Saboteurs in our Midst

“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. 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.” (Jude 3-4)

It’s a pity that we don’t spend more time in serious study, even memorization, of the shorter books in our bible. Obadiah and Nahum and Malachi are powerful warnings and reminders. Philemon and 2 and 3 John are extremely enriching books for the Christian walk. And Jude, that last little letter right before the book of Revelation, is an extremely urgent and necessary call to us as members of church communities to be alert, for our sake and the sake of our brothers and sisters, against the great corrupting dangers of false teachers. It is important to note that these false teachers are not the ones out there in the world clearly representing other religions and ideas, but the ones right in and among us, influencing people away from sound, Christ centered teaching and from strict biblical virtues and righteous, holy living. As was quoted above, they  “turn the grace of our God into licentiousness” or as the HSCB translation puts it, “turning the grace of our God into promiscuity,” or in the NIV “who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality.” God’s wondrous message of salvation by grace alone is not to be twisted into permission to live as we want. 

When Paul famously wrote in Ephesians 2:8,9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” He followed it immediately in verse 10 with, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” The gospel is destroyed by the idea that we can earn or merit salvation by our good actions, but it is also destroyed by the idea that God’s grace means that our evil deeds are in fact not something that we need to be saved from, and that we can just go on doing whatever we want and God will just be okay with it, love us for who we are, and forgive any wrong in the end. The message of the gospel is one of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. It is a message of unmerited, unearned, undeserved blessing from God purchased by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is all of Him, and nothing of us. But the message calls on us to repent (change our minds, turn around, go the other way) and believe (that we are sinners, that we have been wrong, that God has saved us in Jesus Christ, and that He is Lord, Master, and King, and is therefore in charge of our lives and whom we should now obey). The gospel is not a mere feel good message, it is a life transforming reality that, if believed, will have the necessary effect of changing ones priorities and view of life, and therefore of one’s actions. As Peter wrote, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,  but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;  because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:13-16) 

Understanding this, Jude is greatly concerned for the Christian churches of his day because there are those who are coming in spreading a sinful lie that uses Christian language about God’s grace and love, but in fact entices people to sin freely without regard for God, and is therefore utterly opposed to repentance, faith, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our need for redemption, and therefore the very gospel itself. The book is replete with examples from Old Testament Scripture, history, and Jewish traditions familiar to the readers that help them remember the fact that there have always been those who outwardly professed the name of the one true God and dwelled among His people as if they were truly part of the faith community, but were in fact false brothers and deceivers marked out for condemnation by God, and we must be careful to keep ourselves and our beloved brothers from walking according to their ways. As we talked about (HERE), we must be ever vigilant and on guard against sin!

In our day (as in many times in the past) it is highly unpopular to point out that a particular teaching is wrong, a particular teacher or author is dangerous, or that a particular action is sin, and that such things and people are not Christian and not befitting of the Christian community, despite their own self identification and surface language that may sound very loving and evoke the name of Jesus, but these are exactly the sort of things Jude is warning us we must be ready to do, and if we love our Christian brothers we will be eager to deliver them from the snare of such lies. We must pursue holiness together, and watch one another’s back for the stealth and guile of wolves in sheep’s clothing.

It is interesting that Jude frequently uses the example of those who would justify sexual immorality. Today, we see this more than we want to admit.  There is, to give one of many possible examples, an organization called the “reformation project” whose express goal is to train people to actively work within local churches to influence people into believing that homosexual and bisexual lifestyles are perfectly okay, and to shame the biblical standard of holiness and the need for repentance. The whole thing tries to be as “Christian” as possible while representing exactly what Jude is talking about in a very literal sense. People coming into our fellowships by stealth to turn the grace of God into a license to sin and bring shame and reproach before God on our fellowships. One can see a similar idea in the documentary “expelled.” While it is focusing on the subject academic freedom and the study of intelligent design, it makes a passing observation that is crucial to our subject after an interview with a PR representative for a secular organization that works with churches and other faith communities to convince them that full fledged secular Darwinian ideology is totally compatible with their faith. What is shown through the interviews is that such people are often very conscious that in fact their teachings are NOT compatible, and that it will destroy the faith of the next generation. They are intentionally deceiving, and often training people inside the church to be their mouth pieces to the Christian community. While many of the sort of teachings Jude is warning us about come into our churches passively through books and media and the like, there really are people doing exactly what Jude warned about, literally making the conscious and active effort to infiltrate churches and alter their teaching in a manner that turns us to sin or even leads to eventual outright denial of our Lord! 

“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.” (Jude 10)

“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; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.” (Jude 12, 13)

Jude goes on to urge the Church to hold fast to the true, biblical faith and to remain steadfast, knowing that Christ is coming again. Our hope of pleasure and reward is not in this sin sick world, and it is okay to be outsiders here in the name of holiness, indeed it is glorious to be so! Christ is coming in judgment on the wicked and to bring eternal life to those who are His own, a holy people of faith resting in His grace and enduring to the end, not in our strength, but in His!



“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. 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.” (Jude 20-25)


I urge, read through Jude regularly. Memorize its warnings and reflect on them often. (The entire book is set to great music HERE for easy memorization.) Keep the true gospel ever before you, and be careful of teachings, even from those in the pew next to you, that would lead you into sin or into denial of our Lord’s teachings, and care enough about those around you to correct them of such error and encourage them on in righteousness and holiness. As James, Jude’s brother, wrote “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19,20). Know your brothers and sisters of your local church well enough to notice if something is wrong and to be able to speak immediately into their lives to turn them from sin and error, and open yourself up to them enough so that they can do the same for you. We are in this together, and we need each other.

