Epistle Of Jude
As the book of Acts is commonly known as “The acts of the apostles”, the book of Jude can also be called “The acts of the apostates”. This is because in his letter, Jude made a strong emphasis on adherence to godly principles and abstinence from ungodly practices. There was much exhortation and pleading with his readers to contend for the faith, to defend the holiness of Christianity. However, that wasn’t his original intention regarding the theme of his letter when he started on it. Jude had wanted to write about the common faith of salvation, but due to the then prevalent influences of false teaching, he felt the impelling need to warn his readers of the perilous items and urge them to maintain a bold stand for the faith and not sway over to false teachings. “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith…”(vs. 3). Quite obviously, this danger is more real than we imagine, and Jude wants his reader not to be ignorant regarding this so that none of them will be deceived.
Being one who would not have two ways about his words, Jude expressed in clear and unambiguous words the emptiness of heretical teachings, using illustrations from nature, the scriptures and even the angelic ministry. He identified the bad and warned his readers against them, encouraged the faithful and inspired them towards the perfection of God. Jude’s epistle may be short, but it certainly makes great relevance to these days’ ever-increasing acts of apostasy, false teachings and deception.
Instead of simply treating Jude’s letter as ‘one of those things against ungodliness’ (like some people would say it) we ought to seriously consider why Jude found it so necessary to speak to his readers about holding on to their faith, even fighting for it. Without much difficulty, we can guess that it must be because Jude thought that it was possible for us to lose our faith and subsequently our inheritance in Christ. We must not think that it will not happen, that Jude was being ‘worried over nothing’. No, the truth is so long as we remain unperfected in Christ (and we shall all be until He comes to redeem us completely), we are susceptible to evil attacks. We should never be mistaken into thinking that it will not happen to us, because it will, and the more we disregard God’s warnings against it, the more likely we are to be ensnared. Insurance industries can testify that in their course of business they have came across many cases where people come to deep regrets when they suffered from terminal illnesses, total disability and accidental deaths that could have been insured against had they not earlier dismissed that such misfortune would fall on them. When the calamities finally come, they wished they had taken protection earlier. But before the event they were convinced that such terrible things wouldn’t happen to them. These people are not alone. Many Christians are like them. Sometimes you and I are like them, too, aren’t we? We like to believe that calamities and violent interruptions to life will not happen to us, and likewise we tend to think also that being Christians who love our Lord so much we are unlikely to fall into grievous strongholds such lust, pride and covetousness, forgetting that it is the hearts that love the Lord dearly that Satan targets all the more. The truth is, we are not safe from these evils “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”(1Cor.10:12). If it were, then all the warnings in the Bible would have been unnecessary. As we have mentioned several times in our earlier articles, all throughout the New Testament, there have been several warnings against false teaching and the perils of falling into apostasy. Remember, Satan is not yet cast away! He is still roaming this earth to steal, kill and destroy (Jn.10:10), “seeking whom he may devour”, therefore we are exhorted to “Be sober, be vigilant” and “steadfast in the faith” (1Pet.5:8).
Apostates
In our opening introduction we highlighted that the central theme of Jude was the warning against apostasy. How do we know if one is an apostate or fallen to the practice of it? Simply stating, apostasy means departing from the faith. A person who falls into apostasy is an apostate. He professes to be believer, but as a matter of fact deliberately hardens his unbelief and opposes the truth. One of the most serious instances of apostasy found in the Bible was the occasion when Judas departed from the fellowship with Jesus and His disciples. Judas betrayed the Lord and denied Him. Some may then ask if Peter also fell into apostasy when he denied Christ three times publicly. Based on the events that followed Peter’s denial of the Christ, we do not think so. There is a difference between the acts of Peter and of Judas and it lies between falling due to a weakness of the flesh and the continued hardening of heart. Peter (perhaps out of fear) denied the Lord, but he subsequently repented and returned to join the disciples. Judas, however, did not come through such course of repentance and restoration but continued to harden his heart till guilt and shame finally overcame him and took his life. Judas gave himself to apostasy and he died whilst in the state of it. But Judas wasn’t among the unbelieving multitudes. He wasn’t one of those who opposed the Lord’s ministry. In fact, he was one of the Twelve who walked closely with the Lord Jesus. Doesn’t it scare us to think how Judas can be walking with Jesus and serving Him in such close proximity yet his motives are so unrighteous it led him to plot the death of His Master? Isn’t it frightening that such treachery can be found in the heart of someone who has walked closely with the Lord and who carried His ministry around for three and a half years? It is scary indeed, but the scarier thing is that it can happen to us, too! The human nature in us can lead us to repeat the same treachery if we are not careful. It is not so much the betraying of someone unto death that we are referring to, but more the hardening of heart that can easily creep into us. We need to constantly keep our hearts in check. If the devil could deceive Judas into serving God with a disloyal heart, he will try to see if the same trick could work again, this time on us.
Untreated evil in the hearts of men progresses over time and it takes time to manifest itself because when men do not perceive judgment to be forthcoming, they tend to discard constraint and in the process their hearts stray even further. The more someone continues in this pattern, the sooner his heart will harden and before anyone knows it the conscience would have become seared and there will no longer be the conviction of unrighteousness to guide him back to repentance. When the conscience is seared, the conviction that once haunts a man about his sins will disappear and the sins start to appear justified in his eyes. Thus, the discipline of solitude is important for us to examine our hearts honestly and reflect on our walk with the Lord. Spending time alone with the Lord will expose the filth in us and bring them to light where it can be cured by the Lord’s love and holiness. Also, keeping sincere fellowship and accountability with trusted and stable Christians will also help to keep our lives in check. It is always good to encourage one another on Scripture reading, integrity of living and morality of conduct. As we run the race, we should do it together with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. The fellowship of believers can carry you when you lack the energy at some laps and in turn you can also bear your brother or sister up when the race gets heavy for them. More importantly, when the Body of Christ is adhering strongly together, it is more difficult for the devil to snatch anyone away.
