A Study of the Letter of Jude
JUDE v. 3-4
Teaching Lesson 3
May 23, 2012
3Beloved, although I was very eager to write 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. 4For 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.
What is Jude dealing with here? Well we can look at this and see that he is dealing with the PROBLEM that has prevented him from writing them the encouraging letter he had WANTED or DESIRED to write to them...
Well we can see that this is the focus of his letter by looking at v.3...
3Beloved, although I was very eager to write 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.
However, v.4 brings the issue to light and that is what I want us to look at tonight... WHO is he dealing with when he speaks to the subject of 'certain people'
So tonight i want us to look at v.4 and I want us to see what Jude AND this church group was dealing with and what ultimately we ALL have to deal with when it comes to the fellowship of God...
4For 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.
"Certain people" is how Jude categorizes those who have come into the church and have caused the consternation that has led to his letter...
These certain people are not identified, so we don't know what group it was... like we do when Paul denotes that he is dealing with or contending with the Judaizers or a specific group that emphasized Jewish ritual in addition to Christ...
But here Jude only gives us the very generic descriptor 'certain people' so we don't have any specific group with which we can attach this letter of rebuke toward their actions...
But even though we don't know specifics about WHO Jude is speaking against here, Jude gives us several descriptors that let us know the makeup of this group... the characteristics of these people... the CHARACTER of these people!
Look at v.4 again with me...
4For certain people have crept in ...
He uses the Greek term 'pareisduno' par-ice-doo'-no which is defined as sneaking or entering stealthily... In this context it gives the picture of a willful deception by those coming in…
They are deceptive in their joining of the fellowship… They are coming NOT for the glory of God but for the purpose of removing or stealing something...like a THIEF! So…what does this mean?
I believe we can see that this can mean 2 things and these 2 things are related but I see a slight difference or nuance between the 2.
FIRST - This means that Jude was indicating here that this was NOT some outgrowth from within the church, but it was something that had come in from OUTSIDE the church... outside of the body of Christ!
SECOND - This was not an innocent mistake or misunderstanding BUT this was intentional for the purpose of misleading and derailing the momentum of the church...
These 'certain people' had come intentionally and stealthily into the church for the strict purpose of tearing down or dismantling the work of Christ... This was a definite intentional effort on behalf of the enemy.
Now this does not have to mean that there were actual PEOPLE who had snuck into the church... this can mean that it was false teachings had snuck in thru deception and misleading of those already within the church.
However, when we look at this passage, we cannot overlook that Jude mentions ‘certain people’ indicating that this was the actions of actual people… and that they came into the church with an agenda!
Scripture also lets us know that these ‘certain people’ not only crept in, but we can also see that this danger was also something that the fellowship was not able to discern… look at this verse again…
4For certain people have crept in unnoticed…
They snuck in under the radar and were in the church for a purpose… that was to destroy the church. A comparison I believe we can make here is to that of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden! The serpent was deceptive and crafty…
The Bible says he was more crafty than any other beast. He was able to get close to Adam and Eve, and with his lies he gained their trust and ultimately led them to deny what God had commanded! This is the same picture Jude is drawing here in this picture he is giving about these people!
Another terrifying aspect of this is the ‘unnoticed’ part of this enemy. They were able to blend into their surroundings to such a degree that their intentions and actions were not noticed by those around them…they were there for a purpose – TO DESTROY – and the others did not even see it coming…
Now… Jude is implying that just like the serpent in the garden, this was their plan all along! Destroy the fellowship was their ultimate plan and this reveals the nefarious nature of these people.
Scripture then tells us:
…who long ago were designated for this condemnation…
This means exactly what the English says… this was something written down and judged long ago… this was NOT something that these people decided on a whim to do…
God in his Sovereign nature knew this was coming and His judgment was set LONG ago… these people are marked by Scripture as ALREADY condemned.
Now I am not going to get into the study of predestination or double predestination… that is for another study, but this does speak to the sovereignty of God and His foreknowledge of the choices of people!
4For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people…
Jude continues in his description of these people… not only were they sneaky and not only had they already been judged, but we also find that God reveals that these people were actually people who were AGAINST God!
The term ‘ungodly’ used here in this passage is the Greek term “Asebes” or as-eb-ace which means people who are absolutely destitute of any sort of reverential awe toward God.
This type of person is one who not only does not respect God but actually, condemning God, and irreverent toward all things godly… such as the body of Christ!
Now although we don’t know the exact GROUP that Jude is speaking about we are beginning to get a picture of what SORT of people comprise this group…
They are smart, cunning people… deceptive and stealthy in their actions and intentions. These people are able to hide what their ‘real’ intentions are… which is fully AGAINST all things of God. We also know that these people are already condemned…
You may say, what if they repent? Well Scripture is very clear about what happens if a person confesses and repents of their sin… God cannot lie and his promises are sure and hold fast… for ALL sinners! Confession and repentance would result in salvation of those who confess and repent… this is God’s promise!
But what Jude is saying here… under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is that these people have NO intention or desire to repent for it is written on their hearts to go against all things of God. This is THEIR desire… they seek to defeat and destroy God… have you ever met someone like that?