Luke Wayne is a bi-vocational Baptist missionary in Utah and the chief editor for Perilous Trails. He holds an MDiv from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and an MA in Theological Studies from Midwestern Baptist College. He has served as a church planter in Olathe, KS and a Homeless Shelter Manager in Kansas City, MO. He is also a husband, father, fisher, hiker, security officer, and raiser of livestock.   

Alert as Guards and Watchmen

“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13 

I make my living as a security officer. While I perform a variety of tasks, my job can really be summed up rather simply: I am paid to be alert. That’s it. Nothing else. I am here to be aware of what is going on to be prepared at any moment to respond to any threat, emergency, or suspicious variation in the normal patterns of work life on site. Sometimes it is a medical emergency within, and I need to have my first aid supplies ready, my CPR certification up to date, my personal protective equipment on me, a phone on hand to call emergency responders, and be in the frame of mind to put all of this to use when even seconds might mean life or death. It could also be a suspicious person on the premises outside whom I may need to confront or, if prudence dictates, observe from a safe distance. It may be a fire, or a power outage, or a simple spill, but it is my job to be aware of it and then to do what is needed so that no one gets hurt. Most of the time, I am not actually responding to any of these things. On most days, no situation actually happens. But as tempting as it can be, I cannot let my guard down, lest I fail to be ready on the unexpected day when something actually does come up. Complacency, a sense of ease or security, comfort, and distraction are the enemies of a guard. An emergency by itself is often easy to handle, but these agents of weakness and unreadiness will turn a problem into a crises every time. It is the duty of a guard to be on guard. If he is failing at this, any trial will overtake him.

 

In the earliest days of sinful man, God warned Cain before he killed his brother Able, “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7b) Sin is an enemy ever present, an inclination in our hearts, pulsing through our flesh all through the journey this side of eternity. James warns us, “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15) It is against this desire, this temptation, this selfish tendency toward sin and rebellion and against the devil who exploits this in us that we are ever at war with. We must be ever on guard, ever alert. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) We are at war. We are watchmen on the wall always awaiting battle, and there is never a safe moment to lower out gaze.

Paul says as much in Ephesians 6 when he warns us to take up faith like a shield and to where righteousness like armor, and to take up his word as a sword for war! Indeed “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:11-13) and again to the Romans, “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.” (Romans 13:11-13) and to the Thessalonians, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8) To resist sin is a fight. To be obedient and do right is to be a soldier, ever vigilant, ever devoted, trusting in our commander and ever ready for the enemy. Paul similarly compares it to a boxing match when he writes to the Corinthians, “I do not box as one beating the air, but I pummel my body and make it my slave.”

Our Lord also emphasized our need to be awake, watchful, and ready. In Luke 12:35-48, He gives the analogies of a slave awaiting his master’s return, staying up all through the night if needed so that he open the door to his master and serve him at a moment’s notice; and of a man who stands ready to defend his home from a thief at an unknown hour; and likewise of a servant who stays faithful and consistent in keeping his master’s home, even while the master is away on a long journey for unknown duration of time.  In each scenario, he compares readiness and watchfulness to avoiding sin and doing good. Similarly in Matthew 24 and 25, after speaking about His coming, Jesus gives several parables that echo the warning each time, “Be on the alert then!” and display the foolishness of those who are unprepared. In each of these chapters, watchfulness and readiness are equated with diligence in service, with humility, meeting the needs of the lowly, and putting others before ourselves.

Humble, selfless acts of charity and sacrifice may not sound like valiant warfare, but remember that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.” This is not a physical fight but a struggle against our sinful desires exploited by a spiritual enemy. When we put others first, when we “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” (on which someone once said hangs the whole law and the prophets), and when we therefore feed the needy, cloth the destitute, house the orphan, help the weak, visit the sick and imprisoned, and preach the gospel to the those still lost in there sin, we are shifting our focus from ourselves and therefore striking a blow against the enemy of selfish desire. Here in the life of the Christian disciple, the gentleness of compassion and the fury of soldierly valor come together in the heart and acts of self sacrificial love in a sin sick world. 

As a security officer, my purpose is to see to the safety and well being of everyone else on the premises. I have to be uncomfortable so that they can be safe. I have to be concerned for them, and to be so in a way that brings no attention to myself, and that ideally goes largely unnoticed. The work is not glamorous, and is in fact the butt of many jokes, but I am to bare it with a smile and diligently look for when I am needed. This is what Jesus is calling us to, to service of others as if to Him. “That which have done to the least of these, my brothers, you have done also to me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Of course, we cannot do this on our own. It is arrogant to try, and arrogance (self centered pride) as actually the very enemy we are fighting against! We have, however, been send a counselor, a general, an empowering guide in the war who gives us a strength not our own. He transforms our heart through His presence within us, His providential work around us, and through the Scriptures that He inspired. This is the Holy Spirit of God Himself sent by the Father and by our Lord to equip, embolden, teach, and guide each of us and to unite us to one another while convicting the world of sin and therefore fighting with and for us.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,  idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:16-26)


Qualities of selflessness and of self control are His gifts to us and His necessary work in us throughout our lives. So take heart, resist every inclination to sin trusting that your strength and resolve do not come from within your weak and imperfect self, but from the immortal, invincible, unchanging God of all creation! If God is for us, who can be against us! To battle! And as you go:


 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Peter 1:2-4)



Luke Wayne is a bi-vocational Baptist missionary in Utah and the chief editor for Perilous Trails. He holds an MDiv from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and an MA in Theological Studies from Midwestern Baptist College. He has served as a church planter in Olathe, KS and a Homeless Shelter Manager in Kansas City, MO. He is also a husband, father, fisher, hiker, security officer, and raiser of livestock.