…I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith…For certain people have crept in unnoticed who…pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jude
After his introduction, Jude writes that his purpose was to urge the saints to persevere and contend for the faith once delivered. Jude, then, gives us several biblical and traditional examples in order that we, being warned about the fate of false teachers, might strongly resist them. The first of these examples is that, though Jesus saved a people out of Egypt, in the exodus, He later destroyed those who did not believe. While Jesus saved the Israelites, most of them were later destroyed (Deuteronomy 1:34–40). How is this possible if all who are truly saved will never finally fall away? The Bible uses the term “saved” to refer to other ways, not just salvation. The Hebrews were indeed saved from the burden of slavery, but not all of them feared God. Thus, not all of them experienced eternal salvation. Similarly, many non-believers today attend church and are, in a sense, “saved” from societal wickedness by being a part of the visible covenant community. Mere membership, however, does not guarantee salvation, for any professing person who lacks saving faith will also be destroyed. Non-believers may receive temporal benefits, but without faith these will only become cause for stricter judgment according to Revelation 3:14–22. Jude also uses the binding of the angels who rebelled against God as well as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of what will happen to those who abandon the knowledge of God in favor of unbelief. Aside from warning us of God’s judgment, these verses allude to the sexual immorality, including homosexuality (“unnatural desire,” v. 7), practiced by the false teachers. If we indulge in such things, even if we confess the deity of Christ and other essential doctrines, we likewise reveal ourselves as apostates deserving of judgment. After having been called by God, we ought not to glory carelessly in His grace, but walk watchfully in awesome fear of our almighty God. If anyone thinks to trifle with God, the contempt of God’s grace will not be unpunished. We should not fear the possibility of losing salvation, yet we must not think the grace of God is a license to sin, which would reveal us to be lacking true, saving faith.
Source S C Ball October 17, 2023
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