Charismatic Witchcraft
“For certain men have crept in unnoticed…ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness…”(Jude 4)
The Word of God has been likened to a double-edged sword (Heb.4:12;Rev.1:16;Ps.149:6-9) – it cuts on both sides of the blade because both sides are sharpened. This means that though one thing is true (from what we gather from the Word), it does not always mean that the opposite is not also true. For example, prosperity and blessing are definitely God’s plan for His children, however, that does not mean that suffering and affliction are not part of our Christian heritage on this earth. The God that promises us prosperity, healing and abundant life is the same God who has called us to suffer trial, tribulation and testing to enter His holy kingdom. Similarly, the gospel of grace has to be read and understood with the justice of God. If we only choose to receive the grace and love of God, we can “turn the grace of God into licentiousness”. Yes, we are saved by grace and by grace we have the power to finish the race. But don’t we also have to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”(2Cor.7:1)? Grace and human responsibility must occur together, not one to the exclusive of the other.
It is not true that apostasy happens only to those who generally live a life contrary to God’s wisdom, and that those who are obeying God will be safe from its snares. Those who are doing His work, if they serve with impure motives, can also fall into the trap, as Judas showed. This brings us to recall something known as the ‘charismatic witchcraft’. But before we go on, let us make clear that we are in no way drawing any association to the charismatic movement here. We believe in the charismatic movement and we praise God for His works in this area. What we refer to is the act of someone employing the use of his charisma as a source of manipulation and influence over others (Act 20:29-20), with the purpose to accomplish his personal ambition and not God’s will. This happens most often to those who are generously blessed with strong charisma and spiritual gifts, because the power in the anointing can produce amazing works that the worker can rely on to manipulate the people into serving his purposes. We can be anointed by the Lord, and that anointing can be used to display God’s power among the crowds, but when we try to influence people to some form of commitment or action that the Lord has not commanded, then we have used the gift of God to accomplish evil. That is what is commonly known as ‘charismatic witchcraft’.
Samuel warned the people that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft…”(1 Sam. 15:23). Paul identified witchcraft as a fruit of the flesh “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery (witchcraft)…” (Gal. 5:20). How do we understand that? We ask, ‘how can a Christian be said to practice witchcraft’? Yet, it is possible. Witchcraft in this sense is unlike the picture in the minds of most people where it is typified by a cackling old lady sitting on a broom with a black cat on it and combing the skies, or of someone divining over a crystal ball in the dark. Rather, it is something that we start to run into when we depart from walking in the spirit and obedience, because in doing so we have opened the door to evil spirits to influence us and work together with our human spirit to accomplish the purposes of the evil one. That undoubtedly is witchcraft, because the will of the evil one is being done. We do not even need to seek for it to come to us, we only need to stop walking in the Spirit and obedient and it will pounce on us. Witchcraft is indeed not something that is foreign to Christians, and the best way to avoid it is to walk in step with the Spirit of God. We must give heed to this because we don’t want to end up in the ugly image of talking like Christians while walking like heathen. It is something harmful that displeases the Lord greatly.
Old Testament Example
“But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” (v. 5). At the risk of offending some of our brothers and sisters who believe otherwise, we want to say that we cannot see how much clearer Jude could have said “Once saved is not always saved”. It is not a nice sounding message at all, but shall we reject medicine just because it is bitter? Would we rather not be healed? There will always be the tendency to take a kinder and more compassionate view on the truth, but we would be deceiving ourselves, when the Bible has been thus instructive. Very clearly, God intended to save all of Israel for He brought the whole of Israel out of Egypt, but He eventually destroyed those who did not believe or persevere with Him. Today, there are multitudes who have come into journey towards the kingdom of God like how whole of Israel was willing to journey towards the promised land. The Israelites saw the miracles and the power of God but still they hardened their hearts and were destroyed. That can happen to today’s Christian multitudes, too. If we harden our hearts, we will miss our destiny like Israel missed theirs. Canaan – promised land to the Israelites – can refer to both our destiny in Christ or our eternal dwelling place. In order to make it there, we need to persevere with God and continue in the things that have been taught to us by the Word of God. ‘Once saved always saved’ happens only when we continue to walk in the Lord with a believing and revering heart.
Very often, the course taken by the hardening of hearts is so gradual and subtle that we can barely notice it taking place. Consider King David who did most things right. Since his youth, he knew how to use the anointing from God to confront Goliath. By that deed, he saved Israel from a tyrant. Then, though the kingship rightly belonged to him and there were a few occasions which could have been opportunities to kill Saul who was on the throne, David respected the anointing of God and did not do anything offensive to Saul. Quite obviously, David was a man with an upright heart and a clean conscience was of high regard to him. However, even such a God-fearing man like King David would later harden his heart against righteousness and commit the grievous sins of adultery and murder. When the prophet Nathan came to David and exposed his sin, the fruit of his adultery, his son, was already born. This goes to show that he is living in sin for at least a period of time. Here again we have an example of hardening of hearts for the pleasure of the flesh we should watch out for. Beloved of God, let us heed the word of God from 2 Pet 2:20-22 seriously lest we dishonour ourselves “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire”
Examples of Angels
“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgement of the great day…”(vs.6)
Jude now proceeds to present a lesson from the angels who sinned. As most of us know, there are dark angels who are not bound at the present time – these being the powers of principalities and powers of darkness that Eph. 6:12 referred to. This is not the same group that Jude is referring to. Jude here is talking about a group of angels who left their domain (crossed their boundaries) and engaged in activities that incurred the wrath of God. They are now chained in darkness and it is this group of angels that Jude wants to teach a lesson from. We are inclined to think that this group of angels is the same group of angels who committed the gross immorality in Gen.6:4. From Jude’s account, it appears that these angels left their own habitation (which is the spiritual realm) and take on a human form and ventured into the earthly realm to interact with human beings in a way that was forbidden. Verse 7 goes on to say that “Sodom and Gomorrah” behaved in “a similar manner to these (angels)” in that they gave themselves over to “strange flesh”. The lesson that we want to learn from this account is that there are boundaries that God has set for us in terms of transgression. We wouldn’t know exactly what it takes to transgress beyond those boundaries, but they exist nonetheless.
