Jude - Contend for the Faith - Pt 3

 

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 5–7 ESV).

 

I must confess that our reading today feels as if it is describing a vengeful, hateful deity. Of course, we know that is not the case. The love of God has been shown in so many ways throughout the Scripture we are hard pressed to honestly come to that conclusion. Never-the-less we should give careful consideration to the consequences of a life of sin. In his commentary on Jude, John Calvin interpreted these verses (vv. 5–7) as an urgent warning that experiencing God’s initial grace or covenant privilege does not grant a license to sin or exempt anyone from divine judgment. There are four distinct principles Jude calls attention to as examples of the way we are called to live as believers.

 

First, he uses the unbelieving Israelites (v. 5). Reformers, like Calvin, have emphasized that Jude is saying that a miraculous or public deliverance from Egypt (such as the Red Sea crossing) does not save a person if they lack true, living faith. God destroyed the disobedient in the wilderness, showing that unbelief and a rejection of God's authority are the root of ruin. Calvin warned believers "not to glory carelessly in his grace, but on the contrary, to walk watchfully in his fear". This is a word for us to hear as well. We must emphasize grace, however, God’s grace does not exempt us from the consequence of sinful choices and actions.

 

Jude also points to the apostate angels (Verse 6). The Reformers viewed the fallen angels as a stark example of pride and rebellion. Having abandoned their proper domain and designated rank (principatum), they were bound in darkness for the judgment of the great day. This underscored that high status or spiritual proximity offers no protection when creatures reject divine order.

 

Next the stepbrother of our Lord uses Sodom, Gomorrah, and the "Strange Flesh" (v. 7) as a clear example of the destructive practice of sin and disobedience. Calvin and subsequent Reformed commentators treated the destruction of the "cities of the plain" by eternal fire as a type and permanent example of divine vengeance against moral perversion, unrestrained lust, and the rejection of natural/divine limits; however, these are not the only practices of sin that will bring about the ultimate judgment of God.

 

Jude is also very clear in his call to reject Antinomianism. You may not be familiar with this theological belief. Antinomianism means “against the law" (from the Greek “anti” meaning against and “nomos” meaning law). It is a theological belief that Christians are freed from the obligations of moral law, church-prescribed behavioral rules, or the Old Testament law through divine grace. Reformers like Calvin and Martin Luther invoked these three classic types (Israelites, angels, Sodom) to combat the antinomian errors of false teachers in their own day—individuals who abused the doctrine of grace to justify immorality while outwardly claiming association with God's people.

 

In summary, Jude is simply calling for strong vigilance in the application of our grace in leading us to obedience of the will and purpose of God in our lives. The Apostle Paul writes to the Roman Church in this way:

 

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1–4 ESV).

 

We must contend for the faith! Nothing else is sufficient!