Perverting the Grace of God
Jude • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Get picture last minute
I want to pray for a few things:
Help Build Hope
Bolivia Team - picture there—30 of them
1. Group total is 30
2. They are working with missionaries we support. James and Jennifer Wolheter. The Wolheter family has been there since 2022. Their ministry is this: In Bolivia, the Wolheters are training Latin Americans to become missionaries and to disciple others.
Our team will be partnering with them. We’ll split into multiple groups each day for projects: VBS, Concrete work, painting, some landscaping clean-up
3. Sunday specifically for everyone to get in, for the health of the group, and a fresh experience of GOd’s work in our lives
4. My plan is to have Gabe send a brief update to Michelle each day for Facebook or at least every couple of dayss
3. Baptism coming up (slide on screen)
Thanks for the time away for about a month. Thanks for the church board encouraging this; thanks for your support during this, too. It was much appreciated!
It’s great to have time to connect with the Lord, with my family. to just be a husband and father, and dear child of God rather than a pastor.
Please turn to Jude.
The book of Jude.
Jude is the 2nd to last book in the Bible—right before Revelation.
Jude is the half brother of Jesus—same biological mom, different dad.
we read in Matthew 13:54-55
54 Coming to his hometown, he (Jesus) began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked.
55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
so Jude is short for Judas.
Most of us aren’t willing to name our kids “Judas” for obvious reasons that he betrayed Jesus.
But Jude is a great name.
as the half brother of Jesus—he is a follower of Jesus—and he writing a letter to Christians probably those of both Jewish and Gentile background
Please stand as I read:
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
the situation is urgent! Jude is writing to Christians because if you look at verse 4—
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago (written about by God) have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Sometimes Biblical writers will confront the opposite of this—they will confront legalism. say that with me. The book of Galatian for instance does this...where Paul confronts those who say “not only do you have to believe in Jesus—but you have to do good works, you have to follow the OT law and be circumcised—a big deal to them. It’s Jesus + something. but when you add to the Gospel you subtract from it.”
here, though it’s not legalism. It’s license. It’s the opposite problem. Licentiousness—say that with me. (a spectrum)
“Yes, we believe that Jesus lived on our behalf, died the death we deserve on the cross, rose from the grave—it’s grace. God will forgive all your sins b/c of Jesus—it’s amazing grace! and so now—you can do whatever you want. It doesn’t matter—God’s a gracious God. He will forgive you!”
so not legalism—but license.
and Jude says you are “perverting, the grace of God...twisting it.”
Look in verses 5-7 how they are perverting the Grace of God
3 Ways...
Perverting the Grace of God:
Way #1: By relying on the past for their right standing with God
Look at verse 5 again
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
This is an OT reference to the book of Exodus. The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt for over 400 years. They cried out to God, and God sent Moses and Aaron to help deliver them, sending the 10 plagues, parting the Red Sea. It was amazing!
and yet—despite God saving them, despite God showing his grace, most of them did not enter the Promised Land.
why? just before entering the PL, they sent 12 spies to spy out the land. and 10 of those 12 spies said this:
27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.
28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
only 2 —- Caleb and Joshua gave positive reports.
and the whole community starts complaining, grumbling against God. “Why did you lead us out of slavery to die?”
so God punishes them b/c despite all God did for them...they still would not believe and trust God—40 years of wandering in the wilderness. and those 20 and older will NOT enter the PL.
so there was a group delivered out of Egypt but not into the PL.
they were delivered out of...but not into.
It matters how you finish in the Christian life. True Christians will persevere with Jesus to the end.
this is so important...
just recently, I was watching a professional running race called the Bowerman mile. a famous race, that takes place every year in Eugene, Oregon, and attracts some of the best runners around the world. the top finishers run a 3 minute 45 second mile. incredible! I watched it, and American runner Yared Neuguse (the goose) ran so well. Pretty much leading it the entire way, commanding lead...as they came down to the last 100 meters, a runner who was in 3rd place, a runner named Niels Laros from the Netherlands comes sprinting—and at the very end, lunges forward. at first it wasn’t obvious who won—but a photo finish confirmed. Laros beat the Goose by one hundreth of a second. It matters how you finish. Laros will be known as the winner even though he only led for .01 seconds.
how much more so in the Christian life...it matters that we don’t just start well...with Jesus, but finish well. True Christians will persevere with Jesus until the end.
and this is such as sharp warning and focus of the book. I have known many now who have started well but have not finished well with God. You see this in Scripture—King Saul...Solomon...started well but didn’t finish well. Gideon the judge. Hezekiah the king.
i see this with famous people as I keep going, i heard of famous Christians who started well but have not finished well..maybe some of you have followed the story of Newsboys member Michael Tait. famous Christian singer who was leading a double life. He did apologize to his credit, and we will see how the rest of his life goes. I have seen this with famous pastors like Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Church or Steven Lawson out of Texas.
and I see this in life. when I was in college, I was at Bible college and in a small group of men studying for ministry—we met on the 2nd floor in what we called the Upper Room. and out of that 12 men...at least 3 I know are not following the Lord anymore (Jared M. Jason, Justin and want nothing to do with him—that was only 20 years ago). and i see this with people as they get older—in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and plus. they are jaded by life, their marriage may fall apart; they are tired of serving the Lord (what did it ever get me)...and they stop.
perhaps they presume on God’s grace saying “God will forgive me...I said a prayer years ago...of course I am saved...I went forward at a revival years ago...of course I am saved (even though I live how I want to live)”
Perverting the Grace of God...