People tend to pass the general remark that all sins are the same – whether you tell a lie or you commit sexual immorality, both are still sins as far as God is concerned and the wages of all sin is death. However, we think the Bible contains enough evidence to suggest that there are certain things that God tolerates more than the others. After one third of the rebellious angels fell with satan, God did not terminate their existence at once but allowed them to continue their evil activities among mankind. That is the reason why we are still in spiritual warfare today (we are wrestling against them in the spiritual realm). However when they went overboard to the extent of committing sexual immorality with humans, God wasn’t prepared to tolerate that abuse, so he judged them more severely and put them into chains of darkness (2 Pet.2:4). In that event, God also had to judge and destroy humanity who participated in that grievous iniquity(the flood). Very clearly, what was done went beyond the boundaries that God had set. According to Jude, the deeds of these angels and people were “… set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire”. We ought to be careful not to abuse our boundaries with God and not to go beyond what He tolerates. Another point to note is also that the degree of God’s tolerance varies across the body of believers, for to whom He has given much (in terms of revelation and experience), more will be required of them (in terms of holiness and righteous living). This is to say that perhaps God will not tolerate in a more mature Christian a sin that can be tolerated in a young Christian follower, for we are warn in James 3:1 “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment”. This shouldn’t be too hard to accept because God has already shown us that in the days of old what can be tolerated in the outer courts of His temple will not be tolerated in the Holy Place and what can be tolerated in the holy place will perish in the holy of holies. The priest who makes offering on behalf of the people, if he carries sin, that can be tolerated in the outer courts and inner courts of the Temple, but the moment he steps into the Holy Place, death will come upon him as God’s judgment. Now that there has been a season of increased knowledge and enlightenment in the Body of Christ, it also means that we are in a position where we reap judgment more quickly and indeed more severely if we live thoughtlessly.
Jude is reminding the people to remember what happened to the people before us who walked before the same God we serve today, so that we will not suffer the same destiny they had. Their immorality and sinful living have cost them their very lives and eternal judgement. They have reaped for themselves “the vengeance of eternal fire” (v.7). Nothing they can do will alter their destiny now, and indeed, if we do not cherish the period of grace that we have now and purify our lives, nothing that we do after we depart from this earth will change our eternal destiny. Of course we know that sin still exists in our days, but the sinfulness of this generation has shocked us. In a research that we did a couple of years ago (and by our experience results don’t get any better, they only get worse), Christian couples were found to be engaging in anal intercourse with their partners because they want to avoid the sin of fornication! Now, we think that such perversity of thoughts can only come about by the deception of the devil, and people fall into this kind of deception because they were enticed by their own sinful desires (James 1:14-15). But of course God will not be mocked. Will these people really continue to engage in anal intercourse and therefore be blameless before God because technically speaking they have not committed the sin of fornication since there was no sexual intercourse by the genitals? And the people were indeed more concerned over losing their salvation than over the perversity they’ve gotten themselves into. Now, while we believe we cannot lose our salvation through works, we remind ourselves nevertheless that the Bible did warn us about how apostasy can cost the Lord Jesus to say that He doesn’t recognise us. “Depart from Me, you evil doers, I do not know you.” These “evil doers” are those who have continued to live in sin until they no longer remain in Christ because their lives and ways are so filled with ungodly influences. A person does not fall into this category overnight. Such hardened state of heart (apostasy) comes about when a person deserts the fear of God, liberates himself to live wantonly and remains in it. The danger is real and its consequences are heavy. May we remind ourselves that Satan is still on this earth to still, kill and to destroy. The fact that we think we are infallible is itself pride of the flesh and deception. Jesus Himself teach us to pray daily “deliver us from the evil one” (Matt.6:13). But no one can sincerely pray that prayer when they deliberately lay themselves in temptation’s path. Therefore, holy living is necessary, and we cannot assign everything to God’s grace alone.
