was born that Nathan confronted David) and not lose your salvation during that time.
Even the moderate view of Eternal Security is forced to teach this; else they would have to say that King David was never saved.
Turning Up the Heat
Let’s just
go for broke here. Heresies are a work
of the flesh according to Galatians, and those who do such things will not
inherit the
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” Second Peter 2:1 KJV
These are subtle people who bring in heresies, it can’t be easy to spot or we’d all be onto them, right? It has to sound right, it has to sound Biblical, and it has to be easy to buy into or we’d get rid of them immediately.
We have three views on Eternal Security, for the most part. The extreme view is that a moment of saving faith will get you into Heaven even if you go back to living like the world. The moderate view is a bit muddled to me. Somewhere there is a dividing line between “truly saved” and “never saved”, so that truly saved people will always remain true (or if they fall away they will come back like King David), and never saved people will ultimately fall away because their faith wasn’t real, or be told by Jesus that He never knew them. The opposing view is that you can be really saved and know it, turn to sin, and really wind up going to Hell if you don’t repent. It’s not someone else, it can be you.
Two of these three views are heresies. Two of these three views are works of the flesh. Two of these three views, particularly if you teach them, bring destruction and Hell to you.
In other words, this is not Christians teaching opposing things. This is Christians teaching one thing, ungodly people teaching two others.
So when I say “Woe to the Eternal Security teachers”, I am not messing around, not one bit. They need to repent, no matter how unpopular it may be to do so.
And we’re only four verses into Jude, not even completing verse 4 yet.
Denying our Lord
The last few words of Jude 4 are “and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” What does this mean though? Well we had just seen in Second Peter 2:1 something pretty close to it, “even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” We could take a couple possible interpretations from this. They could be denying that Jesus actually died for our sins, and we see some of that. They could also be denying Christ with words or actions, refusing to believe that denying Christ will cause Him to deny them, since “He abideth faithful” in Second Timothy 2:13. I think that the second would be more likely to be the right interpretation, because of the wording.
So I spent a couple minutes looking up some of the words based on “deny” to see what we could find for context.
“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:15-16 KJV
And of course the verse before the famous one in Second Timothy:
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him,
he also will deny us:” Second Timothy
“But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also
deny before my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew
Why would someone wind up denying Christ? Fear would be an easy answer. Someone holding a gun to their head will sadly make many think twice about confessing Jesus, because they love their lives too much. Money and power will do it when they corrupt someone, we’ll see some of that later in Jude. Pride will tend to make you think you’re good enough on your own, that you made yourself into what you are, denying Christ. So there’s quite a few possibilities here.
Jude 5-7
“5: I will therefore put you in
remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the
people out of the
6: And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7: Even as
Examples
for us to remember, much like in First Corinthians 10, examples that warn us
not to live like this or eternal fire will be awaiting us. Interesting the usage of “saved” there in
verse 5… all of
Notice “though ye once knew this” in verse 5. Apparently they have let it lapse in their minds that certain things are salvation issues even after they’re saved. Makes me wonder if these people who crept in were early Eternal Security teachers, for it would match up pretty well.
Think back for a minute to when the Gospel was first preached to you. It helped you realize that you were a sinner, that your sin was enough to send you to Hell, and that you needed Jesus. But after getting saved, if Eternal Security was preached to you, your sin is no longer enough to send you to Hell because you are truly saved, and who will convince you that you were never saved? Thus these things can drop from your mind, when you head towards one of them you aren’t reminded in yourself that if you do this you can go to Hell, because you cannot go to Hell. If you can still go to Hell then Eternal Security would have to be a lie.
Of course the people who don’t care are in the worst boat of all, but that’s a different story.
So being
reminded that certain things will cause you to not inherit the
The reader is invited to read along, you can find this pamphlet online for free at http://www.rbc.org/uploadedFiles/Bible_Study/Discovery_Series/PDFs/Safe__Secure_The_Permanence_Of_Salvation.pdf (you’ll need a PDF reader, Adobe being the most common).
They claim to not have a license to sin with their Eternal Security, but all you have to do is read page 23 with an open mind to realize that they are lying to us. Bottom of the first column they tell us that once we’re truly saved we can fall away and never come back and still make Heaven. Then they go on to show how sin is a rewards issue and nothing else. Thus for anyone who is tempted to sin they give full assurance that they can sin and still spend eternity with God.
Ironically they contradict themselves completely on page 27 saying “Those who are truly saved are those who will endure.” Thus we have two kinds of Christians, the “real” ones who endure to the end, and the “real” ones who fall away but lose rewards. Then we have the “fake” Christians who fall away from what they never had, if you read 26 into 27. Since you will of course know that you are “real” (and they have the checklist near the end so you can know), your sin is completely trumped by Eternal Security when it comes to Heaven (which would include denying Christ of course). So you come to the place where you have no fear of sin and its power, you have full right to indulge the flesh even though they’ll recommend that you not for reward’s sake.