There are people in this world that absolutely have NO intention of repenting or confessing sin… and their thoughts are of how they can ‘rid the world’ of religion or God… Their willingness to do this will stop at nothing to make that happen! This is the sort of people Jude is writing about!
Today we have these people in our society… but do we have them in our churches? I say we do, and I believe that for the most part, the people of our church are too spiritually dull to perceive the danger… and they are deceived! This is why we have to disciple ourselves continuously!
But the picture is not fully clear yet… let’s continue looking at Jude’s description of these people.
4For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God...
Now Jude uses the Greek word meta-tie-themie here which is translated as PERVERT here in the ESV, but the New American Standard uses the word TURN…
The Greek word means to transpose or switch
to transpose (two things, one of which is put in place of the other), to transfer, to change…
These people were perverting the grace of God in that the fellowship and beautiful community built within the body of Christ… THRU communion with Christ was changed and TURNED by those who were NOT of Christ!
These people were subversively making the attempt (and it seems as if they were succeeding to a point) to destroy the fellowship and witness within this particular body of Christ…
The grace of Christ that gave ‘freedom’ to those in the body was being misused and nefarious things were being planned and accomplished by these people!
4For 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 ...
Here Jude points out just HOW these people were perverting God’s wonderful grace… they were turning it INTO sensuality. They were using the grace of God’s fellowship to play upon the senses of those who were in the body… appealing to their flesh…
Timothy is told by Paul to FLEE the desires of the FLESH. Why is it that Paul instructs Timothy to flee? Was it because Timothy was not Spiritually mature enough to deal with it? NO… Timothy was a pastor at this time!
No, it was because the desires of our flesh (and this does NOT only apply to a sexual nature, although that seems to be the emphasis here) … the desires of our flesh are the strongest we will ever face… we will FALL when facing these desires!
We are to remove ourselves for survival sake. It is NOT that God cannot help us through them, but that God knows our weaknesses and guides us AROUND stumbling blocks! Some things are best AVOIDED and this is one of them!
Here these people are using the grace of this fellowship to pervert God’s work… to turn it from glorifying God and increasing the Kingdom… to having the believer begin to seek after the things of the flesh… things that appealed to their senses… the sensual things of life!
4For 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.
Here is what is so devious by these people! They were so crafty in what they were doing… that they had convinced those within the body that what they were doing was FOR God when in actuality it was AGAINST God! Jude tells us that it caused them to DENY Jesus!
But those in the church could not see it because what was being done appealed to their flesh…and they were blinded to it…
The picture we have is a church dealing with troubling times… a church that Jude wanted to write to and encourage about their mutual salvation and what that meant for them… but he could not because of a situation that he had learned about…
This situation is being carried out by who Jude calls ‘certain people’ and to that we don’t know WHO he is speaking about but what we do have is his description of them…
Stealthy/Sneaky
Blend in with others, leaving their intention unnoticed
Their heart was set AGAINT God, and their fate was sealed because of their ungodly heart
Their mission was to pervert the grace of Christ… to change the direction and focus of the church… OFF of Christ onto their own desires…
What does this mean for us? VIGILANCE! We must be vigilant when it comes to those among us, and their spiritual condition!
When we come along side another member about a matter of sin… it is NEVER to condemn them or to make ourselves look better! It is FIRST out of our love FOR them, and that we want them delivered from the hold of sin in their lives… but 2nd as Jude puts it in v.3
...I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith...
We are called to stand up for Jesus when sin is in the camp. We must contend for the faith against the ungodly of the world. Now this does not mean we judge them… that is not our job, but it is our job to share the love of Christ and to DO the work of ministry.
When we allow others and their actions or words to prevent us from being obedient, we are allowing them to pervert the grace of Christ and deny our relationship with Christ… they convince us to turn away from our relationship and obedience to Christ and turn to our own desires and fleshly wants…
We must contend for the faith in several ways…
1st we must contend for the faith by being faithful ourselves! Die daily to self… putting Christ 1st and taking the Word of God into our hearts and hiding it in our hearts so that sin does not enter in…
2nd we must contend for the faith by being active within our fellowship. Reaching and loving those fellow believers who may be struggling or on the verge of falling prey to the enemy… We must be sensitive to their need for our encouragement and comfort!
3rd we must contend for the faith by being vigilant in our walk with Christ. Our obedience to Scripture and our willingness to be held accountable and to hold others accountable is key for a church to stay in the will of God.
Finally, we must contend for the faith by being able to discern evil and then be willing to stand up to evil… we must be able to discern or pinpoint any evil within our fellowship and then be willing to stand in the gap against the evil of this world, even if that evil is coming from a familiar face… God will not be mocked and we are called to contend for our faith!
The issue for us in contending with the faith is the issue of spiritual maturity. If we are not spiritually mature and stable then we are not going to be able to contend for the faith… we will be like a ship on the windswept sea…drifting on one wave after another…
Ground ourselves in prayer and the word… AND then we will be able to stand against the enemy when we need to… How bout you tonight? Are you willing to contend for the faith? Let’s pray…
