A Study of the Letter of Jude
JUDE v. 4-8
Teaching Lesson 4
June 6, 2012
Ok let’s review where we are just to get us back up to speed with what we have studied so far in the book of Jude.
We have established that this book was written by Judas, or Jude, the brother of James, who we believe to be the half brother of Jesus. Making Jude, Jesus’ ½ brother as well. We discussed how the brothers of Jesus were NOT believers until probably AFTER the resurrection.
We have discussed how influential James became within the church, especially the church in Jerusalem, and that Jude would have had similar influence being his brother…
Here we find Jude writing a letter to a set of believers. We do NOT know where these believers are or who they are, but what we do know is that this particular set of believers is in spiritual peril as they are under a stealth attack by those who are portraying themselves to be believers but are promoting a different gospel…
Jude wanted to write a letter of encouragement to these believers about the common salvation they shared and presumably the wonders of that salvation and how to share it with others…
But Jude was prevented from writing that letter… prevented by the Holy Spirit and led to write the letter we have today in Scripture. This letter is a letter of admonition… a word of warning against falling prey to a false gospel and what has happened in the past to those who have strayed away from the TRUTH.
Tonight we are going to look at v.4-7 to see how Jude sets up his argument against those who are spreading this false gospel. Let’s look at what the Bible has to say tonight…
4I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Here we find Jude clarifying the mission of his letter to these believers. He says “…I say this because…” What had he ‘said’? He had challenged them to “…contend for [or defend] the faith…”. Why would they have to defend or contend for the faith?
Jude tells them the reason for his letter… the reason for his trepidation for their fellowship… the REASON behind his challenge for them to ‘contend for the faith…’ was simple: There are wolves among the sheep!Here in the NLT we find these people described as ‘ungodly people’… A couple of weeks ago we discussed about the people Jude was warning against. We learned that we did not know exactly WHO Jude was warning these believers against, but he only describes them as ‘ungodly’ people.
However, we learned by viewing some of the characteristics that Jude seemed to understand them quite well… He describes them as ‘some people’ or in other translations it is listed as ‘certain people’… this a very generic description!
But this is the heinous nature of these people, they blend in with the fellowship and are NOT distinct but generic in their appearance. These certain people are deceptive in that they have snuck into the fellowship with the fellowship totally unaware of who they truly are…
In the NLT it says they have ‘wormed’ their way into the churches… They have successfully intertwined themselves into the very fabric of these churches, becoming intimately involved and intertwined with the people and the teaching of the churches. These were NOT fringe type people but people who had come in and were now beginning to assert influence upon the fellowship!
But what were they teaching? Well we read that they were teaching that God’s grace was SO WONDERFUL that they did not have to worry about sin… IN THE LEAST! In fact, they could live as they wanted… morality of choice was totally up to them! They could live as they please because they were now under the all encompassing grace of Christ!
Where have we heard this before? In Rom 6 Paul wrote about this very argument. It could be that the same people who were espousing Paul’s problem were the same people here causing Jude’s concern. Paul wrote:
1Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
Paul taught that as believers who desires life in Christ must also endure the death of Christ. What does that mean for believers? It means that we must die to sin and self! To receive Christ we must be willing to surrender SELF and our SELFISH/SINFUL desires!
Many of us refuse to surrender that part of our hearts and lives… as we are afraid that God just wants to keep us from experiencing and living life… from having a good time! But what Paul says here is that JUST like Christ experienced the miraculous NEW life of the resurrection after He surrendered His life in death FOR our sin…
WE too will experience a wonderful RESURECTION of sorts in our NEW LIFE that comes in Christ, but to experience that, we MUST be obedient and we MUST [as Christ did] surrender our lives and DIE to sin and self!
This means that sin for the believer is something we DIE to… it is NOT something that we ‘dabble’ in or believe to be a non-issue! Sin is a serious and heinous thing for the believer! Sin separates us from God… for the believer sin clouds our relationship with Him and causes us to NOT hear or know what God desires for our lives.
And even though the grace of Christ is sufficient for ALL sin, we are not to use it as a license to live as WE desire but we are called to seek the life God desires for us…
So these people who had stealthily wormed their way into the very fabric of this fellowship, were teaching people that it did not matter what they did in life… it did not matter how they lived… that the grace of God… the grace of Christ covered it and it would all work out in the end!
Now while salvation is made clear in the Gospel… ALL can be saved… God’s plan of salvation can reach ANYONE and save anyone from ANY sin, from any place in life, no matter WHAT that sin may be… this is a truth we can never forget!