The next group of spiritual outlaws Jude preached against are those who reject authority and speak evil of leaders. In his presentation, Jude said that even Michael the archangel when he disputed with Satan over the body of Moses, did not confront the devil with railing abuses, but he left it to God to do that. Michael was on the same rank as Satan (in fact because he remained faithful to God while Satan fell, he should be superior over him, so to speak), but still he did not cross his boundaries to address the devil in a way that would offend the authority of God. In contrast to such circumspection, Jude pointed out that there were Christians who condemn and speak offensively of what they are not enlightened on. Jude said that these people have “gone in the way of Cain”, they have “run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit” and “perished in the rebellion of Korah.” (v.11). The “rebellion of Korah” is straightforward – it is the sin of rebellion that instigated the people to disregard Moses’ authority (Num. 16:1-35). The way of Cain was illustrated in Gen. 4:3-8. From this passage, people tend to view God as unfair because He accepted Abel’s offering of meat but not Cain’s offering of fruit. Let us discuss this in greater examination of the scriptures. Verse 3 of Gen. 4 says that “in the process of time…” Cain brought an offering to the Lord. We think it might be logical to make a presumption that during that “process of time”, there was a revelation given to them that blood was necessary for sacrifice. Otherwise, how was Cain expected to know that God requires meat and will not accept fruit offering? Apparently, the instructions must have been laid but Cain did not follow them. This is likely the situation because we know the Lord does not accuse falsely. The Lord rebukes Cain, “If you do well will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Gen. 4:7). Quite obviously, Cain knew what he ought to do but he dishonoured God’s commands. According to God, when one chooses to disobey, sin immediately comes to him waiting for the chance to destroy, but he is able and he should “rule over it”. If Cain had repented and offered blood sacrifice, God would have forgiven him, but instead he chose to transgress further by murdering his brother. Maybe these days we don’t kill people so rashly, but then again we try to cover up our mistakes or minimise the gravity of our mistakes by slandering the ‘Abel’ in our context, hoping to ‘kill’ (get rid) him with malice. Many of the harshest criticisms arise from people who slam other in the hope of justifying their own wrongdoing. Beware of the critical spirit – it is the sign of an unhealthy soul. One who is at peace with God and is full of His love will be a peacemaker and not an emotional wrecker. When rebuked (whether by inward conviction or by outward admonishment from others), do not reject correction and turn to pride for strength, for this is the sure way to destruction. If such attitude can cause Cain to become a murderer of his kin, it can lead any of us to kill others in our lives. For this reason, Jesus warns “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement…whoever says, ‘you fool!’ shall be in danger of hell’s fire.”(Matt.5:21-22)
By saying that the people have “run greedily in the error of Balaam” (Jude 11), Jude is warning us of false teachers who will by their ungodly counsel lead us to sin against the holiness of God. Balaam was hired to curse Israel, and three times that he proceeded with curses in his heart, when he opened his mouth to speak, blessings go forth instead. In case anyone misunderstands, Balaam did not suddenly repent. Instead, it was God’s sovereignty that protected Israel from his evil curses. But Israel did not escape the ill fate intended by the curses, for they soon fell into harlotry and idolatry (Num. 25:1) for though Balaam failed to curse Israel, he subsequently led her into immorality. “Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor” (Num. 31:16). Under the influence of the anointing of God, Balaam spoke blessings and truth unto Israel, but when left to his own heart, his counsel to them was full of ungodliness and filth. From his experience, Balaam must have known that God intends to bless Israel instead of cursing her, yet knowingly he withheld that and counselled Israel into sin. The sin of Balaam is covetousness because ultimately he wanted the money from Balak, who employed him to lead Israel to defile the holiness of God among them “…following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness”(2Pet.2:15). Thus, when Jude warned about Christians among us who run in the error of Balaam he is warning us of those who would withhold the truth of God to gain acceptance or favour with their listeners or higher authorities. Therefore, judge not a person by his anointing. One who prophesises accurately is not necessarily a sincere Christian. It is the way he leads his life and how he observes the ways of the Lord that will eventually testify of his faith in God.
Five similes of Apostates
To Jude, people who oppose the holiness of God and continue to mingle with the believers are like sore thumbs in their holy gatherings (Jude 12). The “love feasts” which refer to their communion, ought to be taken in reverence yet there were those who went to enjoy the communion without consecrating themselves. To Jude, they are like “clouds without water”. They look like they bring blessing or refreshment, but in reality are empty and they leave you dry. He also refers to them as “twice dead” which could mean eternal condemnation, meaning that after physical death they will still be condemned at judgment. Simply, their hearts are so hardened they are like trees “pulled up by the roots”, no source for return and growth, nothing to impart. They are also like the “raging waves of the sea”, ungovernable. Trying to seek counsel from them is like trying to obtain navigational guide from “wandering stars”. They dart about without a stable course and provide no guidance at all.
Last but not least, Jude reminds us of Enoch’s prophecy concerning the judgment day of God “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him”(vs.14-15).
Our Role in the midst of Apostasy
So, we don’t want to be apostates, but how shall we ensure that? Jude teaches us to build ourselves up in our most holy faith, “praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 20). In our words, we think Jude is telling us to pray, keep, and look out. “Praying in the Holy Spirit” could mean offering prayers that are guided by the Holy Spirit and not recited mechanically. We need to pray prayers guided by the Spirit, to reach unison of heart and mind with God. Another way of interpreting the verse could also means to keep a prayerful spirit “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” as Paul exhorted in Eph.6:18 and also again in 1Thess.5:17 for us to “pray without ceasing”. “Keep yourself in the love of God” sounds relatively simple, but it is not. Eph. 5:32 talks about marriage life being a mystery because a marriage illustrates the relationship between a Christian and the Lord. How many couples, if you observe, grow consistently in their love for each other? Remaining by each other is not the same as increasing in love towards each other. Like how couples can remain married while loving their spouses less intensely than they used to, so Christians also can spend several years in the Lord without improving their love and affection for Him. So how do you keep being in love with God? Establish and maintain a daily quiet devotion with Him, as it is the most important thing if you want to continue having an intimate relationship with God. Look forward to His coming by keeping the light of the blessed hope burning in our hearts through thanksgiving and a grateful heart. Mediate on His goodness and acknowledge Him in all things. Do not leave it for nature to take its course, because if that were to happen, we will only drift away from Him and not draw nearer.
Some spiritual discernment is needed when dealing with the victims of apostasy. We have to make a distinction between those propagating the false teaching and those who have been duped by them. In the cases of the leaders and propagandists, the instruction is given in 2 John 10-11 “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds”. But to those who have been deceived, we should “have compassion, making a distinction” try to guide them out of doubts and disputations into a firm conviction of divine truth. We are to save them by strong, resolute warning and instruction “pulling them out of the fire”.
Finally, Jude reminds us that while we ought to do our best to watch out for ourselves, ultimately it is only God who can keep us from stumbling. We need to maintain our connection with Jesus. We cannot have so much confidence in our fortitude that we negate the power of God in us. We need God’s grace to keep us right. We should do what we need to do but recognize that it is not by power nor by might but by His Spirit. We cannot keep ourselves from the evil one no matter how we try! There is a big difference between trying to live a victorious Christian life by our own strength and by His Grace (through the enabling of the Holy Spirit in us). The former means strive and fear, while the latter requires us to yield and trust in faith. As long as we honour God as our shepherd, Lord and Father, He will keep and watch over us as His sheep, servants, and sons. And if the Lord Himself keeps us, we can be sure no one can snatch us away from Him “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Saviour who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” The way to a victorious life in Christ is through diligence and conscious abiding in Him.
