Sermon Brief
Date Written: July 08, 2014
Date Preached: July 09, 2014
Where Preached: OPBC (Wed - PM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Deeper Look: Key Verses
Sermon Title: Verse 3-4
Sermon Text: Jude 1:3-4 [ESV]
Introduction:
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.
The ‘audience’ Jude is addressing was a gathering of believers as we learned in v1 as Jude addressed them as “…those who are called…”
His letter had a specific purpose and that purpose becomes clear in v3-4 so let’s dive in and see just what Jude is writing about to these believers:
v3: lays out the issue… contending for the faith
v4: lays out the reason behind the issue… certain people have crept in
ungodly
peverting the Gospel
denying Jesus as Lord and Savior
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.
In v3 we once again read Jude leading with the term “beloved”… this is the Greek word: A-gop-ay-toss which is a term of endearment and reveals that the target audience is one of his favorites! This is an adjective that describes Jude’s affection for this group of believers!
In other words, he is saying that they were very special and dear to his h heart and that was the reason he was having to write this letter. He admits that he had wanted to write for a different reason BUT that this situation had taken precedence because of its importance…
He has wanted to write these believers about:
I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation…
‘…our common salvation…’ just what was he speaking about here? Well on the surface it is a reference to what Paul had taught and what ALL the church held dear and that was “One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism”… we are all united under the banner of Christ as Lord and Savior!
The term Jude uses here is: koin-oss-soh-tay-ree-ah which translated is common salvation, but the meaning is FAR deeper than just what it reveals on the surface.
The root word for koin-oss is the same root word as koin-nah-niah which is translated as fellowship… in other words a people with a common bond or faith… a gathering that has Christ in common! Here Jude speaks to the a like or ‘common’ thread that we enjoy and that is the SALVATION we have in Christ.
The word he uses for salvation here is the Greek word: soh-tay-ree-ah which represents BOTH being delivered FROM something (sin and death) and being delivered TO something… the forgiveness of Chrsit and the eternal life He has promised!
So we can see that in the 1st part of v3 that Jude is most definitely speaking about the salvation we know of as ‘spiritual salvation’ in Christ! In looking at what Jude was teaching I am sure that those in the church were thinking about what Paul had written… that through ONE Lord, One faith and One baptism … ALL wrapped up in our Savior, Jesus Christ!
But WHAT is it exactly that we have in common in this salvation Jude speaks about? Well when we accept Christ…
He brings forgiveness of sin (from WHEREVER we have come in life); no matter the sin, how great or how ‘small’…we have forgiveness because of what Christ has done on the Cross…
He brings redemption of our soul, we are spiritually dead and he breathes the gift of eternal life into our soul…
He brings the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit into the lives of all who receive Him; bringing wisdom, discernment, revelation and knowledge of God
He brings a communion with God the Father through our relationship with Jesus our Savior… In Jesus we stand blameless before a holy and just Creator and we are welcomed into His family!
This is what Jude WANTED to write about but his implied message here is that he could NOT write about that subject because there was a much more pressing matter that needed his attention. His words in v3 reveal there was something that needed his attention RIGHT at that moment:
3…I found it necessary to write appealing to you…
I found it ‘necessary’ is the term he uses. He uses the Greek word ah-non-kay which means a necessity that has resulted because of certain circumstances… usually this term is used in accordance with something dire or causes great distress!
His desire here was to keep the focus of the church on the salvation of Christ…He mentions this salvation as being common or shared by all who know Jesus…, but among the fellowship there were some problems!
Those problems/issues were a threat to the growth of these believers and this church body and so he believed it NECESSARY to let others know about the problem and that it required his full attention to address.
3…appealing to you to contend for the faith…
His appeal to the church was one that called for them to be faithful to God’s calling in their lives… the term/phrase ‘contend for the faith’ is the Greek word epoh-gah-nee-dzo-my term or a phrase that represent actions on behalf of those in favor of something…
In other words, you have a faith in Christ and you must be willing to take action to share your faith and defend your faith. Peter also speaks to this when he teaches that we should be ready ‘in season and out of season’ to give witness of our faith in Christ!
…the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
The ‘faith’ Jude is pointing toward is the ‘faith’ delivered to the saints… the word ‘saints’ is the Greek word hahg-ee-oss which means set aside or holy… meaning that the ‘saints’ have been set aside by God for His plan and purpose.
These saints are set aside thru the indwelling of the HS in their lives when God forgives them and places them where He desires them to be…
This does not happen on our own, but we are called BY God to respond to His calling and the ‘saints’ Jude is referring to here in this passage are not the ‘perfect super christians’ many believe they are, but merely those whom God has called and set aside for His service.
Jude tells these believers that this faith that has brought redemption into their lives and freedom from sin’s bondage is a redemption worth contending for and defending! So he challenges these believers to become well versed in their faith and begin to ‘contend’ FOR the Gospel! Be willing to step up when others are putting it down.
Contend for the faith? Why preacher? Why should we? Why do we NEED to? Jude answers them by telling them why he calls them to contend for the faith… it is because there was REASON to be concerned…
In v4 he explains his reasoning as he begins to describe WHY they must be vigilant and contend for the faith!
4 …certain people have crept in unnoticed…
‘…certain people…’ is a very generic term but he uses this probably because there were many and he did not know them. He was writing TO a church where he was not physically present.
Jude, like Paul, had heard of teaching that was against and contrary to the Gospel that had been taught when the church was established and this certain group of people had begun to tear down what had been built on the foundation of Jesus Christ!
Jude also says that these people had ‘crept in unnoticed’ this phrase is actually the Greek word parh-eese-doo-noh which literally means to enter by stealth, to enter secretly… now what Jude is NOT saying here is that these people had physically snuck into the church building…
What Jude is pointing out is that these people had come to the fellowship with an agenda of preaching a different doctrine and Gosplel. BUT when they came to join the fellowship they did NOT present it immediately when they came. Their intentions were kept secret while they were gaining acceptance into the fellowship.