But once we become believers sin is something we are called on to avoid and shun… Once we become believers Christ is there for us and we have Him as an Advocate for us… He is faithful and just to forgive all sin that we confess, but for the believer, sin is something we are called to avoid!
You see because once you are IN CHRIST, it DOES matter how you live! Once you are saved… you are a to be a reflection of your Savior and it MATTERs how you live and how the world sees you!
Your witness MATTERS and so how you live your life and what you do MATTERS! We cannot EVER believe that we can live as WE please after we come to know Christ… OUR ACTIONS/LIFE are direct reflections of how much Christ has entered our heart!
If you have not changed… if you are still living like the person you were before you confessed Christ… then NOTHING has happened to you! When Christ comes in, He radically changes your heart! This does not mean you won’t sin or won’t struggle with sin, but it means that your perspective on sin has changed! You seek to AVOID sin at all costs… your life and how you live it MATTERS!
So Jude is telling these believers that they have a group of people who have become interwoven within their fellowship that are teaching them a false gospel… and he wants them to understand the consequences of listening to a false gospel so he gives them three very distinct and vivid examples of what following a false God can do for you…
First let’s look at v.5 where he says,
5…I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful.
He goes back to the story of the children of Israel… the nation God birthed thru Jacob (who He changed his name to Israel)… a nation in captivity that God delivered from Egyptian slavery… out of slavery to the promise of a new land, a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’ was the promise!
This is great imagery for what happens when one comes to know Christ. We are delivered from the land of sin and bondage… out of our bondage we are delivered into a new life, to a new destination.
Before we were held captive and headed to a destination of damnation, but after Christ saves us we are delivered to a new life… to a destination of Eternal life!
Jude is reminding these believers about those who had been delivered out of Egypt by “Jesus” he says… this is a direct reflection of the Trinity here as Jesus is portrayed as delivering the children of Israel… Jesus said I and the Father are ONE… so Jesus IS GOD!
Jesus delivered these people out of Egypt… saved them! But they rebelled against Him in the wilderness! The term here “…he destroyed those who did not remain faithful…” does not mean that they were LOST!
Their punishment was NOT to go back to Egypt and bondage, but their punishment was to NOT receive the reward promised here in this world! They were not allowed to enter the Promised Land… they were sentenced to die in the wilderness… never experiencing fully what God desired them to experience.
Their punishment was harsh… but they had been delivered from Egypt, but because of their disobedience they did not receive the promised rest here in this world.
6And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.
Now v.6 is a bit more ‘tricky’ to interpret. We find this same thing referenced in 2 Peter 2:4 where Peter writes:
4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.
The word used here for ‘angels’ is the word traditionally used for messengers from God ang-geloss. This reference here alludes to the story in Gen 6 where Moses wrote about the ‘sons of God’ who took wives and bore a race of giants… but amidst all this Moses points out that these people were rampantly wicked people.
What is meant here by Moses when he writes ‘sons of God’ is a matter of great debate, but it is believed that the term he uses here for ‘sons of God’ is referring to angels taking human wives, and thus creating a race of giant warriors.
What angels would do this, it is argued that these are the angels that fell from heaven when Lucifer was cast out… they came to earth and saw the beauty of God’s creation in woman and they took what they wanted.
Gen 6:2 The sons of God saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives.
This is a picture of selfish desire run amuck… they saw, they took what they wanted… This was the attitude and heart of humanity in Gen 6… that if it looked good, felt good and was desirable… GO FOR IT! God was very displeased with this attitude and thus the Flood!
Now as to what Moses or Peter or even Jude were speaking about when they say either ‘sons of God’ or ‘angels’ the point is NOT about what sort of angels it was… or even that it was actually angels, but the point is simply this – If God is willing to punish with eternal severity the created angels of his realm, what will He do to us when we are disobedient?
Here Jude is illustrating the ultimate end to those who willfully and continually disobey God… theirs will not be a pleasant ending.
Now we have seen 2 of Jude’s 3 illustrations, one is fairly straight forward & easy to understand but the other was somewhat difficult to understand… and there have been many who have tried!
One thing we can see running as a theme thru both illustrations here is that rebellion against God does not meet with a good end. In the 3rd illustration we find Jude using another more recognizable illustration in Sodom and Gomorrah…
7And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.
