This passage will require multiple posts, but to introduce the passage, it is good to review the complete section and get an overall impression of the message Jude intended his hearers to hear. Take a few seconds to slowly read through this passage as if you had just received it from the apostle and your local body of believers were hearing it for the first time.

Jude 1:4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:5 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.
Jude 1:6 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–
Jude 1:7 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 1:8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
Jude 1:9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
Jude 1:10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.
Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
Jude 1:12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;
Jude 1:13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

My intent in this passage is to try to define if Jude is communicating to the body of believers something that has become corrupted, something that has fallen away from an original condition. Has a certain group within the body fallen away from their original standing, or has the body simply been deceived by false teachers?

Some who read may be of the persuasion that condition security is blasphemy, and I understand that thinking, for as many know, I lived in that camp for decades. To even consider this teaching, if you are of this understanding is commendable for it shows a teachable spirit, and an openness to the Word of God.

With that said, it is important for each of you to exercise discernment (and not simply an angry argumentative spirit!) when considering this (and any passages) within this topic.

Let’s consider the first two verses with this post.

Jude 1:4-5

4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 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.

I would like to consider the two actions taken by the ungodly people in verse 4. To pervert and to deny.

To pervert is to change, transfer, exchange or to change sides. Now of course the action of exchanging is being done on the grace of God, and it cannot be said, as far as I understand, the change described by Jude is directly described as on the people, that is from godly to ungodly. That does not make any sense, so I will not attempt to make that link. The exchange is grace into sensuality! That seems abundantly clear.

Yet is Jude speaking of people who have known the grace of God in their life and turned it into an excuse to simply live by their sensual nature? Or is he referring to people who have taken the factual truth of the grace of God and simply exchanged the truth of the grace of God it into an opportunity to tickle their audiences ears, to gain a following and to reap some type of selfish benefit? This is a question the verse actually does not addresses directly, but the fact that they “crept in” may speak of these ungodly people as never having the life we share.

Again, the term “deny” may be considered in the same manner, where the denial is a not so much as an inner truth that these ungodly people decide to act upon, but a teaching that these folk, who may have never known the life of the Spirit decide to propagate.

Yet the passage speaks of denying our Master, not the message, or the teaching, or the truth of the identity of the Lord, but Jesus Himself. Again, did they know Him and deny Him, or did they continue in their denial of true belief as they entered into this congregation?

How did they fool (having “crept” in) this group of believers?

One more verse to consider.

5 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.

Jesus saved a people, yet destroyed those who did not believe. Wow, there is a lot to unpack with this phrase.

My initial thinking is Jesus saved a people (multiple individuals who exercised faith in the God Moses taught) yet prior to entering the promised land, fell away into apostacy, sinned against God and became rebellious. fighting against the leadership of Moses and the Lord who rescued them. Of these who did not believe, yet exercised belief initially, Jesus destroyed them. A clear reference to the conditional security teaching topic referred to in this series.

Yet, might Jude be saying something different? Might he be speaking of “a people group” eventually known as the Israelites, who was rescued out of Egypt, and in the wilderness certain people within the group, proved by their actions to be unbelievers all along. In other words, out of the group that was rescued, certain individuals were destroyed due to their lack of personal faith.

Even as I say that, I fear I may be inserting words into the text that may not be intended. I expect my reader to take into consideration this freedom I am taking and judge rightly.

Is Jude referring to individuals who exercised faith on the night of the Passover and then fell away, only to be destroyed? Or is he speaking of the group as a whole whom Jesus rescued, out of which certain individuals showed their true colors and were judged accordingly.

What think ye? Let me know if the comment section if you see a particular phrase that helps you understand this passage clearly.

One thing that is clear to me at this point is that Jesus is a rescuing Savior and a keeping Savior. Jude refers to Him as such in the opening verse, and this is His nature to save and to keep. Will we cooperate with our Savior, seek Him and desire to follow, imperfectly as we are, with all our foibles and faults? He is the Lord of all, and He is able to keep us, He is of the nature to keep us and has died to deliver us from our doom.

