More Cheap Grace
There is nothing new under the sun (Eccl 1:9). This means that what has been, is, and will be to the end of time. God establishes His people; and the adversary infiltrates with his own children (1 Jn 3:10), to disrupt the unity of God’s assembly. The interlopers are always there in Christ’s church, the Israel of God (Gal 6:16). Some deceivers work as legalists and others as licentious libertines. The fact is that they are all ungodly, unbelievers.
The intrusion of heretics into the assembly of God’s chosen people is profiled by Jude, the brother of James and the half-brother of Jesus (Jude 1). All the other human writers of the New Testament reveal the extent of the problem. It is a very real problem. Christ’s disciples in every place and from the beginning have had to deal with those who have no fear of God. These are the antagonists in God’s drama. They are weeds in the garden; and goats in the sheepfold (Jesus’ own metaphors).
Jude, in his letter to the called, beloved who are kept for Jesus Christ (Jude 1), likened these ungodly unbelievers to: the wilderness generation of Israel; to the fallen angels; and to the Sodomites (Jude 5–7). He did not stop his list of negative examples; but added: Cain; Balaam; and Korah (Jude 11). In both doctrine and practice, the rebels in the church are up to no good morally or ethically. Their purpose for being in the body of Christ is to cause divisions; and then, having stolen a portion of the members, to gain some advantage (Jude 16). Jude helps us to understand what they seek in their quest to disrupt and profit.
Jude reveals a cause-and-effect relationship between those worldly-minded troublemakers and their condemnation, culminating in eternal judgment and punishment (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7). In this, we find application, today. The letter of Jude serves as a warning to the true troublers of Israel that it will not end well for them.
Jesus taught about those who were attached to Him as the true Vine (Jn 15). They bore no fruit because the Vinedresser had not been the one who grafted them into Christ (Rom 11:16–24). The Father eventually removed them, had them gathered and thrown into the fire.
The writer of Hebrews also warns his audience that there will be those who shrink back to destruction, having fallen away from the family of God. It is irrational for a child of a prosperous and proper family to become an idiot son; but the world is filled with that sad illustration. It serves our purpose for understanding this dimension of unholiness in the midst of God’s holy nation. Some people truly do not belong in church on Sunday; and you will know them by their bad fruit.
After killing his brother (Gen 4), Cain went to be an instructor in sin. He was a wretched man who led others into the way leading to destruction. Simply put, Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted by God; and so, he lived as a man of this world, which we know is passing away.
Balaam was a diviner who tried to cash in on his spiritual work (Num 23). Balak’s hatred of Israel was the source of wealth the prophet tried to access. Instead of cursing them, Balaam blessed Israel, against his own will (God’s override). Balaam also labored to match Moabite women with Israelite men for sexual encounters. In this, we see the prominence that sex and money are in view for Jude. The licentious who have entered and ascended to positions of influence in the church, will rationalize how they have mistresses and lots of money; while insisting on being called, “man of God.”
Korah is the third illustration in this tripartite grouping (Num 16). His jealousy and envy of Moses and Aaron points to a third problem in the church. Those who lust for power and influence will be trouble. Jesus emphasized that the greatest among His disciples would be the servant of all. Ambition in the ministry should be to please God (2 Cor 5:9), not to please men or oneself.
Jude goes on to depict those who pursue power, sex, and money in a series of metaphors. Clouds, trees, ocean reefs, waves and stars all serve their purpose in God’s creation. When they leave their proper place and function, they become unstable and unproductive. Jude has a word for the people who represent the groups and individuals he identifies through his letter. That word is “woe to them” (v. 11).
The pronouncement of woe is usually prophetic. It anticipates great trouble for those who preach and practice immorality. In Jude’s presentation, the trouble incurred by would-be destroyers of Christ’s church is both temporal and eternal. They are fighting against Almighty God and that never goes well for anyone.
Every gathering of God’s elect, redeemed, regenerate, believers must recognize the devil’s attempt to corrupt the bride of Christ. There are persecutions that assault her from outside her ranks (Mt 5:10–12). There is disease within the church that takes out great numbers of local bodies each year. The enemy disrupts in both word and deed. Therefore, doctrine and practice truly matter in the life and health of the local church.
Let us beware and be on guard against those who license sin from the pulpit. The Law of God teaches us what sin is by definition (“lawlessness”), with real clarity. The Bible also teaches us about the grace of God and how it produces holiness, by the Spirit of truth teaching and illuming the Word of truth (Jn 14:26).
The antinomian preachers of cheap grace must be warned from biblical texts like Jude’s letter that hell for eternity is their sure end. The predominance of this travesty of unbelief and disobedience is why true Gospel preachers must preach the whole counsel of God’s Word, so that the licentious libertines will know they are not getting away with anything. God knows. God judges. God’s judgment is just…and so is the punishment described as eternal in Jude 5–7, 10, 13.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
July 16, 2024
Jude 8–13
