Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
The Sin and Doom of Godless Men
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 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.
In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.
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.
These men 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. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
A Call to Persevere
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Doxology
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
My Understanding: Jude, the author of this letter, described himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and as a brother of James. My understanding is that James was a brother of Jesus Christ, so that would also make Jude a brother of Jesus Christ, too, with them sharing the same physical mother, Mary. Yet, neither Jude nor James acclaimed a physical birth relationship with Jesus Christ in their letters, but rather both of them considered themselves to be servants of the Lord, the same as any other servants of the Lord. In other words, they did not use their special physical (birth) relationship with Jesus Christ as a banner that they carried, or as a badge that they wore, in order to gain respect or prominence among men, but rather they humbled themselves and became servants of the Most High God, too.
Jude addressed this letter to those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father, and kept by Jesus Christ. In other words, Jude wrote this letter to the true church; to those who had received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by faith; by God’s divine grace toward mankind. They had done so through repentance (turning from sin) and through a choice to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ. The ability to do both was a gift given to them by God and is a work of God’s divine grace in human hearts. In other words, we don’t have the ability within our own natural selves to believe in Christ, to turn from our sins, or to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ. These are all works of the Spirit of God within us as we cooperate with God in allowing him to change us and to conform us into the image of Christ. This is how we come to faith, by appropriating (taking ownership; adopting into our lives) God’s grace, and by cooperating with God in his work of grace and salvation in our lives.
Jude was eager to write to them about the salvation that they shared, yet there was an urgent matter that he had to discuss with them, because it impacted, or had the potential to impact their faith in Christ. I identify with Jude here. I would rather write about all the blessings of our salvation, and yet there are threats to our walk with the Lord that must be addressed, too. Talking about those threats to our faith is talking about the salvation that we share, as well. And, so they must be discussed, no matter how unpleasant they may be.
Then, Jude went on to describe this potential threat to their walk of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Certain ungodly men (could be women, too) had secretly slipped in among them. They are not only the ungodly, but they are godless. They change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
The Affair
I believe that many of our church and family leaders fit this description today, as I have witnessed it much, and the Lord has shown me very much how he sees this in astounding numbers today. Many ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ have watered down the message of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Many have removed repentance and obedience from salvation by telling their congregants that repentance and obedience to Christ are not required for salvation, and that a person can have the hope of salvation apart from these fundamental elements of our coming to faith in Jesus Christ. They also teach that once we pray a prayer of salvation that God is pleased with us no matter what we do.
This is just not true, and scripture bears this out. By giving out this false gospel, which is no gospel at all, they are filling the minds of naïve people with the false notion that they can have the hope of eternal life apart from true repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ. Just reading the book of I John knocks that notion right out of the water. So, not only are they giving people a false hope of eternity, which means they are condemning them to hell, but they are also giving them a free license to continue in their sin and immorality, free from guilt, feeling as though God’s grace covers it all. And, by so doing, they are, in fact, denying Jesus Christ as Sovereign and as Lord (Master) of our lives.
Then, Jude reminded us that our God is not only a God of salvation and redemption, but he is also a God of justice and judgment. Although he did rescue his people out of Egypt, he later destroyed those who did not believe. The angels who rejected the positions God had assigned for them and who chose to follow after Satan, instead, he has kept bound in darkness with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. Sodom and Gomorrah, who gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion, suffered punishment with fire. They serve as examples of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. Remember here that Jude is writing to the true church as a warning and as an encouragement for them to contend for the faith, and to not be deceived and led astray by these thieves and liars.
And, remember, too, that many ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ fall into this category of being those whom are changing the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ by their own actions and words, too. So, this serves as a warning to us, the church, as well, to make certain we are not being led astray and are falling captive to Balaam’s error. Balaam was willing to curse God’s people for profit. Cain hated his brother, and he murdered him. We can “murder” people in many ways, including by killing their spirits when we mistreat them and/or reject them, lie, manipulate, use, deceive and betray them. We can murder them by taking advantage of the trusting. And, we definitely murder them by giving them a false gospel that sends them straight to hell.
