Jude

Verses three and four: In verse 3 the Apostle Jude connects God’s “common (singular) salvation” to “the (singular) faith” which was “once (singularly) delivered” to God’s people. The hundreds of various and sundry Catholic and Protestant cults that constitute “the church” all reject God’s Words found in Ephesians 4:1-6 where, through the Apostle Paul, He commands those who earnestly seek Him to keep the unity (oneness) created by the Holy Spirit. To solidify this command in the mind of those in His church the Lord prompted Paul to remind them that there is only one church (body of Christ), one hope for salvation, one Lord (Jesus Christ), ONE FAITH, one baptism and one God the Father who is in all true saints in the form of the one Holy Spirit. “THE (one) faith” was delivered to the saints one time by those Jesus appointed to deliver it. Note that there is only one faith, which can be attained only by believing God’s Word (Rom. 10:17). But as God tells us through the Apostle James, faith alone cannot save the soul. Faith must be followed by obedience toward the foundation of that faith–God’s Word (Jam. 2:14,17-20,24,26). The Apostle James reminds us that faith without obedience is dead faith, and that obedience without faith is dead obedience. Either dead faith or dead obedience will render the parishioner equally as dead. James asks the question: “Can faith save the soul?” His answer is “No.”

In Jude verse 3 we are commanded to EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE (ONE AND ONLY) FAITH THAT GOD DELIVERED TO THE (ONE AND ONLY) CHURCH IN THE BEGINNING. The word “contend” reveals the fact that there is constant warfare in the spiritual realm for all who are determined to obey the Lord.

In verse 4 the Lord tells us why He prompted James to issue this reminder to the church. Satan, the angel of light, had secretly placed his false prophets in the church. These men came in quoting Scripture and preaching wonderful sermons while pretending to be “ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:14,15). These were (are) ungodly men who were (are) condemned for turning the Lord’s grace into a license to sin, thereby “denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Sin is the transgression (breaking) of the Law (1 Jn. 3:4). These men declared (and their religious descendants continue to declare) that God had nailed the Law to His Son’s cross and had replaced it with grace. Question: How did (do) false prophets so easily convince the church to reject God’s Jesus-exalting gospel of Truth (Jn. 17:17) and embrace Satan’s perverted gospel (Gal. 1:6-9) which puts forth “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4)? God identifies this false Christ as Tammuz (Eze. 8:14) whom the Israelites had come to worship during Ezekiel’s time. This immaculately-conceived, December 25th-birthed, present-leaving god who died early in life and was miraculously raised from the dead after one day and two nights in the tomb (Friday night to Sunday morning) is the same god worshiped by the whole of Catholicism/Protestantism today. See Christ’s Resurrection. His mother, called “Easter” throughout the so-called “Christian world,” will soon be honored by some two billion dedicated followers with eggs, chickens and rabbits, just as did their heathen ancestors in days of old. See The Easter Deception and Passover Versus Easter. So how did these false prophets manage to slip into church leadership roles “unawares?” The same way the “enemy” sowed tares among the Lord’s wheat. The enemy had his agents slip in “while (church) men slept” (Mat. 13:24,25). The church had stopped being alert to Satan’s wiles. As has her modern counterpart, the church of Jude’s day had come to believe that her religiosity would prevent her from being led astray. This attitude made her low hanging fruit for the devil. Nothing has changed. A demonic spirit of liberalism has taken over the modern church. Such catchwords as “inclusiveness” and “diversity” have replaced the Lord’s command to “walk as He (Jesus) walked” and to “purify himself even as He is pure.” Let us all strive with the power of the Holy Spirit to so walk and so purify ourselves in order to qualify for eternal life. See Hope and Salvation. L.J.