Being one who would not have two ways about his words, Jude expressed in clear and unambiguous words the emptiness of heretical teachings, using illustrations from nature, the scriptures and even the angelic ministry. He identified the bad and warned his readers against them, encouraged the faithful and inspired them towards the perfection of God. Jude’s epistle may be short, but it certainly makes great relevance to these days’ ever-increasing acts of apostasy, false teachings and deception.
Instead of simply treating Jude’s letter as ‘one of those things against ungodliness’ (like some people would say it) we ought to seriously consider why Jude found it so necessary to speak to his readers about holding on to their faith, even fighting for it. Without much difficulty, we can guess that it must be because Jude thought that it was possible for us to lose our faith and subsequently our inheritance in Christ. We must not think that it will not happen, that Jude was being ‘worried over nothing’. No, the truth is so long as we remain unperfected in Christ (and we shall all be until He comes to redeem us completely), we are susceptible to evil attacks. We should never be mistaken into thinking that it will not happen to us, because it will, and the more we disregard God’s warnings against it, the more likely we are to be ensnared. Insurance industries can testify that in their course of business they have came across many cases where people come to deep regrets when they suffered from terminal illnesses, total disability and accidental deaths that could have been insured against had they not earlier dismissed that such misfortune would fall on them. When the calamities finally come, they wished they had taken protection earlier. But before the event they were convinced that such terrible things wouldn’t happen to them. These people are not alone. Many Christians are like them. Sometimes you and I are like them, too, aren’t we? We like to believe that calamities and violent interruptions to life will not happen to us, and likewise we tend to think also that being Christians who love our Lord so much we are unlikely to fall into grievous strongholds such lust, pride and covetousness, forgetting that it is the hearts that love the Lord dearly that Satan targets all the more. The truth is, we are not safe from these evils “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”(1Cor.10:12). If it were, then all the warnings in the Bible would have been unnecessary. As we have mentioned several times in our earlier articles, all throughout the New Testament, there have been several warnings against false teaching and the perils of falling into apostasy. Remember, Satan is not yet cast away! He is still roaming this earth to steal, kill and destroy (Jn.10:10), “seeking whom he may devour”, therefore we are exhorted to “Be sober, be vigilant” and “steadfast in the faith” (1Pet.5:8).
Apostates
In our opening introduction we highlighted that the central theme of Jude was the warning against apostasy. How do we know if one is an apostate or fallen to the practice of it? Simply stating, apostasy means departing from the faith. A person who falls into apostasy is an apostate. He professes to be believer, but as a matter of fact deliberately hardens his unbelief and opposes the truth. One of the most serious instances of apostasy found in the Bible was the occasion when Judas departed from the fellowship with Jesus and His disciples. Judas betrayed the Lord and denied Him. Some may then ask if Peter also fell into apostasy when he denied Christ three times publicly. Based on the events that followed Peter’s denial of the Christ, we do not think so. There is a difference between the acts of Peter and of Judas and it lies between falling due to a weakness of the flesh and the continued hardening of heart. Peter (perhaps out of fear) denied the Lord, but he subsequently repented and returned to join the disciples. Judas, however, did not come through such course of repentance and restoration but continued to harden his heart till guilt and shame finally overcame him and took his life. Judas gave himself to apostasy and he died whilst in the state of it. But Judas wasn’t among the unbelieving multitudes. He wasn’t one of those who opposed the Lord’s ministry. In fact, he was one of the Twelve who walked closely with the Lord Jesus. Doesn’t it scare us to think how Judas can be walking with Jesus and serving Him in such close proximity yet his motives are so unrighteous it led him to plot the death of His Master? Isn’t it frightening that such treachery can be found in the heart of someone who has walked closely with the Lord and who carried His ministry around for three and a half years? It is scary indeed, but the scarier thing is that it can happen to us, too! The human nature in us can lead us to repeat the same treachery if we are not careful. It is not so much the betraying of someone unto death that we are referring to, but more the hardening of heart that can easily creep into us. We need to constantly keep our hearts in check. If the devil could deceive Judas into serving God with a disloyal heart, he will try to see if the same trick could work again, this time on us.
Untreated evil in the hearts of men progresses over time and it takes time to manifest itself because when men do not perceive judgment to be forthcoming, they tend to discard constraint and in the process their hearts stray even further. The more someone continues in this pattern, the sooner his heart will harden and before anyone knows it the conscience would have become seared and there will no longer be the conviction of unrighteousness to guide him back to repentance. When the conscience is seared, the conviction that once haunts a man about his sins will disappear and the sins start to appear justified in his eyes. Thus, the discipline of solitude is important for us to examine our hearts honestly and reflect on our walk with the Lord. Spending time alone with the Lord will expose the filth in us and bring them to light where it can be cured by the Lord’s love and holiness. Also, keeping sincere fellowship and accountability with trusted and stable Christians will also help to keep our lives in check. It is always good to encourage one another on Scripture reading, integrity of living and morality of conduct. As we run the race, we should do it together with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. The fellowship of believers can carry you when you lack the energy at some laps and in turn you can also bear your brother or sister up when the race gets heavy for them. More importantly, when the Body of Christ is adhering strongly together, it is more difficult for the devil to snatch anyone away.