Way #2: (vs. 6) By relying on our position
6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
so verse 5 was the Israelites...now vs. 6 was the angels.
angels are created beings by God, ministering spirits to serve God’s plan (Hebrews 1:14)
and yet Jude says angels rebelled. though they were created by God, served God, in the very presence of God.
what is Jude talking about here?
Option 1: it could be he is talking about when the angels along with Satan, also an angel originally rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven. as punishment they are bound with everlasting chains for judgment from God. however, they are still active, so this punishment must be a reference to the fact they are bound for earth and can no longer enjoy heaven.
9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
option 2 gets weirder I think has some validity:
they look at Genesis 6:1-4 right before the flood
1 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,
2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
these scholars think that the sons of God in vs. 2 isn’t referring to human beings—but angels who inhabited human bodies and slept with women, producing a race called the Nephilim.
As weird as that sounds, and it is weird, this was the main interpretation of the church until the 4th century. and later in vs. 14—Jude strangely quotes from the book of Enoch, which is not in our Bibles, but supports this interpretation. (more on that in another sermon)(Pseudipigraph—claims false authorship)
so if this is true--after these angels fell from heaven--rebelled against God along with Satan, these fallen angels (demons) took up residence in human bodies and procreated with human women. and thus they are consigned to permanent judgment. so part of the reason of the Flood was to stop this and prevent it from ever happening again!
whichever side you land on is fine—but I think the application still stands.
these angels had a privileged position—but they abused it. they went against God’s authority and rule and experienced the judgment of an Almighty God, and the same can happen with us.
we dare not pervert God’s grace based merely on our position or status either.
maybe we assume our salvation because we were born into a Christian family...
or I have always gone to church
or I have a certain last name—my family has always gone to church...FOR GENERATIONS.
or I am involved in this particular ministry, which is really hard...
I am a leader...
Jude would say “Don’t presume on God’s grace...just because of your position, your tradition, your ministry, last name, or education.”
a great sign that you understand God’s grace is not privilege or status or position, but submission to Jesus. I am not relying on my position—-but Jesus Christ’s position as my Savior and Lord.
so we pervert God’s grace by looking at the past, relying on our position
another way we Pervert God’s grace...
Way #3: (vs. 7) By thinking that God’s judgment would never apply to me (or us) (judging applies to other people but not me...but God lumps them in with people like Sodom and Gomorrah)
look at verse 7 again
7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
I will not spend my time here. in fact, next week, I am going to look at this verse again, and the story in Genesis 18-19 and talk about how one of the ways we pervert God’s grace is how we think about and live our our sexuality. Now—just a warning to parents, I will talk about sensitive things but I will do so appropriately. You may want to talk about with your kids the story of Sodom and Gomorrah before they are in here.
If you know that story—it’s where Lot, the nephew of Abraham, hosts 2 angels. God sends 2 angels to check on the wickedness before He judges it. and Lot hosts these 2 beings for the night. the men of the city surround Lot’s house and demand that these 2 angels (who look like men) come out so they can gang rape and abuse them.
and God sends judgment, sulfur and fire to destroy them and spare Lot and his family.
and Jude’s specific point is this--if you follow that kind of life--you too will face a punishment of eternal fire. in other words--the fire and sulfur that God sent against Sodom and Gomorrah--that is just a small picture--anticipating the greater judgment that God will send against you--eternal fire in hell.
Jude is telling his readers—don’t align yourselves with this teaching—if you do, you are in danger of eternal judgment. don’t think that God’s judgment doesn’t apply to you...or you are beyond it
it’s a motivation to live a life sold out for God.
now, you may say I don’t like God’s judgment. shouldn’t we be motivated to know God because He loves us! Absolutely—but here and other places in Scripture—God’s judgment is one motivation to pursue God and live for God. You can’t just stay there—it can’t be your primary motivation—but it is one—we avoid God’s judgment and hell and we get to know God.
and God’s judgment may offend us—but I think Scripture says God’s judgment is good. He is the perfect, fair judge, who knows that sin is destroying us and society—so He must act...because He is holy. God’s judgment is part of His lordship.
so don’t presume or pervert God’s grace.
How to not Pervert God’s Grace...
