Matthew 24:9-10

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

Matthew 24. The mini – apocalypse, the passage that speaks of the end times, judgement, apostacy. Scary stuff, full of dramatic images and threats, with so many opinions on what the Lord was trying to communicate to His followers.

Some who follow this topic of Conditional Security on Considering the Bible may have wondered why this passage has not shown up in the series previously. It seems it is such a slam dunk passage to support the Conditional Security position, and it may well be.

Let’s take a look at it for a few moments.

Jesus is speaking to His disciples at this time, addressing the disciples questions about His coming, and the end of the age. The very first words out of His mouth need to be heeded – “See that no one leads you astray”

He warns His disciples first and foremost of deception in this topic of His future coming into His kingdom, and that they were to be vigilant in understanding the times to come. Just before the verses we are considering today, the Lord warns His disciples that there is only one Christ, and that self proclaimed substitutes would be many. The disciples will hears of many wars and rumors of wars – Don’t be worried. There is still time.

Christians will be persecuted, even hated by other for His names sake. Tribulation will be the believers experience, and this tribulation will result in death for some, with the nations, the heathen, those who are outside the faith, hating believers.

This persecution, or this tribulation the believer experiences will result in the falling away. Because of this hatred (from the nations), many will fall away, they will skandalizō, they will be offended, they will fall away.

Who are these “many” who will fall away? Context demands that the word “many” refer to those who would be delivered up to tribulation, those who follow as disciples.

Persecution will provide opportunity for followers to fall away. Yet does this mean a loss of salvation, the abandonment of the Christian life, the turning away from following Him? It appears that the two descriptors in verse 10 describe the non-Christian, in that the non Christian is allowed to betray one another, and to hate one another. Just the very verse prior, the nations are described as hating others!

The true believer, in following Jesus is faithful to those he knows, and loves those he comes in contact with. Is Jesus describing a believer when he decides to betray instead of exercising faith, to hate instead of to love? Is that the desciption of a believer?

This is a difficult passage to understand, but the warning seems obvious, for even in persecution, to follow Jesus is to be faithful, to be one who exercises sacrificial love to those he comes in contact with.

To those reading this post, don’t wait for persecution to come to your life to decide to love others and to be faithful. Live the Christian life each day, and pray for strength to follow when persecution does arrive, for we know we all must experience some persecution in our lives. Be faithful. Love those around you with a sacrifical love.

In doing so, we may be preparing for times that will provide greater challenge than we expect.

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Revelation 3:4-5

4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Jesus is speaking to believers in the church of Sardis, a church Jesus declares to be dead. This church is warned that He will come as a thief, and that a few names will be worthy to walk with Him. Worthy of walking with Him. There is a quality of life that is expected from the Lord to maintain the fellowship we often claim we have, yet as John in other of his writings, clearly states that we are to walk in the light (not my light), that we are to love the brethren (all of em?), that in this love of the brethren, we are overcomers (1 John 5:1-2).

Paul also teaches us that we are to walk worthy of the Lord, as in Colossians and Ephesians.

Colossians 1:10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

Yes we are to walk worthy of the Lord – a high calling that we certainly need His strength for.

Though this is a great challenge, the verse this post will concentrate on is the “blotting” verse. What in tarnation is going on in this verse, where Jesus promises to “never blot his name out of the book of life”. What does that imply? He is speaking of those who are clothed in white garments, that have conquered, that are worthy, and promises them that He will never blot his name out of the book of life!

Who is He speaking of?

Is all of creation, every living soul, recorded in the Book of Life and those who do not believe in Jesus, do they get blotted out? It seems the book of Revelation does not allow for this interpretation, since John records twice that some names were never written in the book of life.

Revelation 13:8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
Revelation 17:8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.

Ok, so this restriction of names within the book of life needs to be clarified. Might it be that those who have believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior, are they those whose names are written in the Book of Life?

Philippians 4:3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Ok, so if I understand the general teaching on the Book of Life, that is, that the Book of Life contains names of believers, workers in the gospel per Phillipians, then what is going on in Revelation 3:5? Are believers names are being blotted from the Book of Life?

Not specifically. Granted, the Lord states He will never blot the name of the believer/he who is worthy/ the one who conquers, out of the Book of Life, but that opens the implication of name blotting connected with unworthiness, does it not? Why would He bring up this topic of non-blotting, if there was not additional implication we need to understand?

• Those who are worthy – Promise of never blotting out his name.
• Those who are not worthy – no promise given.

Let us follow after Him, seeking His will. seeking His approval and finding the life that is worthy of the Lord.

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Revelation 3:8-12

8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie–behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

I have thought of this passage often in the last few months, specifically the concept of having “but little power”, assuming He is speaking directly to me. Of course He is primarily speaking to a church two thousand years ago, and we can find direction, wisdom and application in carefully reading and understanding the author’s intent and message to the original readers. This is a challenge, for we are sometimes so self centered that we jump into application immediately, but let us not be in the habit of this downfall.

Regarding this passage, and the topic we are chasing, the portion that arrests my attention is verse 11. Of course, we could discuss how this passage would inform us of His soon coming for the modern church (it doesn’t) or that it describes a pre-tribulation rapture (pardon me?). Let’s not chase rabbits to some unknown (unjustified) destination!

The issue to be concerned about is holding fast! Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

Hang on through the difficult times!

The Lord has specifically spoke of the little power this church has, and now He commands them to hold fast. Two different words are used when addressing the church in Philadelphia, and it may be instructive to consider them.

