"Ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness"

Jude  (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,   To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: ² May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

³ Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. ⁴ For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵ Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, ⁷ just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. ⁹ But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. ¹² These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴ It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, ¹⁵ to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” ¹⁶ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.

¹⁷ But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on some, who are doubting; ²³ save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says: “That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.”  As we read the letters from the early church leaders, to the church, we see that this statement from Ecclesiastes is true, at least as it concerns the heart and behavior of man. Throughout the history of the church there have been leaders who have called the church to revival, to a return to the foundation of love and obedience to Christ. Each generation of leaders, seeing the depravity of man in their own generation, calls for a return to the foundation of Christ.  In Revelation 2, Jesus speaking through the Holy Spirit to the last day church at Ephesus, says: “ But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first “     The first love of the church and of believers is as Jesus says: “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.” If we fail in this first love nothing else will be in order.

In today’s text Jude says: “I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. ⁴ For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”  Licentiousness is defined as: lacking legal or moral restraints; especially : disregarding sexual restraints.  So the problem that exists within the church today, the error and deception of turning God’s grace, by which we are forgiven and saved, into a license to sin and commit immoral acts, is not new. It existed in the early church and will exist until the return of Christ.  

Jude’s warning though, to the church is that we should not presume on the grace of God. He cites several examples of those who did presume on God’s grace, following their own lusts. “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, ⁷ just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”

Jude also cites the error of some individuals. For the sake of time let’s briefly look at just one. The text says:  “they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam” The story of Balaam is found in Numbers 22 (read it if you have the time). Balaam was called by Balak, in Moab, to curse the nation of Israel as they went from Egypt to the promised land. When Balaam is first approached he seeks God for guidance and refuses to go with Balak’s men. When Balak send additional men rather than stand on the answer God had given him Balaam asks again. This time God releases Balaam to go, but while he is on his way he is confronted by an angel of God and he is instructed: “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I tell you.”

God created each of us with a free will. If we continue to seek after and pursue our own plans or follow our own lusts, God will not stop us. He will allow us to go on the path of our own choosing. We should not though, confuse God’s allowing us to follow that path with His blessing. We should not turn the grace of God into licentiousness. If we err in this, God will oppose us on the way, as he did Balaam. God’s desire is that our eyes would be opened and we would see that the path we have chosen leads to destruction. His desire is that we return to our first love, to: LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.

Jude closes saying: “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”  These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.  But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,  keep yourselves in the love of God”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, my guide; forgive me when I have presumed on Your grace and followed after my own lusts and desires. Thank You for opposing me when I choose the wrong path. Thank You for opening my eyes to see my error and Your truth. Today I pray, with Jude, for myself and all my dear friends:  Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,  to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.