INTRODUCTION
There was a man who walked into a gas station with a $20 bill. Just a regular Tuesday. He handed over the cash to the cashier, who paused, held it up to the light, scribbled on it with one of those little pens—and then called the police.
It was a counterfeit. The man was stunned—he wasn’t trying to cheat anyone. Someone had slipped him that bill in change earlier that day, and now he was unknowingly passing it along.
It looked real. It felt real. But it was worthless.
That’s the exact kind of danger Jude is warning the early church about. Not from the outside, but from the inside. The people he’s concerned about aren’t fringe radicals—they're sitting in the pews. They sound spiritual. They might even quote Scripture. But what they’re passing along is a counterfeit gospel. A message that looks like grace but denies Jesus. A teaching that feels like freedom but leads to ruin.
And Jude says to the church: don’t be passive. Don’t just accept it. Contend for the faith that was entrusted to God’s people.
From the first century until today, the church has been threatened by false teaching. The names change. The tactics shift. But the threat remains. And the call to vigilance and faithfulness is just as urgent now as it was then.
Let’s turn to this short but fiery little book together.
Prayerfully choose but
The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People
NLT Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[b] 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.
N T Wright in his commentary says,
“These are the people who cause divisions. No doubt the teachers would have said that it was people like Jude himself who caused divisions by dragging them back to an old fashion morality, based on funny old stories in the ancient scriptures they had discovered through what they took to be God’s grace. But Jesus and his early apostles had given the same warning as those ancient scriptures: scornful people will come, mocking you for your silly little roles, eager to follow whichever desires happen to be uppermost at the time. Such people, says Jude, simply do not have God’s spirit, for all they may claim to do so. They are living at the merely human level. ”
As I’m writing this, I see that there are two primary worries Jude has for the church:
1. People are twisting grace into an excuse for immorality.
2. Others are outright denying Jesus as Sovereign and Lord.
Sound familiar?
Today, you’ll hear people say, “God loves everyone exactly as they are”—which is true. But then it gets twisted: “So everyone must stay exactly as they are, doing whatever they want, because God just wants them to be happy.” This is how grace gets distorted. And this is what was happening in Jude’s time. God does love us exactly as we are… but he doesn’t leave us there.
Some in the church were saying: “God is gracious, so we can tolerate a little sexual immorality.” Jude doesn’t name specific acts—he assumes we know the Scriptures. He says these are “things written long ago,” meaning: go back and read what God has already said. God’s grace is never a license to ignore His holiness.
Others were denying Jesus' Lordship altogether—claiming He was just a good man or one spiritual guide among many. That’s not new either. You’ll hear that in plenty of interfaith events and “ecumenical” gatherings that don’t confess Jesus as Lord.
Take, for example, the “Women’s Ecumenical Dinner” invitation hosted by the Mormons. That’s not a harmless social event—it’s hosted by a group with a counterfeit gospel. Mormonism is a cult. They do not affirm the Nicene Creed. They deny that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human.
To further muddy the waters the Mormon church has recently rebranded themselves. The full, official name of the church is still: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." However, under the direction of President Russell M. Nelson (since 2018), the church has strongly encouraged the use of the full name and discouraged terms like “Mormon,” “LDS Church,” or even “Latter-day Saints Church.” They now prefer to be described as: "The Church of Jesus Christ"
Jehovah’s Witnesses fall into the same category. These are not minor disagreements. These are departures from the core of our faith.
Judaism and Islam also deny that Jesus is God.
And if Jesus is not fully God, He can’t pay the price for our sins.
If He’s not fully human, He can’t represent us as our substitute.
It’s not just theology. It’s salvation.
And the more common, subtle version of this heresy?
• “Did Jesus really walk on water?”
• “Was the feeding of the 5,000 just symbolic?”
• “Are the miracles really necessary?”
Little by little, the divine is chipped away until all that’s left is moralism and metaphor.
Old Testament examples of sin and judgement.
Now we take a look from Jude’s perspective on how God carried out his judgement in the past. Remember that Jude in the previous verses already said that they are condemned. Now he’s just reminding us of the kinds of condemnation that they received.
NLT Jude 1:5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[c] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
God does and can judge those who rebel against him.
It happened in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus.
The Israelites were rescued out of the hands of Egypt but both the Egyptians who tried to cross the Red Sea and the Israelites who didn’t trust God to bring them into the promised land were destroyed. Only Caleb and Joshua were alive to see the promised land. (more detail)
It happened to the angels who rebelled against God.
The fate of the angels who rebelled against God is the fires of hell waiting for them on the day of the 2nd Coming.
It happened in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah where the men wanted to have sex with the unexpected visitors. To use them as sexual playthings.
NLT Jude 1:8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you! ” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
Jude is alluding to the Jewish Testament of Moses (approximately the first century A.D.)
They pollute their bodies, they reject authority, and they curse the angels.