Charismatic Witchcraft
“For certain men have crept in unnoticed…ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness…”(Jude 4)
The Word of God has been likened to a double-edged sword (Heb.4:12;Rev.1:16;Ps.149:6-9) – it cuts on both sides of the blade because both sides are sharpened. This means that though one thing is true (from what we gather from the Word), it does not always mean that the opposite is not also true. For example, prosperity and blessing are definitely God’s plan for His children, however, that does not mean that suffering and affliction are not part of our Christian heritage on this earth. The God that promises us prosperity, healing and abundant life is the same God who has called us to suffer trial, tribulation and testing to enter His holy kingdom. Similarly, the gospel of grace has to be read and understood with the justice of God. If we only choose to receive the grace and love of God, we can “turn the grace of God into licentiousness”. Yes, we are saved by grace and by grace we have the power to finish the race. But don’t we also have to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”(2Cor.7:1)? Grace and human responsibility must occur together, not one to the exclusive of the other.
It is not true that apostasy happens only to those who generally live a life contrary to God’s wisdom, and that those who are obeying God will be safe from its snares. Those who are doing His work, if they serve with impure motives, can also fall into the trap, as Judas showed. This brings us to recall something known as the ‘charismatic witchcraft’. But before we go on, let us make clear that we are in no way drawing any association to the charismatic movement here. We believe in the charismatic movement and we praise God for His works in this area. What we refer to is the act of someone employing the use of his charisma as a source of manipulation and influence over others (Act 20:29-20), with the purpose to accomplish his personal ambition and not God’s will. This happens most often to those who are generously blessed with strong charisma and spiritual gifts, because the power in the anointing can produce amazing works that the worker can rely on to manipulate the people into serving his purposes. We can be anointed by the Lord, and that anointing can be used to display God’s power among the crowds, but when we try to influence people to some form of commitment or action that the Lord has not commanded, then we have used the gift of God to accomplish evil. That is what is commonly known as ‘charismatic witchcraft’.
Samuel warned the people that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft…”(1 Sam. 15:23). Paul identified witchcraft as a fruit of the flesh “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery (witchcraft)…” (Gal. 5:20). How do we understand that? We ask, ‘how can a Christian be said to practice witchcraft’? Yet, it is possible. Witchcraft in this sense is unlike the picture in the minds of most people where it is typified by a cackling old lady sitting on a broom with a black cat on it and combing the skies, or of someone divining over a crystal ball in the dark. Rather, it is something that we start to run into when we depart from walking in the spirit and obedience, because in doing so we have opened the door to evil spirits to influence us and work together with our human spirit to accomplish the purposes of the evil one. That undoubtedly is witchcraft, because the will of the evil one is being done. We do not even need to seek for it to come to us, we only need to stop walking in the Spirit and obedient and it will pounce on us. Witchcraft is indeed not something that is foreign to Christians, and the best way to avoid it is to walk in step with the Spirit of God. We must give heed to this because we don’t want to end up in the ugly image of talking like Christians while walking like heathen. It is something harmful that displeases the Lord greatly.
Old Testament Example
“But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” (v. 5). At the risk of offending some of our brothers and sisters who believe otherwise, we want to say that we cannot see how much clearer Jude could have said “Once saved is not always saved”. It is not a nice sounding message at all, but shall we reject medicine just because it is bitter? Would we rather not be healed? There will always be the tendency to take a kinder and more compassionate view on the truth, but we would be deceiving ourselves, when the Bible has been thus instructive. Very clearly, God intended to save all of Israel for He brought the whole of Israel out of Egypt, but He eventually destroyed those who did not believe or persevere with Him. Today, there are multitudes who have come into journey towards the kingdom of God like how whole of Israel was willing to journey towards the promised land. The Israelites saw the miracles and the power of God but still they hardened their hearts and were destroyed. That can happen to today’s Christian multitudes, too. If we harden our hearts, we will miss our destiny like Israel missed theirs. Canaan – promised land to the Israelites – can refer to both our destiny in Christ or our eternal dwelling place. In order to make it there, we need to persevere with God and continue in the things that have been taught to us by the Word of God. ‘Once saved always saved’ happens only when we continue to walk in the Lord with a believing and revering heart.
Very often, the course taken by the hardening of hearts is so gradual and subtle that we can barely notice it taking place. Consider King David who did most things right. Since his youth, he knew how to use the anointing from God to confront Goliath. By that deed, he saved Israel from a tyrant. Then, though the kingship rightly belonged to him and there were a few occasions which could have been opportunities to kill Saul who was on the throne, David respected the anointing of God and did not do anything offensive to Saul. Quite obviously, David was a man with an upright heart and a clean conscience was of high regard to him. However, even such a God-fearing man like King David would later harden his heart against righteousness and commit the grievous sins of adultery and murder. When the prophet Nathan came to David and exposed his sin, the fruit of his adultery, his son, was already born. This goes to show that he is living in sin for at least a period of time. Here again we have an example of hardening of hearts for the pleasure of the flesh we should watch out for. Beloved of God, let us heed the word of God from 2 Pet 2:20-22 seriously lest we dishonour ourselves “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire”
Examples of Angels
“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgement of the great day…”(vs.6)
Jude now proceeds to present a lesson from the angels who sinned. As most of us know, there are dark angels who are not bound at the present time – these being the powers of principalities and powers of darkness that Eph. 6:12 referred to. This is not the same group that Jude is referring to. Jude here is talking about a group of angels who left their domain (crossed their boundaries) and engaged in activities that incurred the wrath of God. They are now chained in darkness and it is this group of angels that Jude wants to teach a lesson from. We are inclined to think that this group of angels is the same group of angels who committed the gross immorality in Gen.6:4. From Jude’s account, it appears that these angels left their own habitation (which is the spiritual realm) and take on a human form and ventured into the earthly realm to interact with human beings in a way that was forbidden. Verse 7 goes on to say that “Sodom and Gomorrah” behaved in “a similar manner to these (angels)” in that they gave themselves over to “strange flesh”. The lesson that we want to learn from this account is that there are boundaries that God has set for us in terms of transgression. We wouldn’t know exactly what it takes to transgress beyond those boundaries, but they exist nonetheless.