Do not wonder when I call this doctrine an idol. But do wonder at how blunt Jude is; calling people like this not only “ungodly” but “ordained to this condemnation”.
Will you trust RBC Ministries with your soul? I wouldn’t. Instead call to remembrance that certain things will send you to Hell, and heed. I will keep the mark of the beast in your face until I’m off this planet. You cannot take it and go to Heaven; it completely trumps your salvation if you take it. The Bridegroom will be tarrying.
RBC Ministries will be hearing from me at some point so that they can know that the Bible has controversy with them. They may not listen, but they will be warned.
Filthy Dreamers
“Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” Jude 8 KJV
That’s farther than I’m even comfortable going, filthy dreamers? We do have a connection with Jeremiah in a couple places, when God is telling the people not to listen to their prophets and dreamers and others:
“Therefore hearken not ye to your
prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters,
nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the
king of Babylon: For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your
land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.” Jeremiah
I suppose these could be filthy dreams of lying with false hope, Zechariah includes it as well:
“For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.” Zechariah 10:2
Defiling the flesh is easier to understand, polluting ourselves is very easy to do. Adultery would be a very easy example, if King David did it and it was taken care of by gracious God, then we too can do it. Think carefully about what that is really saying, ye shall not surely die!
Despising dominion can happen within the flock and even among those in authority. If we assume that the men who crept in were just among the congregation, the teaching would help people to do what is right in their own eyes, we don’t need authority telling us what to do, for we are all set as God’s chosen people. We see how this worked in Judges:
“In those days there was no king in
Now when it’s authority despising authority it gets even uglier, because they get lifted up in pride, they are all that and no one will tell them what to do!
Dignities aren’t what I thought they were, it means “glory (as very apparent), in a wide application (literally or figuratively, objectively or subjectively): - dignity, glory (-ious), honour, praise, worship.” (Strong’s #1391 Greek).
How do you speak evil of glory, honor, praise, and worship? I see some of that among conservatives today, but where did that fit in back then? Dead end for me.
The Lord Rebuke Thee
“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” Jude 9-10 KJV
We tend to fear the unknown, and too often just say it’s all bad when we don’t understand it. Once you do understand it, you can make a better judgment. I think most denominations are guilty of this in some ways, because we see so much finger pointing at the other side, and not too many people care to educate themselves about where the other is coming from. It’s much easier to just make the blanket statement that they’re wrong and we’re right and so there. This is why I’m ultimately after everybody, because everyone’s got at least something wrong.
We see that Michael didn’t speak evil of even Satan when it wasn’t his place to, I suppose even Satan has authority of some sort since he’s the god of this world (Second Corinthians 4:4, interesting that he has power to blind people to not see the truth of Christ).
But we are called to expose evil and demolish arguments, but we have to understand that which we are opposing rather than just make statements without knowledge. What does that Bible say about this doctrine? What does the Bible say about that action?
Running Greedily
“11: Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily
after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12: These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you,
feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about
of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit,
twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13: Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering
stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.” Jude 11-13 KJV
Here we see touches of the prosperity doctrine, and also the love of money overriding doing and saying what’s right.
The way of Cain goes way back to Genesis, so let’s think of the way he was. He brought the wrong kind of offering and expected God to accept it. When God didn’t, he got all upset and God warned him that sin was crouching at the door, but he must master it. He refused and became a murderer, all over an offering! So if these people have followed the same pattern, they will have degenerated over time to the point where they can live ungodly lives and teach others to do so as well.
Balaam too
is worth thinking about. He chose money
over doing what God wanted. Yes, God let
him go to (try to) curse
The end of verse 11 is one of those tough King James verses. It’s actually talking about the rebellion that Korah led against Moses; you can read it in Numbers 16. The lesson learned is to not accuse a true servant of God as being not, or bashing them for the position that God has put them in.
Judging righteous judgment is incredibly important there, for surely there are many fakes. Fortunately by their fruit you shall know them, and by their doctrine you can know if they are false prophets and teachers.
Since Jude has given three examples of different sins, we know that these men who have crept in are more than just one type, which would explain why so much doctrine is anything but sound today. Today we just accept it because usually it’s what we were first taught. They’ve been here for a long time so they’re just part of the scenery. It doesn’t change their doom or the consequences of following their lead.
Blackest of darkness forever is their doom. Think how rough this is, for these people have come in the name of God, have been subtle, and deceived people into accepting their ways.
They’ve crept in and made us think that Hell can no more touch us and our sin doesn’t matter so much. They’ve crept in and made us expect to be raptured out of here, no need to endure hardship and tribulation. They’ve crept in with false prophecies that we’ve listened to and followed after. They’ve crept in and made us love money, calling it “prosperity”. They’ve crept in and helped us exalt gifts of the Spirit above loving one another. They’ve crept in and glorified man instead of God.
Woe to all of them.