When they had gained acceptance is when they began to teach their false doctrine… but they did not teach it all at once, but slowly integrating it to gain acceptance just as they had gained acceptance over time…
They had basically wormed their way in and before it was known they were teaching things that went contrary to the Gospel of Jesus.
Jude tells the church that these people had been forseen by God when he says that they were people…
…who long ago were designated for this condemnation…
They were already condemned because they were denying Christ. John 3:16-17 speaks of God’s love and desire to save the world, but John 3:18 reveals that those who believe in Christ are NOT condemned but that those who do not believe… those who reject Christ are condemned already… their condemnation is based on their rejection of Christ!
The teachings of these people rejected Christ for who Jesus presented Himself to be… They rejected the deity of Jesus and rejected the grace give by God thru Jesus on the Cross of Calvary
Jude strikes at the heart of their problem when he calls them an…
ungodly people,
Ungodly in the Greek is actually a negative adjective to the word for worship or reverence… in other words what Jude is saying is that these people did not give the reverence to Christ He deserved! They were NOT worshipful when it came to Christ but discounted Him as unnecessary… They were without reverence for Jesus!
You see the faith we hold to and preach is a faith that exalts Jesus and gives Him proper respect as part of the Triune nature of God… the 2nd part of the Trinity, Jesus the Son…
These teachers were rejecting Jesus in this role, and because they rejected him they were rejecting God…so Jude classifies these people as UN-godly…
Jude classifies these people as without reverence for God who do NOT believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. He tells us that they were sneaky and came into the fellowship with a hidden agenda, but he does not stop there…
Jude tells us what they had begun to teach…
who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality
These teachers had begun to teach a perverted take on the grace of God. They believed in the grace of God, but their teaching took God’s grace and perverted it beyond what our faith teaches.
The term he uses is the Greek word meth-ah-tith-ah-mee which can also be tranlated as ‘to turn’… the meaning of the word is taking something and changing how it is represented… to transpose a different meaning onto a specific thing!
A similar example we can look to in our society is the word ‘gay’… the meaning of the word gay used to be happy and carefree, a happy person free from care. BUT, now the meaning of the word has been perverted by our society and by ‘teaching’ us that ‘gay’ means homosexual. They have ‘turned’ the meaning from what it USED to be into something totally different.
This is what Jude wanted these believers to guard against… to contend FOR the faith to protect themselves from this perverting of the Gospel message! To protect themselves from the “TURNING” of the Gospel into something it was NOT!
The Gospel is clearn that there is NO sin too great for the grace of God! God’s grace is able to overcome and conquer all sin! It is only thru God’s grace that we are forgiven…
It is only thru God’s grace that we are redeemed AND it is only thru God’s grace that we are ‘kept’ saved! The Gospel is clear in that we can do nothing to EARN this grace and we can do NOTHING to keep it!
These teachers taught grace, but they ‘turned’ God’s grace into something it was never intended to be… Their perversion or ‘turning’ of God’s grace was that you could live your life as YOU please, that you did not have to seek to live a holy life!
You could do what you want because sin did not matter… and sin did not matter because God’s grace covered all sin! This is a perversion on what God has provided in His grace for us!
While their statement that God’s grace covers all sin is TRUE, their approach to God’s grace is a perversion of how God has called us to live! We are called to seek to live holy lives… a life worthy of the calling we have in Christ Jesus.
The letter from Paul to the Colossian church is all about how we are called to live in Christ. We are called ‘in Christ’ to put aside the worldly things and take on the mantle of godly things!
But these teachers were not teaching purity or seeking holiness, but their only focus was on their freedom based on God’s grace!
There was another faction that was on the opposite end of the spectrum… they did not teach that you could live as you please, but they DID teach that you were shackled to the Law of Moses and any deviation or reduction of that Law eliminated you from the Family!
But God’s grace covers that as well… we are not perfect and we need His grace to survive in this world! Jude is teaching here that these believers were perverting the grace of God… mostly he was pointing toward those who believed they could live as they please without consequence!
Notice what he says here in v4 that they pervert the grace of God into sensuality Meaning that they take what God has meant for redemption and salvation and they have begun to use it for their own sensual pleasure… NOT for His glory!
This perversion of God’s grace results in them denying the deity of Jesus Christ! Jude goes on to reveal this to these believers as he says in the final part of v4:
and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
In other words their actions deny what Christ has done and thus deny the place God has put Him, as Lord of our lives, as Master of this world with ALL authority given to Him!
They believe that their pleasure and desire take precedence over the authority of Jesus to call us to a holy life! This denies His place in our lives and His role as Savior and Lord… This denial reveals that they are NOT of God and their teaching is FALSE!
So we see that Jude breaks down why he is writing to this fellowship… he had desired to write them about the faith that they and he both shared… to encourage and embolden them with praise of their faithful walk!
BUT, we find that he felt he could NOT ignore the problem brewing within the fellowship and that was one of false doctrine and teaching. So Jude tells these believers WHO to avoid and what they can do to live holy lives!
They are to avoid those who have an agenda that is contrary to the plan of Christ… they are to avoid those who deny Christ His deity and those who refuse to acknowledge Him as Lord!
To know if someone is legit in their Christian walk and if what they are saying is true or biblically sound you can test it by seeing how they treat Jesus.
If Jesus is denied any part of His deity or they say that Jesus’ sacrifice was not enough or that you have add to it OR it doesn’t cover certain things OR their teaching denies our responsibility to a holy life IN Christ… then you know it is a false teaching!
Pray/Dismiss
