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
The ESV Study Bible notes on Jude 4 are worth my posting here:
Jude begins his account of the false teachers by describing the devious way they have slipped into the church. They began by acting like Christians and operating subversively. Designated translates Greek prographō, “to write or designate beforehand.” The false teachers did not take God by surprise, for he predicted their coming and their condemnation long before they even existed. They pervert (that is, twist and distort) God’s grace (esp. his free forgiveness of sin) into a license for sensuality (see note on 2 Pet. 2:2), and they deny the Lord, Jesus Christ, apparently using the gospel teaching about grace as an excuse for ungodly living (cf. Rom. 3:8; 6:1, 15; 2 Pet. 3:15–16).
Sadly I have too often encountered this type of gross misrepresenting of God’s grace by those claiming to be disciples of Jesus Christ. They claim to know His love, to worship and adore Him, to long for His presence and power, to seek Him in prayer and evangelism, etc. but they hold fast to a life of sin or even perhaps a few “small sins.” Isn’t it ironic that we only call sins “small” when they are our sins? These types of people claim to hold to eternal security “because the Bible teaches it,” yet their lives betray their faith and instead it shows that they hold to eternal security not because the Bible clearly teaches it as such but to hold fast to their besetting sins.
Like the false teachers in Jude 4, these people have turned the grace of God into a license for sin (see Jude 4 NIV). They want to teach that salvation is a work of grace, which it is (see Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7), but then turn around and teach that grace enables us to live in sin and still be secure. In reality the grace of God teaches us to say no to sin and deny worldly lusts (Titus 2:12). God’s grace has not been given to us so that we can indulge the flesh, for to do so only brings death (Romans 8:12-13). If we sow to the flesh, we will reap the flesh and gain corruption (Galatians 6:7-9).
So let me address those to whom I am not speaking. There are those who read this blog who disagree with me over eternal security and perseverance of the saints. I understand that. My belief is that we are saved by faith in Christ (John 1:12-13; 3:16; 5:24-25; Acts 16:30-34; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9) and that if we are in Christ we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). I believe that the Holy Spirit within us empowers us toward holiness and seeking to be like Jesus in all that we say or do (Galatians 5:16-24). I believe that without holiness no one will see the Lord (either now in our lives nor later in eternity; Hebrews 12:14) and I believe that the Bible calls us to holiness (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 12:21-13:5; Colossians 3:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7; 5:24-25; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2:11-12; 1 John 3:6-9). I believe that we must remain in Christ by faith (continued faith in Jesus; Hebrews 10:19-39; 12:1-29; 1 John 2:24-25, 28-29). So on the one hand we are to keep ourselves in Christ by faith (Jude 21) but on the other hand we have the promises that He will keep us (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:38-39; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24-25).
And while I do believe that apostasy is a very real possibility (Hebrews 6:4-20), I know that there are genuine Calvinists who love Christ and want to follow Him completely. They disagree with me concerning apostasy but they don’t teach that sin should be the norm of the Christian life. They truly want to mature in their faith, seek God with all their hearts, and they hate sin. It is not to those that I write.
For those to whom I write it are these:
- Those who would claim to be followers of Christ who want to turn His grace into a license for sin.
- Those who claim to be followers of Christ yet don’t want to abandon their sin but want to hold fast to their compromising and worldliness.
- Those who claim to be followers of Christ who want to allow for besetting sins in their lives or others without repentance and growth in grace (2 Peter 3:17-18).
- Those who would try to pervert the grace of God and allow for their lusts, their greed, their pride, their demonic thoughts and actions to continue and claim to be in Christ.
- Those who would preach Christ saves us from sin but then never ask anyone to abandon their sins to be Jesus’ followers (Matthew 1:21).
- To those who want to claim to be like Jesus but then they are watching ungodliness in movies, clicking on porn, or other sinful actions that display that they are not Jesus’ disciples (Ephesians 5:1-14; John 2:3-6).
- For those who want assurance of their salvation without repenting of their sins and running to Christ, seeking His power over their sins, and hating their sins.
- For them that seek to claim to be lovers of Christ but all the while their actions show that they love the devil instead (John 8:31-38; 1 John 2:15-17).
- For those who would want to claim to be disciples of Jesus but who never share their faith, never hate theirs sins, never pray, never read their Bibles, and in reality don’t have faith in the Son of God (James 2:14-26).
It is to these that I write. For those of you who are passionate for Christ, love His kingdom, and love His Word, I say continue on my brethren (1 Corinthians 15:58). We might disagree over eternal security and what that perhaps implies, but we agree that we need to seek Christ and His glory and that those who seek Him will never be put to shame (Romans 10:11; 1 Peter 2:1-3). We agree that God has not given us His grace for sin but to empower us to overcome sin (Romans 6:1-4). It is not to you that I write but to those who want to harbor sin.
[Link to original post and comments at Roy Ingle’s website.]
