UNGODLY MEN

Jude 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

In verse three, Jude exhorts all Christians to earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered unto the saints. Paul says that all children of God should strive for (Phil. 1:27), and fight for this faith (1 Tim. 6:12). Christians are to stand fast in the faith (1 Cor. 16:13), continue in the faith (Acts 14:22), abound ...in faith (2 Cor. 8:7), be firmly grounded and settled in faith (Col. 1:23), hold onto faith (1 Tim. 1:19), and like the patriarch, Abraham, be strong in faith (Rom. 4:20). The apostle Paul, quoting the prophet, Habakkuk, gives us this summary for the necessity of faith: For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Rom. 1:17).

The importance of strong, unyielding faith in God through His Son, Jesus Christ, cannot be denied. It is required by all that are seeking eternal life in heaven after this mortal life on earth. The reason for the necessity of a faith, that is steadfast and cannot be moved, is given by Jude, in the lesson text: For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. A strong faith, one that is firmly grounded in the knowledge of God's holy word, one that cannot be moved, is needed to recognize, contend with, and overcome the false teachings of ungodly men that, under the guise of a true Christian, have entered into the church of Christ. How important is this teaching to Christians of all ages? It is so important that Jude, as inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, devoted this entire epistle to it.

Here we are assured that false teachers, ungodly men, will enter into the body of Christ unawares. Such men do not wear badges by which they could be easily identified as false teachers. They do not enter the church by declaring themselves to be ungodly men. Neither do they openly deny God and Jesus Christ as His Son. The apostle Peter, gave us this same warning: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction (2 Pet. 2:1).

These scriptures assure us that false teachers will enter into Christ's church without their true character being noticed or understood. They enter on the pretense of being religious teachers of God's word, yet they deny God, by corrupting His Holy Word. This they do when they add their own unscriptural interpretations, which they profess to be a further revelation they received directly from God. This, Jude tells us, cannot be so. There can be no additional revelation, because His word was once delivered unto the saints (Vs. 3), in its completeness.

False teachers deny God when they omit any part of His Holy Word. For instance, Jesus' instructions to His disciples was to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark 16:15-16). Matthew gives us this account of Jesus commission to His disciples: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Matt. 28:19-20). This is God's commandment, through His Son, Christ Jesus.Yet many, so called religious preachers and teachers throughout the "Christian World," openly teach that if one only answer their "Altar Call," confessing their faith, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, they shall be saved, and by this false doctrine, they deny that baptism is essential to eternal salvation.

These ungodly men, and others like them, have crept in unawares, and have turned the grace of our God into lasciviousness. God's grace cannot be expanded to indulge, and condone, any sinful act of mankind. But those false teachers that professed such then, as well as now, by doing so, deny the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Of those that pervert God's Holy Word, He condemns in this manner: If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book (Rev. 22:18). Notice what God's inspired psalmist said: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful (Psalm 1:1). Beware, ungodly men are found where they can do the most harm - within His body, the church of Christ!