Problems Of Christianity Series

Problems of Christianity

Jude 1:4 “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (NIV)

Introduction: Jude had to address an issue that was becoming progressively problematic in those early church and increasingly dangerous to the people of God, namely, apostasy and heresy. Their object was to pervert the grace of God into an excuse for immorality, greed, fame and fortune which are supposed to be denied to follow Christ. The blindness of heart leads to adhere to their teachings.

Certain Individuals: Their names and their numbers are not mentioned. This is done to stir up the saints to self-examination, whether they were in the true faith. They must diligently find out these men and oppose with vigour. Take care to nip the error and heresy at the bud. However, some commentators name the following two categories which were popular heretics.

Antinomians taught that the gospel released us from the obligations of the law, and to indulgence to their sinful passions in order that grace might abound. The liability of the doctrines of grace to be thus abused (Romans 6:1) (Barnes).

The Nicolaitans maintained that marriage was a human invention, not binding on Christians. They had women in common, and practiced unnatural lusts, as is plain from Jude’s account of them. They taught that sex is one of the needs of humanity. You eat when you are hungry, you drink when you are thirsty and have sex when you want it. They promoted consensual sex, they behaved like animals (Revelation 2:6, 2 Peter 2:1-3).

Secretly Slipped: The appearance of a corrupt and insidious party in the Church. The problem is that you can’t identify them easily. They never openly always subtle like Satan entering into the Garden of Eden. They are in the Church and came to the church privily (Galatians 2:4, 2 Timothy 3:6, 2 Peter 2:1). They professed to teach the Christian religion, when in fact they denied some of its fundamental doctrines; they professed to be holy, when in fact they were living most scandalous lives. In all ages, there have been men who were willing to do this for basic purposes. (Barnes). This ungodliness is next shown to take the form of an immoral perversion of spiritual privilege - turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (Pulpit).

Jude warned the apostates who were lawless, wanton, and immoral people who had crept into the church by pretending to be ministers of God. The ungodly actions and unbridled lust of such people perverted the grace of our God and twisted the liberty in Christ into licentiousness. They challenged Christ’s right to rule the Church; denied His eternal deity; discredited His vicarious death and rejected His glorious resurrection. They stripped Christ of His honor, glory, might, majesty, dominion, and power for their own personal gain. They even rejected the fact that Jesus Christ is the ultimate authority and Lord.

Traits of the Apostates: These apostates believed it was acceptable to give in to the body's evil desires. The apostates' character, conduct, and condemnation had been predicted (Isaiah 8:19–22; 2 Thessalonians 2:6–10; 1 Timothy 4:1–2; 2 Timothy 3:1– 9; 2 Peter 2:1–9). The apostle Peter also contradicts the false teaching that grace permits immoral living, writing be Holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16). Paul urged the believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:2).

Conclusion: Find out and keep yourself away from those pseudo-preachers, prophets, and ministers.

(Ref: Bibleref.com; knowing-jesus.com; Biblehub.com; Bible study tools; Study light)