If you have been deceived by one of these (and I’m sure there are more that I’ve missed), the good news is that you can repent and be separate from all this. I do warn you that it will be getting lonely to be a true Christian in the days ahead. It looks sorta bad, sorta okay right now, but it will be getting tough. Count the cost, make your choice, and choose life. Much of the multitude that names Christianity will be going to Hell, as tough as it is for me to say. Many really never had what they claim (there is some validity to the “never saved” doctrine), and many will simply get swept into more deception and wind up taking the mark, not realizing any better. You matter too much to be one of them.
To Execute Judgment
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 14-15 KJV
I’ve had to do some thinking about this coming with saints as opposed to coming with angels, as discussed in the main document n the rapture. Another interpretation that I’ve since seen and understood would be the rapture, meeting Jesus in the air, and then coming immediately back to the Earth in our new bodies.
Either way, the reason for this coming is to execute judgment on all the ungodly, which would be including our certain men who have crept in. Can you imagine this scene after the tribulation? All these teachers who have been leading people astray will suddenly realize that they were so dead wrong, and there won’t be any more chances. All those of the false religions which don’t even include Jesus are suddenly going to know that God is for real, and His way is the only way. It will be a sad day for them, one in which they will mourn, as Matthew 24:30 says.
Murmuring and
Complaining
“These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.” Jude 16 KJV
This looks like more descriptions of the ungodly since that’s what 15 was talking about. Notice the second half of the verse, these people are saying things to get others to believe and like them. Other translations talk about flattery to gain advantages and things like that.
By now one
might wonder how many different types of people are being profiled here.
Mockers
“17: But, beloved, remember ye
the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18: How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who
should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
19: These be they who separate themselves,
sensual, having not the Spirit.” Jude 17-19 KJV
This is us, this is today. When are we going to have another last time? Where else are we going to find mockers? He’s still talking within the church, we’ve always had sinners mocking and thinking we’re weird and wrong. Now the word “mockers” had a definition that surprised me a little bit, so let’s look at Greek word #1703:
“a derider,
that is, (by implication) a false teacher: - mocker, scoffer.”
So we see more of the same, we have false teachers who are mockers and scoffers. Scoffing and mocking may be blatant, but it can also be subtle, or it can simply be accepted as established fact so we don’t see it. I see a winner here.
And I get the idea that they have a counterfeit spirit to go with it (so they know they have something), which makes sense. We see that those who are in the flesh don’t have the Spirit:
“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Romans 8:8-9
Now that is scary stuff.
This is not to say that I believe every little teensy difference is the hugest deal, but there are doctrines where being wrong can mean death. If you’re wrong about being eternally secure, it means death that you don’t even notice if you fall into sin. If you’re wrong about pre-trib and refuse to see it during the tribulation it’ll mean death when you don’t endure to the end. Loving money and being deceived by riches is death. Speaking in tongues while not loving others is death. Refusing to forgive is death. It really is that bad.
We overcome by rejecting man-made doctrines and clinging to God in humble obedience. It’s far easier to keep your pet doctrines. It is far easier to go with what seems right to a man. And it’s far easier to enter in by the wide gate. Remnant. Remnant. Remnant. Be part of it.
Building Up Yourselves
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 20-21 KJV
Let’s assume that these are four separate commands, starting with building up yourselves. The idea I’m getting is to build up faith, so how does faith come? From getting the Word of God into you!
“So then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans
Praying in the Holy Ghost is up for interpretation. We could pray with the aid, or we could pray in tongues. We do see that praying in tongues builds ourselves up:
“He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.” First Corinthians 14:4 KJV
What most liberals miss is that if tongues are not meant for the church to be edified, it is to be done quietly:
“But if there be no interpreter, let
him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.”
First Corinthians
But I’ll keep going after them in the essay on the Holy Spirit.
Keeping ourselves in the love of God seems fairly simple, we have to watch our walk to make sure we’re walking in love at all times.
Looking for mercy, amen! We need mercy all too often, and we get it thankfully. Unfortunately there are times when we should be begging for mercy and instead are stuck in our sin, justifying it, or downplaying it, and it can be really ugly.
Hating the Garment
“22: And of some have
compassion, making a difference:
23: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even
the garment spotted by the flesh.
24: Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present
you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25: To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and
power, both now and ever. Amen.” Jude 22-25 KJV
I have previously written a bit about “pulling from the fire”, although that is not online at this time. We see two approaches, the compassionate and the pulling, and both methods are needed at different times. For my writing I move towards the pulling, because of how sick I am of the bad doctrine that is out there. This world is heading towards the fire, and those who name Christ desperately need to wake up, not only for the world’s sake, but for their own. You get me one-on-one and I’ll be more likely to be in the compassion area.
Verse 24 isn’t preaching unconditional security, although it is offering security. It doesn’t guarantee that God is going to do every last bit of work if you’re refusing to heed and obey.
After spending all these verses
warning them of these ungodly men, they should be on guard and watching, rather
than lax and accepting whatever they hear.
We should do the same. Even if
it’s unpopular, even if the church thinks we’re nuts for not following the
crowd, we must embrace the whole truth that is in the Bible and beware these
false teachings.