People Have Crept in Unnoticed – Jude 1:4

Book of Jude New Testament Obedience
/ By Randall Johnson

Is Jesus your Master and Lord? How is it, then, that you make decisions that are in direct contradiction to His requirements? We have been plagued of late with many Christian pastors who have been fired from their jobs because of sexual impropriety or abuse of authority. And regular church members have committed sexual sins, other moral failures, and direct disobediences to Christ’s rule. The false teachers that Jude is warning the church about are particularly prone to these kinds of rebellions.

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 1:4, ESV)

False teachers don’t normally come into our midst with fanfare, but, rather, act like us until they have our confidence, then begin teaching things that contradict the gospel. We have been warned about this by the apostles (Acts 20, e.g.) and by Jesus (Matthew 24). Have we been told beforehand of their condemnation (1 Corinthians 3)?

They will be condemned, judged, for their perverting of the gospel. You cannot destroy the church of God and Him not destroy you.

The error of this particular kind of false teacher is that he or she “turns” the grace of God (we are freed from the condemnation due our sin) into lasciviousness or sensuality. They use the grace of God to excuse sexual sin. Why does it always start here? We obviously are all very prone to sin in this area and would like to justify our sin rather than keep our lives in the bounds God has given us.

And so we deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. If He is our only Master and Lord, then He is God. And we are not master and lord, He is. Our lives must be submitted to His sovereignty and direction. Especially in the sexual arena.

About the Author Randall Johnson

A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.

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