The Limits Of Tolerance

Find the book of Jude with me. There are books in your Bible and there are letters in your Bible, but you could probably think of Jude more like a postcard.

There’s been a shift in American thought over the past several decades. America historically stood for the right to express any opinion. Voltaire famously said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Again, a shift has happened from this historic position in recent days. Where we used to believe that you should tolerate my views even when they were false but now, we believe it is wrong to call anybody’s views’ false.

Against this new view, the Bible speaks into our tolerant age by building fences, separating truth from lies. Embracing a lie as the truth can really hurt you. Tolerance has its limits. Tolerance has its limits especially inside God’s church.

Today’s Scripture

“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” (Jude 1–4).

17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 17–21).

1. Limit Tolerance

Beliefs are the building block of your faith. As seconds comprise time & currency is a critical component to a nation’s economy, so are your beliefs to your life. Embracing the wrong beliefs can create a dumpster fire of a life. You have to embrace the right beliefs to live a good life. Secondly, you have to consistently embrace the right beliefs. In fact, the Bible says when don’t consistently embrace the right beliefs, you can be compared to an immature, naïve child. And this immature, naïve child will be tossed around like a cork on the sea bobbing up and down in every direction (Ephesians 4:14).

“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” (Jude 4).

There’s a demarcation line here that I want to call your attention. You see in verse 4 an implication that really is important. There’s a group that is safe but there’s another group that is anything but safe. Think of a Texas rancher whose cattle has a brand on them but all of sudden, the cattle from the next ranch run through his fence. Now, all the cattle are mixed up. But not to the rancher, he knows his cattle because he knows his brand. Jude is looking over the church and he sees cattle of a different brand inside the fence.

1.1 They Crept In

“For certain people have crept in unnoticed” is the idea of deception. “…crept in unnoticed” pictures for me someone slipping into water like a crocodile, without even making a ripple. Godless people have infiltrated the church. Jude is seeking to unmask people who snuck inside the church. They deceived the church family by hiding their dangerous beliefs in the beginning. Jesus warned about “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15). People slipped in appearing to be one thing but turned out to be something else altogether.

Jude makes a series of 4 charges about these people in verse 4:

(1) the Scriptures condemn them;

(2) they are godless;

(3) they change God’s grace into “sensuality,” or a license to do anything they want;

and (4) they deny “our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

1.2 The Tight Connection Between Belief and Behavior

Again, Beliefs are the building block of your faith. And your behavior is the overflow of your beliefs. Look carefully at these words suspended in the middle of verse 4: “…who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality…” (Jude 4b).

You can still hear their argument today: “God forgives sin, doesn’t He? If He forgives our sin, then there’s no penalty for our sin. Let’s live it up!” Grace isn’t a license to do anything I want and God comes in later as my “cleanup guy.” Grace isn’t a license to do what harms us and hurts our Father. If see someone who believes grace is a license to do anything, you can safely assume they are not a Christian. Instead, anyone who has truly experienced grace knows how costly it was for Jesus on the cross. So many people give lip service to “Amazing Grace” but are never profoundly changed.