◄ What Does Jude 1:4 Mean? ►

Jude was a righteous man. He was the brother of James and a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he desired to write a letter of encouragement to those who love the Lord and are loved by the Father.

He wanted to rejoice in the great salvation which we have in Jesus, and rehearse the beautiful gospel of grace in the ears of his hearers. But Jude found that he had to address issues that was becoming progressively problematic in those early days of the Church and increasingly dangerous to the people of God: APOSTASY and HERESY.

The unity of the saints was being invaded by treacherous false teachers and infested with destructive and unbiblical doctrine. Certain individuals had stealthily sneaked their way into their church fellowship unnoticed. The mission of these ungodly men was to turn the grace of God and the glorious gospel of Christ into licentiousness and promiscuous wantonness, through their uncontrollable lust.

Their object in infiltrating the Church of God was to pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality, greed, fame, and fortune; the consequence of which was to disown the Lord Jesus Christ as their sovereign Saviour and eternal Lord. This underground satanic, movement that started to infiltrate the early Church has morphed into an unknown number of disparate cults and demonic teachings, which continue to flood into the churches of today, in increasing numbers.

Jude, along with the other apostles who were called and commissioned by Christ, found it necessary to combat this influx of false teaching which fell into a number of specific categories including pride, greed, and rebellion. They were men who walk according to their own lusts, and who are exposed by their flattering tongue, their desire for money, their exploitation of the poor, their watering down of the gospel, their disdain for the godly, their distortion of the truth, their contempt for the glorious gospel of Christ, and their politically correct, seeker friendly teachings. And this continues aggressively today.

We read that these apostate teachings who ply their ungodly teachings are marked out by God for condemnation. They are literally 'ordained to condemnation'  and because of their free-will choices they are written off beforehand. These men are not predestined by the Lord for destruction as some teach today, for it is not His will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. These men by nature are ungodly men who reject God's offer of salvation, wilfully distort the grace of God, and choose to deny the deity of the Lord Jesus. They are ordained to condemnation by their own free-will, for they chose not to believe in the only begotten Son of God.

We read in John that those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are not condemned but those who do not believe in the only begotten Son of God are condemned already, and this seems to be the state of these apostate teachers, about whom Jude is speaking. No wonder he and the other apostles gave such serious warning to the Church to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. 

This warning is equally pertinant today, as the influx of satanic teachings appears to have hit record numbers. Such men are false apostles, deceitful workers disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And as we are told by Peter, it is no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. We should therefore not be surprised if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. However, their end will be according to their deeds.

Let us contend earnestly for the faith and be sober and vigilant, knowing that Satan like a roaring lion is seeking whom he may devour. Rather, let us study to show ourselves approved unto God; a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

Heavenly Father, keep me looking to Jesus and grounded on the Word of truth so that I will not be influenced by the false teachings and satanic doctrines that are flooding our churches today. Give me discernment to know the truth, and wisdom to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus alone and not tossed about by any wind of doctrine. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.