NLT Jude 1:11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Jude calls them:
• Blemishes at your love feasts.
• Clouds without rain.
• Trees without fruit.
• Twice dead.
• Wild waves.
• Wandering stars.
What’s Jude saying? These people are not harmless. Then he references three notorious examples:
What was the way of Cain? Jude who obviously has read quite widely the Jewish scriptures and their supporting documents, is likely thinking about how the rabbis spoke about Cain. They claimed that Cain’s claim was, “There is no judgement, no judge, no future life; no reward will be given to the righteous, and no judgement will be imposed on the wicked.”
What was Balaam’s error? Balaam was known for his greed. He’s hired by the king of Moab to put a curse on Israel. He wanted to make money as a false teacher. Jude is likely inferring that these false teachers may be seeking financial compensation for their teaching.
What was Korah’s rebellion? Korah rebels against Moses and leads 250 other prominent Israelites in rebellion against his leadership. In response, God caused the earth to open up and swallow Korah, his followers, and their households. Korah has become a warning sign to those who might be tempted to rebel against the Lord and his appointed leaders.
NLT Jude 1:14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” [e] 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
Michael Green says, “We have largely lost any sense of the diabolical nature of false teaching, and have become as deluded to the distinction between truth and falsehood in ideas as we have to the distinction between right and wrong in behaviour.”
A Call to Persevere
NLT Jude 1:17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Who are “scoffers”? Scoffers are those who openly mock what is holy and sacred—not with lighthearted jokes, but with contempt and hostility. Their ridicule is aimed at God, His Word, and His people. This isn’t harmless satire; it’s a deliberate rejection of truth. The apostles warned us that in the last days, scoffers would come—those who belittle the faith, insult believers, and expose their own spiritual emptiness in the process. They don’t just stray from God’s law—they defy it. And in doing so, they become one of the signs that the end is drawing near.
What we have now is Jude’s way of helping us deal with the false teachers in the church.
NLT Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
1. Build yourself up in faith (doctrine and ethics)
2. Pray in the Holy Spirit.
NLT Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
3. Keep yourselves in the love of God. (God’s Sovereignty and our responsibility)
4. Wait patiently for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
NLT Jude 1:22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
There are 3 powerful actions you can take.
Jude does not want us to take up the clubs and fight them on their own ground. He wants the readers to recognize the grave danger that they’re in and learn the habits of genuine Christian discipleship. When we understand those basic principles we are not going to be overwhelmed by the storms of these theological false teachers.
Jude wants us to make sure that we look carefully to see what condition people are in and apply the mercy of God appropriately in each case. However, they are worth rescuing.
1. Be merciful to those who doubt. Some are on the brink of moral collapse. When there’s a change presented in the theological teaching, there are many who are left doubting. They are being swayed by the false teaching. So, show mercy to them. When someone has doubts talk it out. Mercy is more likely to help than a harsh rebuke.
2. Some are already in the flames in need of rescuing. Some are at the point that they are in danger of suffering eternal damnation. The word for fire or flames here is 1 of the biblical metaphors for hell. In other words, some Christians are being tempted to such a degree that they are teetering on the brink rejecting the Holy Spirit. Trying to rescue these people is particularly hard, especially if they claim that they are enjoying the warmth of the fire, but we gotta make the effort.
3. Some are deeper into sin and rescuing them will require you to be wary. The strength of the language here in this verse suggest that Jude might actually be thinking of the false teachers themselves but even those who have abandoned themselves to this false teaching are not beyond rescue. There is a very strong warning because Jude uses the word “fear”. When we reach out we have to do so in fear and trembling. She We have to be solidly building up our faith as Jude has previously warned us in order to handle this 3rd group of people.
CONCLUSION
So how do we finish a message like this? With good news.
Imagine a firefighter arriving at a burning building. Flames shoot from the windows. Smoke fills the air. People say, “It’s too far gone.” But the firefighter doesn’t pause. He runs in. Because someone’s still inside.
That’s Jude’s heart. That’s our calling.
Some need mercy.
Some need rescue.
Some need confrontation mixed with trembling.
But all are worth the effort.
And if we’re going to engage this faithfully, we have to be grounded—built up in faith, saturated in prayer, secure in God’s love.
Because we defend the faith best when we are deeply rooted in it.
Don’t panic. Prepare.
Don’t argue. Intercede.
Don’t harden your heart. Stay tender.
And whatever you do—don’t be silent.
Sourses
N T Wright. The Early Christian Letters for Everyone: James, Peter, John, and Judah. Westminster John Knox Press: 2011, page 203.
Michael Green, The Second Epistle General of Peter and the General Epistle of Jude, Page 172.
From the Jewish First Book of Enoch (approximately the first century B.C.)
Michael Green, The 2nd Epistle General of Peter and the General Epistle of Jude, 97.