People tend to pass the general remark that all sins are the same – whether you tell a lie or you commit sexual immorality, both are still sins as far as God is concerned and the wages of all sin is death. However, we think the Bible contains enough evidence to suggest that there are certain things that God tolerates more than the others. After one third of the rebellious angels fell with satan, God did not terminate their existence at once but allowed them to continue their evil activities among mankind. That is the reason why we are still in spiritual warfare today (we are wrestling against them in the spiritual realm). However when they went overboard to the extent of committing sexual immorality with humans, God wasn’t prepared to tolerate that abuse, so he judged them more severely and put them into chains of darkness (2 Pet.2:4). In that event, God also had to judge and destroy humanity who participated in that grievous iniquity(the flood). Very clearly, what was done went beyond the boundaries that God had set. According to Jude, the deeds of these angels and people were “… set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire”. We ought to be careful not to abuse our boundaries with God and not to go beyond what He tolerates. Another point to note is also that the degree of God’s tolerance varies across the body of believers, for to whom He has given much (in terms of revelation and experience), more will be required of them (in terms of holiness and righteous living). This is to say that perhaps God will not tolerate in a more mature Christian a sin that can be tolerated in a young Christian follower, for we are warn in James 3:1 “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment”. This shouldn’t be too hard to accept because God has already shown us that in the days of old what can be tolerated in the outer courts of His temple will not be tolerated in the Holy Place and what can be tolerated in the holy place will perish in the holy of holies. The priest who makes offering on behalf of the people, if he carries sin, that can be tolerated in the outer courts and inner courts of the Temple, but the moment he steps into the Holy Place, death will come upon him as God’s judgment. Now that there has been a season of increased knowledge and enlightenment in the Body of Christ, it also means that we are in a position where we reap judgment more quickly and indeed more severely if we live thoughtlessly.
Jude is reminding the people to remember what happened to the people before us who walked before the same God we serve today, so that we will not suffer the same destiny they had. Their immorality and sinful living have cost them their very lives and eternal judgement. They have reaped for themselves “the vengeance of eternal fire” (v.7). Nothing they can do will alter their destiny now, and indeed, if we do not cherish the period of grace that we have now and purify our lives, nothing that we do after we depart from this earth will change our eternal destiny. Of course we know that sin still exists in our days, but the sinfulness of this generation has shocked us. In a research that we did a couple of years ago (and by our experience results don’t get any better, they only get worse), Christian couples were found to be engaging in anal intercourse with their partners because they want to avoid the sin of fornication! Now, we think that such perversity of thoughts can only come about by the deception of the devil, and people fall into this kind of deception because they were enticed by their own sinful desires (James 1:14-15). But of course God will not be mocked. Will these people really continue to engage in anal intercourse and therefore be blameless before God because technically speaking they have not committed the sin of fornication since there was no sexual intercourse by the genitals? And the people were indeed more concerned over losing their salvation than over the perversity they’ve gotten themselves into. Now, while we believe we cannot lose our salvation through works, we remind ourselves nevertheless that the Bible did warn us about how apostasy can cost the Lord Jesus to say that He doesn’t recognise us. “Depart from Me, you evil doers, I do not know you.” These “evil doers” are those who have continued to live in sin until they no longer remain in Christ because their lives and ways are so filled with ungodly influences. A person does not fall into this category overnight. Such hardened state of heart (apostasy) comes about when a person deserts the fear of God, liberates himself to live wantonly and remains in it. The danger is real and its consequences are heavy. May we remind ourselves that Satan is still on this earth to still, kill and to destroy. The fact that we think we are infallible is itself pride of the flesh and deception. Jesus Himself teach us to pray daily “deliver us from the evil one” (Matt.6:13). But no one can sincerely pray that prayer when they deliberately lay themselves in temptation’s path. Therefore, holy living is necessary, and we cannot assign everything to God’s grace alone.
The next group of spiritual outlaws Jude preached against are those who reject authority and speak evil of leaders. In his presentation, Jude said that even Michael the archangel when he disputed with Satan over the body of Moses, did not confront the devil with railing abuses, but he left it to God to do that. Michael was on the same rank as Satan (in fact because he remained faithful to God while Satan fell, he should be superior over him, so to speak), but still he did not cross his boundaries to address the devil in a way that would offend the authority of God. In contrast to such circumspection, Jude pointed out that there were Christians who condemn and speak offensively of what they are not enlightened on. Jude said that these people have “gone in the way of Cain”, they have “run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit” and “perished in the rebellion of Korah.” (v.11). The “rebellion of Korah” is straightforward – it is the sin of rebellion that instigated the people to disregard Moses’ authority (Num. 16:1-35). The way of Cain was illustrated in Gen. 4:3-8. From this passage, people tend to view God as unfair because He accepted Abel’s offering of meat but not Cain’s offering of fruit. Let us discuss this in greater examination of the scriptures. Verse 3 of Gen. 4 says that “in the process of time…” Cain brought an offering to the Lord. We think it might be logical to make a presumption that during that “process of time”, there was a revelation given to them that blood was necessary for sacrifice. Otherwise, how was Cain expected to know that God requires meat and will not accept fruit offering? Apparently, the instructions must have been laid but Cain did not follow them. This is likely the situation because we know the Lord does not accuse falsely. The Lord rebukes Cain, “If you do well will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Gen. 4:7). Quite obviously, Cain knew what he ought to do but he dishonoured God’s commands. According to God, when one chooses to disobey, sin immediately comes to him waiting for the chance to destroy, but he is able and he should “rule over it”. If Cain had repented and offered blood sacrifice, God would have forgiven him, but instead he chose to transgress further by murdering his brother. Maybe these days we don’t kill people so rashly, but then again we try to cover up our mistakes or minimise the gravity of our mistakes by slandering the ‘Abel’ in our context, hoping to ‘kill’ (get rid) him with malice. Many of the harshest criticisms arise from people who slam other in the hope of justifying their own wrongdoing. Beware of the critical spirit – it is the sign of an unhealthy soul. One who is at peace with God and is full of His love will be a peacemaker and not an emotional wrecker. When rebuked (whether by inward conviction or by outward admonishment from others), do not reject correction and turn to pride for strength, for this is the sure way to destruction. If such attitude can cause Cain to become a murderer of his kin, it can lead any of us to kill others in our lives. For this reason, Jesus warns “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement…whoever says, ‘you fool!’ shall be in danger of hell’s fire.”(Matt.5:21-22)