So, “Where’s the love affair?” you might ask me. These men were in love with themselves. They cared nothing about anyone but themselves. Balaam was just interested in making a profit. Cain was thinking entirely about himself when he killed his brother out of jealousy. And, these sinful acts mentioned in this passage of scripture also describe selfish acts that have no regard for the people they might hurt. These who love themselves are thus described as those who change the grace of God into a license for immorality by watering down the gospel message. Some give themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They are dreamers, i.e. they fantasize about evil things and plot evil, and they lie to themselves and they believe their own lies and think they are pretty ok. They practice self-gratification. They speak abusively against what they don’t understand, including against God’s servants and against the Lord’s followers who are being led by the Spirit of God.
They follow mere natural instincts, like unreasoning animals, and they do not have the Spirit of God. These are the very things that will destroy them. They will eat with you as though they are one with you, while they stab you in the back, betray you, and mistreat you. And, they do this without the slightest qualm. They are shepherds who only feed themselves, i.e. they are not truly feeding the flock of God nor do they care about spiritually feeding God’s sheep. They are more interested in the acceptance of man and the approval of man and in making themselves look good before men than they are in truly loving God’s people. They are fruitless. They foam up their own shame. They divide the church. They are scoffers. They speak harsh words against God’s beloved people, which is, in fact, the same as speaking those words against Christ. They are grumblers and faultfinders. They follow after their own evil desires, i.e. they are followers of themselves. They boast about themselves and their own accomplishments, and they flatter others for their own advantage. They are liars, manipulators and deceivers, and they are headed straight toward the fires of eternal judgment unless they turn from their sin and follow after God (Christ).
Our Response
First of all, we need to make sure that this does not describe us. We need to make sure we have not bought into a lie or a false gospel that gives us a free license to have a love affair with ourselves and to live selfish and ungodly lives, thinking God’s grace will cover it all. Then, we need to be aware that these people have secretly slipped into the church, and many of them are at very high levels, and they are teaching false doctrine that is giving people a free license to continue in sin and to go straight to hell. We need to know the word of God so that we can discern this error and so that we are not caught in the devil’s trap.
Then, we are to build ourselves up in our most holy faith. We do that by being in the word each day, by knowing what it says, and then by doing what it says. We do this by listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit within us, and we bow and yield to God’s will for our lives. And, we forsake conformity to the pattern of this world. We need to pray in the Holy Spirit. The only way we can do that is if we ourselves are not living in open rebellion against God, i.e. we cannot be in continuous willful sin and be able to hear the Spirit speak to us so that we know how to pray. We cannot pray in the Spirit if we are filling our minds with the garbage of this world and we are giving God only a token of our time and attention. We have to be listening, and obeying, and then we will know what God’s will is and how to pray so that we can pray in the Spirit, which means to pray according to God’s will. This is also the way in which we keep ourselves in God’s love while we wait for Christ’s return.
Lastly, I saw that these last instructions before the doxology were related to this description of the ungodly and the godless. The Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So, even those who fit into the lifestyle of having a love affair with themselves, by living in utter selfishness, can be saved. So, we are to be merciful to those who doubt God or who doubt God’s working in this world. We are to snatch others from the fire and save them. When we see someone we know or someone we love going the wrong direction, we need to tell him or her, even if he or she rejects us and hates us because of it. We have to be willing to lay down our lives to see others go free. And, yet to others we should show mercy, mixed with fear – hating the sin but showing mercy to the sinner, i.e. true mercy which does not leave the sinner in his or her sin, but confronts the sinner with the sin and is willing to work with the person toward restoration.
And, in all of this, it is Jesus Christ within us who gives us what we need to keep us from falling into sin and into error, and to present us before the Father without fault and with great joy – to Him be all the glory, honor and praise. Great things He has done!
Fit for Service / An Original Work / October 5, 2011
Holy Spirit, come within us.
Cleanse our hearts,
and from sin free us.
Make us holy vessels fit
for service to the King.
Fill us with Your love and power.
Anoint us within this hour
To be living witnesses
For Jesus Christ, our King.
Our praise to Him bring.
Father God, our heart’s desire,
Come and speak to us in power.
Revive our hearts to obey You;
Live for You always.
May we love and serve You only,
Walking with You;
Not a phony.
May we always tell the truth,
And show integrity.
Your true servants be.
Jesus, Savior, sanctify us.
Purify our hearts within us;
Be transformed into Your likeness,
Holy unto You.
May we always listen to You
Speaking Your words
Now within us.
May we heed Your counsel to us;
Follow You today.
Do all that You say.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music at:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/fit-for-service
Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3BcCHKADr4
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