Is that important to you, or is the tremendous act of grace that He has performed on our behalf something that is easily ignored in your life? Consider

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I am sure my readers will agree with me that the 8th chapter of Romans is speaking to believers, those who are on the path of following Jesus, seeking to obey Him. There is some that may think Paul was referring to himself as an unbeliever in the previous chapter, but I know of no argument that claims Paul is not speaking to (and of) true believers in this chapter. As a matter of fact, this passage begins with

“So then, brothers, we…”

Paul even includes himself in this group he is addressing in this passage.

In this passage he speaks of our obligations and uses a financial image to make his point. He is coming back to a similar financial concept he used in Romans 6, where he spoke of “wages” of sin. In this passage, he brings in the financial thought of being a debtor, one who is obliged to pay something to another party.

In Paul’s mind (I think) he is drawing for us a picture of obligation to align our thinking towards who we are to serve. If I am obliged to pay someone something, due to a debt incurred, my efforts will result in paying the one I am in debt to.

Think of a mortgage. I receive the right to live in a house and say it is mine, but every month I go to work in order to have funds to make a payment to my bank. My bank receives the fruit of my labor throughout each month of working simply because of this agreed upon debt. I am a debtor to the bank. The bank is the master in this situation, for I am obliged to pay the bank an agreed upon sum of funds to maintain my living conditions. My end of the bargain is the eventual owning of the building I call home. I will eventually own the home. Eventually.

Let’s return to the passage we started with. Paul is speaking to believers, to brothers, defining who we are in debt to, who we owe our service to, who we are obliged to pay with our lives.

Prior to our salvation, we were debtors to the flesh, to the old nature that drove us away from the True God. Our end of the bargain with the flesh was that we were provided wages, and the wages of this sinful bent away from God was death, or separation from God. A definitely bad “mortgage” situation!

In delivering a sinner from this dreadful condition of slavery to the flesh and of receiving a payment of death, the Spirit of God has given life to our mortal bodies. (Romans 8:11) Out of this amazing gift of life, obligations are now “up for grabs”, for it appears the believer has a choice.

Remain in the old life, obligingly paying the flesh service (without requiring to!) or to live to the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body. This seems so obvious and such a slam dunk for the believer to understand and to obey. But let me ask you.

What are the deeds of the body? What is the result living by the Spirit, in that the deeds of the body are put to death? How can I kill the deeds of the flesh?

A few years ago, I heard a teacher refer to Galatians as Paul’s practice book for his magnum opus letter of Romans. (Some practice book!) But there may be something to this thinking, since large swaths of Romans seems to have seed thoughts in the book of Galatians. One passage I would refer you to is in Galatians 5, where Paul speaks of walking in the Spirit, with the result being the believer not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Echoes of Romans 8?

Let’s take a moment to consider Paul’s list of the works of the flesh he provides us in Galatians 5:19- 21.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now before we go any further, please do not fall into the trap I fell into by seeking to set up rules that would restrict these activities. Doing this breeds pride, which blooms into strife, dissensions envy and the such. Sure I wasn’t drunk, but I dang well made sure made everyone knew of my religious achievements! And how much better I was than them! Wow.

Such foolishness, for Paul is not telling us to restrict our activities from some list in order to attain some status, for he doesn’t even give us a full list that we can check off. At the end of the passage, he adds to the list of specific works of the flesh “things like these”. How can I check off a non specific work – so frustrating! But that may be the point!

Both in Romans and in Galatians, the focus is on following Someone, not on some set of rules or self determination that will keep us from obeying these dastardly former debtors called the deeds of the flesh. For if we walk by the Spirit, these works of the flesh will not be evident in our lives. The fruit produced in our lives will be of the Master’s character.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Notice that we are not even to follow after the fruits of the Spirit, but the Spirit Himself, and in doing so, the fruits will be evident in our lives. With all this said, let’s return to our original passage in Romans 8, and the key phrase that drives this particular post. Notice that Paul speaks of the believer dying.

Read Romans 8:13 one more time.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

How are you doing so far in your pilgrimage? In your walk with the Lord, has the fruit of the Spirit become evident in your life?

Please understand that continual fruit produced in our lives is an extended life long goal, and that recurring temptations (and the falling into these temptations) may produce setbacks, but is not to be the overall trajectory of the believers life. Following the Master, since He is so different than own nature, suggests periods of confusion, disappointment, struggle and failure in our own lives, as we learn of His ways.

