Year of the Bible: Part Twelve of TwelveSample

Don't Fall for a Lie!

Jude was excited to write to the church about the salvation believers had in common. However, the more pressing issue on his mind was to make his readers aware that certain men had snuck in who were advocating ungodly practices and taking advantage of God's grace. They denied Jesus as master and looked good doing it.

Often, the greatest danger to a church is not outside pressure, persecution, or opposition but something from within the church. If teaching is not based on sound doctrine, people could believe a false gospel and lose focus on Jesus. What these false teachers said probably made logical sense and would not have overtly looked like deception.

Jude challenges the people to "contend for the faith." He meant that they needed to guard against deception. Jude, like John, showed great care for the church and was deeply concerned with the people of the church turning away or being deceived. When we are deceived regarding God's way, it affects how our character is shaped, and our character affects how our destiny will turn out.

The church needed discernment to see the false teaching. Jude pointed the deception out, but the people had to choose to see it and refuse to accept the falsehood. Once we recognize a problem, we must take it to God and seek His wisdom to counteract destructive teaching. If we stay rooted in God and allow Him to work in us, our conduct and character will reflect the image of God and show how real Jesus is, despite any scoffers or non-believers.

Question: What parallels do you see between the church Jude addressed and the churches you have attended?

Prayer: Pray for any people you know who speak their agenda more than God's truth. Ask God to give you clarity, so you don't fall for false teaching and the compromises that naturally follow belief in a lie.