3 ways:
Way #1 Be on guard for false teaching (vs. 4) (in your own life and the church)
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
They have secretly slipped in...
if it was obvious false teaching like “don’t believe in Jesus.”—it wouldn’t be difficult. These false teachers had enough credibility; enough Jesus and God talk—believing in the grace of God, but they were perverting it not by legalism but by license.
think of some modern day false teachings—that secretly slip in among us.
Here is a couple I hear:
Prosperity Gospel - God wants me to be happy, healthy, financially successful. I just need to believe or have enough faith, and God will bless me. While a lot of us can see those distortions in TV evangelistics...we all suffer from having some prosperity Gospel in us—we are prosperity gospel-ish.
For example - “God wants me to be happy.” Now, in some ways that is true. A fruit of the Spirit is joy. but here is how I have sometimes heard it. I have heard married couples say things like “Pastor Rick, God would not want us to stay together because he wants us to be happy. We aren’t happy in our marriage, so God must want us to get a divorce and find someone else.” That is a false teaching! Couples need to work, fight, ‘CONTEND’ for their marriage. and those that do—it takes work, it can make HUGE difference.
another example - “If I am suffering, it must be because I am doing something wrong or God hates me.” suffering view. that someone is defective in me, or in God if life is hard. we sometimes expect that as Christians, life will always go smoothly. If God is for us, who can be against us—which is true! But this is a shallow view of suffering. We are warned time and time again—that we are in a battle—a struggle against the spiritual forces of darkness. we are warned that we live in a fallen world. we are warned—Jesus said that people will sometimes be against us b/c we follow Jesus.
Political gospel
another false teaching that I have seen is a blurring of political views and Biblical Christianity. I saw this a lot during Covid and especially during election seasons—that we think our political views are on the same level as Gospel truth. and the reason I think this is happening is because we are sometimes discipled more by Fox News or CNN or a political podcast rather than God’s Word. We see a strong, distorted view of this in what is called Christian Nationalism—a blurring of Christianity and gov’t. the most extreme proponents of that think that our government should criminalize those who are not Christians or don’t hold Christian views. we can elevate our politics to the level of Gospel truth.
watch out; be on your guard
Way #2: Contend for the faith (vs. 3-4)
look at verse 3
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.
that word contend is a strong word.
from the athletic and military world.
It means to fight—exert intense effort.
There are some things worth fighting for—and Jude says “the faith...” a set of established beliefs and doctrines we hold dear as the people of God.
this can sometimes be hard in a culture that says “don’t judge me and I won’t judge you.”
or it can be hard in an outrage culture—everyone is outraged by everything all the time. outrage draws algorithms and views. it’s what makes you watch the news “I can’t believe there are doing that. That would not happen in my day.”
so we have to be discerning what we contend for.
when do we contend? not over every little thing—we don’t get picking a fight...
here’s what I think Scripture says—we contend for the faith:
1. over major doctrines - (like here—grace of God being perverted; denying lordship of Jesus) not over end times views. yes Jesus will come back but how he will, we don’t know. but primary doctrines. not secondary or even tertiary doctrines. Read Galatians to see this in action.
iii. 2. over major sin in the Christian community (just read 1 Corinthians 5)
so contend—be on guard.
3. over major division in the church body —whether theological or social—
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.
11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
if someone is dividing God’s people for the sake of being divisive—we contend and sometimes they need to leave b/c they are hurting the church.
Know your Identity (vs. 1-2)
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
and this will lead us to communion...so before I explain this...if you need communion elements, would you raise your hand?
Denise, I want you forward to the piano.
communion is open to anyone who is a believer in Jesus...you don’t have to be a member or attender her. but can say confidently that Jesus is your Savior and Lord.
before we dive into communion passage
look at Jude 1
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
if you would define what a Christian is—you might say they love God and follow Jesus—Jesus is their Savior and Lord all true.
but look at the way Jude does:
to those called...
loved in God the Father
and kept—-for or by Jesus Christ
called—that called by God. If you are a Christian, it’s because God has called you—He has summoned you—the king of Kings.
You are so loved—you are His beloved. we often put pressure on ourselves to love God—but we only love God loves us. do you know that today—that’s what unique about Christianity compared to other religions—God loves you.
and He keeps you. He helps you keep going. He helps you start, continue and finish well. It is not all on you—praise God. He helps you contend and watch out. and not pervert God’s grace.
this is why Jude says he is a servant of God—He doesn’t even say he is Jesus’ brother...his primary identity is he is under the lordship of Jesus.
Take a moment and praise God for that...that you are called, loved, and kept by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
and then take a moment and look at verse 2
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
would you praise God that these are yours from God in abundance.
Let me read what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
take a moment to examine yourself and confess any sin to God.
How do we start, continue and finish well:
by being on guard...
by contending for the faith (vs. 3-4)
remembering our identity in God (vs. 1-2)