My friends, an honest evaluation is encouraged for those who claim to be believers in the Messiah. He has given us great encouragement that by following Him, He provides fruit in our lives for others to see.

Can we be open to an honest assessment of our walk with the Lord? Golly, the judgement of a non-believer may be beneficial for our learning. If we hear from family, close friends or acquaintances that we are a judging, hateful or divisive person, we should consider their words! A discerning spirit is required, but sometimes the harshest statements I have heard have been the most beneficial for my spiritual life.

One thing I want to make clear though is that I am definitely not advocating a self judgement here, a navel gazing exercise that produces no good result. A bit further into this passage, Paul speaks of the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit. This is an additional witness the Lord provides, but out of our current passage, and with the reference to fleshy deeds being indicative of the believer living according to the flesh, I would like to encourage the reader to understand how others interpret our lives in relation to deeds of the flesh / fruit of the Spirit.

Seek out an honest friend, or a mature believer, one that you know speaks the truth. Do not seek out a “nice” person! Not much good hearing nice things about yourself, for if you are like me, nice things are always being said in my head about wonderful me!

Also, better if this person has a history with you for an extended period of time. Ask difficult questions, for this is the time to check.

Living according to the flesh will pay out in death and the clock is ticking!

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No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us–eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie–just as it has taught you, abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. – 1 John 2:15-29 ESV

Although this entire passage is very excellent, verse 24 is where I would like to draw your attention.  John is placing the responsibility of abiding in doctrinal truth squarely on the disciples shoulders.

What? Carl – are you saying we have to maintain doctrinal purity to keep our salvation?  Be careful before you jump into too many assumptions. The doctrinal purity being referred to here is in one subject, that is the person of Jesus being the Christ.

North American Christians have classified biblical teaching into a multiplicity of compartments, splitting hairs over issues that are of no eternal significance.  John is dealing with the person of the Christ in this passage, – not how many angels fit on the head of a pin.

As disciples, we are responsible to follow the One who delivered us.  We should desire and seek to please the right Person. This Person is described in the apostolic teaching we have been given in the New Testament.

Do you seek to understand who He is?  Are you constantly referring back to the Biblical record for answers, and to compare the Scriptures against any and all teachers?

John is addressing the gnostic error that teaches that Jesus isn’t the Christ. But Carl – everyone knows that Jesus’ last name is Christ – no worries!

I think there is a bit more to it than that!

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Luke 15:24

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

How often have I told myself about the parables, that they aren’t intended to build doctrine from, for they were intended as a life lesson for the audience, usually intended for a specific topic for a specific audience.

I admit the parable of the prodigal was intended to rebuke the Pharisees in their rejection of sinners and tax collectors coming into the kingdom. (The love of the Father in seeking and receiving His rebellious son is the set up for the end of the parable!) The punch of the parable is the last few verses of the parable, where Jesus addresses the older brother, and the jealous anger toward sinners and tax collectors coming into the kingdom that the older brother (Pharisees) exhibited.

But verse 24, couched in the middle of the parable provides some support for the conditional security teaching if we read of this rebel as a son of the Father. He, as a son, rebels against the Fathers love, and leaves his home. As we know the story, he eventually realizes his mistake and comes back looking for work. Little did he know (or remember) the immense love of His Father.

In talking with the older brother, the Father described His son as dead and yet he lives again. The son left his Father, literally walking away from his Father, breaking relationship with his Father and acting as if the Father no longer existed. Remember dear reader, he originally asked for his share of the inheritance, revealing his desire to see his own Father dead. The son’s rejection seemed absolute, and yet we need to deal with his initial and continued description as a son by Jesus and the Father in the parable.

It is noteworthy to recall that the son initiated this action, and that in all of the telling of this parable, the Father is seen as the One who sought wholeness and relationship within His family. The Father is never described as One initiating, encouraging or supporting any attitude of broken relationship within His family. It was the son’s decision only, and as the Father watched the son walk away, I am sure the heart broke and the tears flowed!

Remember, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, this secondary understanding of the parable is only a possibility. If in my studies I had not found other scriptural support for this teaching, I am sure I would not mention (or even notice) this topic in reviewing this passage.

What do you think? Is there any support for the teaching of conditional security within the parable of the prodigal son. Let me know in the comments.

Be blessed.

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