By saying that the people have “run greedily in the error of Balaam” (Jude 11), Jude is warning us of false teachers who will by their ungodly counsel lead us to sin against the holiness of God. Balaam was hired to curse Israel, and three times that he proceeded with curses in his heart, when he opened his mouth to speak, blessings go forth instead. In case anyone misunderstands, Balaam did not suddenly repent. Instead, it was God’s sovereignty that protected Israel from his evil curses. But Israel did not escape the ill fate intended by the curses, for they soon fell into harlotry and idolatry (Num. 25:1) for though Balaam failed to curse Israel, he subsequently led her into immorality. “Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor” (Num. 31:16). Under the influence of the anointing of God, Balaam spoke blessings and truth unto Israel, but when left to his own heart, his counsel to them was full of ungodliness and filth. From his experience, Balaam must have known that God intends to bless Israel instead of cursing her, yet knowingly he withheld that and counselled Israel into sin. The sin of Balaam is covetousness because ultimately he wanted the money from Balak, who employed him to lead Israel to defile the holiness of God among them “…following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness”(2Pet.2:15). Thus, when Jude warned about Christians among us who run in the error of Balaam he is warning us of those who would withhold the truth of God to gain acceptance or favour with their listeners or higher authorities. Therefore, judge not a person by his anointing. One who prophesises accurately is not necessarily a sincere Christian. It is the way he leads his life and how he observes the ways of the Lord that will eventually testify of his faith in God.
Five similes of Apostates
To Jude, people who oppose the holiness of God and continue to mingle with the believers are like sore thumbs in their holy gatherings (Jude 12). The “love feasts” which refer to their communion, ought to be taken in reverence yet there were those who went to enjoy the communion without consecrating themselves. To Jude, they are like “clouds without water”. They look like they bring blessing or refreshment, but in reality are empty and they leave you dry. He also refers to them as “twice dead” which could mean eternal condemnation, meaning that after physical death they will still be condemned at judgment. Simply, their hearts are so hardened they are like trees “pulled up by the roots”, no source for return and growth, nothing to impart. They are also like the “raging waves of the sea”, ungovernable. Trying to seek counsel from them is like trying to obtain navigational guide from “wandering stars”. They dart about without a stable course and provide no guidance at all.
Last but not least, Jude reminds us of Enoch’s prophecy concerning the judgment day of God “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him”(vs.14-15).
Our Role in the midst of Apostasy
So, we don’t want to be apostates, but how shall we ensure that? Jude teaches us to build ourselves up in our most holy faith, “praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 20). In our words, we think Jude is telling us to pray, keep, and look out. “Praying in the Holy Spirit” could mean offering prayers that are guided by the Holy Spirit and not recited mechanically. We need to pray prayers guided by the Spirit, to reach unison of heart and mind with God. Another way of interpreting the verse could also means to keep a prayerful spirit “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” as Paul exhorted in Eph.6:18 and also again in 1Thess.5:17 for us to “pray without ceasing”. “Keep yourself in the love of God” sounds relatively simple, but it is not. Eph. 5:32 talks about marriage life being a mystery because a marriage illustrates the relationship between a Christian and the Lord. How many couples, if you observe, grow consistently in their love for each other? Remaining by each other is not the same as increasing in love towards each other. Like how couples can remain married while loving their spouses less intensely than they used to, so Christians also can spend several years in the Lord without improving their love and affection for Him. So how do you keep being in love with God? Establish and maintain a daily quiet devotion with Him, as it is the most important thing if you want to continue having an intimate relationship with God. Look forward to His coming by keeping the light of the blessed hope burning in our hearts through thanksgiving and a grateful heart. Mediate on His goodness and acknowledge Him in all things. Do not leave it for nature to take its course, because if that were to happen, we will only drift away from Him and not draw nearer.
Some spiritual discernment is needed when dealing with the victims of apostasy. We have to make a distinction between those propagating the false teaching and those who have been duped by them. In the cases of the leaders and propagandists, the instruction is given in 2 John 10-11 “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds”. But to those who have been deceived, we should “have compassion, making a distinction” try to guide them out of doubts and disputations into a firm conviction of divine truth. We are to save them by strong, resolute warning and instruction “pulling them out of the fire”.
Finally, Jude reminds us that while we ought to do our best to watch out for ourselves, ultimately it is only God who can keep us from stumbling. We need to maintain our connection with Jesus. We cannot have so much confidence in our fortitude that we negate the power of God in us. We need God’s grace to keep us right. We should do what we need to do but recognize that it is not by power nor by might but by His Spirit. We cannot keep ourselves from the evil one no matter how we try! There is a big difference between trying to live a victorious Christian life by our own strength and by His Grace (through the enabling of the Holy Spirit in us). The former means strive and fear, while the latter requires us to yield and trust in faith. As long as we honour God as our shepherd, Lord and Father, He will keep and watch over us as His sheep, servants, and sons. And if the Lord Himself keeps us, we can be sure no one can snatch us away from Him “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Saviour who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” The way to a victorious life in Christ is through diligence and conscious abiding in Him.