Now as we look at this illustration we know that there were survivors of Sodom as Lot and his daughters were brought out by the angels, but the cities were destroyed completely because of the wickedness within them…but we see the pattern of these illustrations continue!
Here Jude was using three separate and very distinct illustrations of those who knew God’s direction and willfully disobeyed! God’s judgment was swift and severe on all of these people.
Jude goes on in v.8 to let his readers know that this will be the same fate as these ‘certain people’ who have wormed their way into their fellowship… look what Jude says in v.8:
8In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings.
He says, “…in the same way, these people…” which is a reference to those who were teaching the strange and false doctrine to Jude’s readers. God was going to deal with them in the same way He had dealt with all the other disobedient people Jude had just illustrated.
These people make great claims… Jude says that their claim their authority “…from their dreams…” trying to put forward a spiritual superiority over others… we have heard it in our day as well with people stepping up and proclaiming that God told them in a dream to do this or to do that… OR that God told them in a dream that this would happen or that would happen…
Our world is literally FILLED with crackpots who use dreams as their authority and these people were getting away with it…claiming God was speaking to them and instructing them in their dreams! BUT Jude is vehement that these people would be judged JUST as those in Sodom were judged!
Once again Jude refers to the ‘ungodliness’ of these ‘certain people’ when he says that they claim validity for their dreams as being from God, but yet they live UNGODLY lives, in other words their life does not match the teachings or example of Jesus Christ who is THE only standard by which any believer can be compared!
But not only do they live immoral lives… this verse says they go beyond this by defying the authority placed above them… this was more than likely referring to their usurping the authority of the local pastor with this false doctrine. The local pastors were more than likely condemning them, but they defied their authority… and continued to spread this false gospel.
Finally Jude says that these people scoff at supernatural beings… which is really the true indicator of their humanistic and ungodly stance. Those of this world and those of the evil one will always scoff at the supernatural claiming it does not exist… Satan’s greatest lie is that there are so many people who do NOT believe he is real… these people were in that same mindset!
Scoffing at the supernatural was also a stance that limited and put God down… this was also another reason for their punishment that was going to be so severe…
These people were going to truly ‘get it’ from God but Jude did not wish for these disciples and followers to become part of a mob mentality… but that they should allow God to work, and concentrate themselves on living a godly life before God.
Here in these verses we find Jude laying out a picture of what it means to be ‘against’ God and disobedient to His calling on your life.
The seriousness of this offense is found in Jude’s illustrations of how those who were disobedient were punished swiftly and severely by God. This was not a matter of whom God liked or did not like, but it was a matter of obedience and submission to Him…
These people were going to face the same fate as the disobedient from his illustrations. God was NOT going to tolerate disobedience in His kingdom. However, it must be emphasized that God is STILL a God of 2nd chances and forgiveness…but he will not abide with evil teaching.
These people were teaching an evil teaching and God was going to discipline them for their heinous crime...and this was Jude’s way of warning these readers to NOT fall for this false gospel AND don’t join in with these evil people.
So many times we have people who come into a fellowship who seem good, and may even present themselves as good, but they will begin to lead others away from Christ by insisting on a gospel other than the gospel of Christ that comes from Scripture.
If you ever run into anyone who begins to teach or attempts to sway you from the Gospel that you know to be true from Scripture, my advice to you is to get away from that person.
You can attempt to share with them about the true Gospel, but if form holds true, they are lost and without hope because God has given them over to their reprobate minds…and they cannot see the truth and they will not accept anything but their own teaching…
Jude has called us to contend for the faith… we must be wise as serpents and gentle as doves in dealing with those in our fellowship who are attempting to lead others astray… Contend for the faith through the use of God’s Holy Scripture for the faith will NEVER contradict itself, and even if you DO find a seemingly conflict… God’s word will not confuse the issue, but is here to clarify what God wants!
What about YOU today? Are you a church member that could fall into this category? Are you someone who espouses another gospel… one of your own? OR will you submit to the true Gospel as revealed by God’s Word?
False teaching will always lead to false theology and false theology leads to a false salvation… Our salvation is based solely IN CHRIST and we cannot have or know salvation outside of Christ… so when we have a person come along with a message that goes against our knowledge of Christ from Scripture…we have to know it is a false teaching!
Let us be vigilant in our discernment that all here become solid, biblically based teachers… contending for the faith in the light of our salvation!
Next week we will be tackling another very difficult passage… so read Jude 4ff this week to familiarize yourself with this passage!
