Last 5 Days
Differentiating Ungodliness
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
The book of Jude was written by Judah, the brother of Jesus, addressing a pressing problem that was happening from within the church. There were a certain group of ungodly people who have crept into the church community unnoticed. Barclay says that the word unnoticed used in the original Greek language is used to describe a secret, stealthy and subtle insinuation of something evil in a society or a situation. A group of evil people have infiltrated into the church but it was not easy to differentiate them from a true believer.
What were the characteristics of these ungodly people? Judah gave two characteristics. The first character was that they perverted the grace of our God into sensuality (v4). Some felt that their eternal spiritual hope had been secured and however one did with their physical body does not affect their spiritual hope. These group of people advocated a kind of freedom which defiled the flesh and allowed people to follow their sinful sexual desires. Since God has forgiven their sin, however they sinned, they will be forgiven by the grace of God. Grace was perverted into a justification for sin.
The other character was that they denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Denial could be done in many forms. One can deny Christ in the days of persecution and abandon Him for the safety of one. One can also deny Christ for the sake of convenience. Whenever it was out of the way to be a believer, one would deny Christ for his convenience sake. One can also deny God by his life and conduct. He might profess to be a Christian, but his actions are in complete contrary to his speech. They were grumblers, malcontents, loud mouth boasters, and they showed favouritism to gain advantage. They had proclaimed their verbal faith, but their actions were far from their proclamation.
Judah warns us of these wolves that were wrapped in sheep skins and were endangering the Christian community because of their hypocrisies and their ability to mislead the others weak in their faith. Paul says the same thing in 2 Timothy 4:3 that the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.
Dear brothers and sisters, be aware and careful of people who grace their lips with religiosity but lead a practical life that is inconsistent with their words. The words they use might sound all righteous and sound, but test their actions against their words so that we can see for ourselves the genuineness of their faith. Also search ourselves daily, that we ourselves do not fall into any danger of perverting our faith, where we twist our belief for our personal gain or pleasure. May the Lord help us to life a life that is set apart for our Master's use.