Be Watchful

DEVOTION

JUDE

BE WATCHFUL

Jude 3-4

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

NIV

Some pretty tough words here about what would appear are some pretty bad people. Yet could this also speak to ordinary people, believers, who simply accept the fact that we are going to continue to sin and that is alright because of the grace of God? These whose condemnation was written about long ago could be those fallen angels, or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, although it is not recorded what they beliefs about God were. But it is certain that some people pervert the gospel message for their own benefit. It might be noteworthy seeing that these men mentioned denied Jesus as Lord and Sovereign, but it is not mentioned they denied God. This is surely the case even today; as many people say they believe in God, but deny Jesus Christ as being their Sovereign and Lord. They deny the fact that in order to see the Kingdom of God they must be born again. They deny having to accept Jesus as their Savior in order to go to heaven. We only have to attend funerals of unsaved people to hear those words, “Their in a much better place now” to prove their position about Jesus. What we really need to be on guard for is that kind of thinking creeping into the church. Surely there were those in the days of the early church who entered into congregations of believers with all sorts of little twists and turns to the gospel in order to persuade people to follow them supporting their lifestyle. They may well have stretched the truth a bit teaching a more liberal view allowing behaviors which should not be in order to draw people into their fold. Some churches today do the same thing, some teaching their leaders can absolve sin by giving their followers certain penance to do, denying the need to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, denying the need to be born again, denying that Jesus is the only mediator between God and men, that God is the only forgiver of sin. They use piety and purity as a disguise for their own ruthless behaviors. We cannot ever allow anyone to come into our midst changing the truth of the gospel with smooth words, with Christianize phraseology, with highly educated intellectual persuasions, perverting the truth of the gospel for their own personal gain. They can come in sheep’s clothing but they certainly are not sheep. They may take years to employ their scheme, much as Satan himself does, but employ it they will. We have been gifted with discernment by God for this express reason, let us be vigilant in hearing the Spirit. Let us be on guard against such schemes. Let us be watchful.