Little Power

When the passage speaks of little power, the Greek word “power’ in verse 8 speaks of strength, power and ability. It is the Greek word dunamis, from which we get the English word dynamite. The term is modified with the adverb “little”, and not much to add to that term other than it is little, small in size, quantity or number. Tiny.

Hold Fast

Verse 11, we meet up with the command to hold fast. This term does not quantify the strength or ability of the church (little power), but of the desire to continue, the use the strength (whatever is available) to grab and hang on.

Storytime

My 8th grandchild Theo is just starting to walk. When he “takes hold” of my hand, his strength is so small, so tiny. I could despise the little strength he has – so so weak – and yet he is giving it all to hang on. I don’t whine or complain about his lack of strength, (for it is all he has) but I revel in the fact that he is hanging on, fighting to try to walk like his brother, to balance, to be with Grampa.

If you are of little strength, do not consider this to be something the Lord Jesus despises. When the Lord’s attitude towards the weak is brought to mind, I naturally return to Matthew 12.

Matthew 12:18-20

18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; 20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;

A bruised reed he will not break. Consider the Master’s attitude, and hold on with what ever strength you have. If you are a mighty man of valor, hang on. (Just don’t be too proud of your mightiness, for that is also a bit of a problem don’t ya know!)

If you are struggling and sense your “little power”, hold on. He is the Savior and He is looking for your desire. Hang on and don’t let anyone seize your crown.

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Revelation 2:10-11

10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

As we enter into this passage in Revelation (under the topic of conditional security), I need to admit that I have had a very mixed relationship with this book.

Early in my life, Revelation was the book that “revealed” to me the Judge of all creation, a Mighty God who was holy, rightfully angry at me. Revelation provided word pictures in a seven year old’s mind of a Great White Throne, of eternal suffering and anguish, of darkness and continual pain, of an eternal fire that burned without relief. (See Testimony) Revelation exposed to a seven year old boy a destiny that was certain due to my sin. No mercy was available to that little seven year old!

Fast forward fourteen years and the Judge became my Savior. Mercy and grace was offered to a twenty-one year old alcoholic drug pushing loser and I couldn’t resist. Jesus took my guilt and punishment – How could I not follow?

Yet Revelation was still a book I shied away from. At first, a certain dispensational teaching helped me to avoid the last book of the Bible, placing all the scary stuff (chapters 6 through 19) all beyond my time on earth. I understood that I would be raptured and taken to safety while everyone else would suffer the tribulation. Sure a few verses (such as the ones we are considering today) disturbed me, but I was good at generally ignoring the book.

Yet there were verses in the second and third chapters that would still haunt me, since they were directed to churches, and I gladly identified as belonging to the body of Christ. Dispensational teaching helped out there also, for it taught that each of these churches represented a certain “age” in church history. Under dispensational teaching, Smyrna represented a church under persecution, specifically during the years just prior to Constantine.

Whew – I dodged another bullet! All this talk of suffering was getting hard to avoid, but at least this passage could be ignored safely! Yet the Bible is a consistent message, and though I found an excuse to avoid a truth in one verse, other passages reared their head and witnessed to my heart and mind as I began to listen. Eventually I abandoned dispensational teaching, for the inconsistencies and internal conflicts became too great for me to accept.

Quite an introduction to a short passage, yet this set of verses was one of the many that caused me to jettison my acceptance of dispensationalism. The mention of tribulation for ten days seemed so inconsistent with the seven years of tribulation supposedly taught in the Bible.

And what about that crown of life? Of not being hurt by the second death? This was a church the Savior was speaking to! Didn’t He understand that believers were eternally secure? (I speak as a fool!)

No matter how a believer reads this passage, it is either troubling (or greatly encouraging!)

Be faithful unto death! The passage speaks of a continual faithfulness, of being faithful to the point of death! My understanding of once saved always saved just did not fit into this passage. Wasn’t my initial expression of faith back in February 1981 enough?

Jesus said to “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer”. Believers in this type of church (no matter when the church exists) were to not fear the persecution! It would have a definite time (ten days, not eleven or twelve), an end would come and life would be granted. Pain from men may be experienced, but the hurt of the second death would be avoided by those believers who overcome.

The question that hangs out there is of believers who do not overcome, who are not faithful unto death. Is the crown of life withheld from them? Does the crown of life represent life or rewards for the believer? (This question was discussed in an earlier post – See Conditional Security – Revelation 2:7)

Be faithful unto death. And why not be faithful unto death? Let us not quibble over debatable issues, for He is the Savior, a Great and Mighty God who has died to rescue us. He has rescued me from my rebellion, from my rejection of truth. He is good and His love draws me constantly. Will I allow my heart to reject His continual expressions of love and grace, having witnessed His many acts of kindness in my life?

Truly, my heart can be a traitor to my own good and to my dear Savior. May the Lord give us strength in the life He provides us, in the way we are to walk, and to be faithful unto death, whether He chooses open persecution or otherwise for each of us

For He is good and the great God we have the privilege to worship! May we be faithful to Him.

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Revelation 2:7

7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Here again I confused life with rewards. You see, I used to read it as – To the one who conquers, the right to receive rewards is granted. That is the way I read it when I was ensconced in the “once saved always saved” OSAS teaching. I couldn’t read it for what it seems to be saying, that is those who “conquer” (whatever that may mean) will have access to the tree of life.

Now here comes my assumption. Granted, I don’t want to sound like a 3 year old in Sunday school class, where every question is answered by “Jesus”, but the Word is centered on Him, and all prophecy, narrative, laws and poetry of the good book points to Him. If that is a safe general assumption, would it be too far a stretch to consider the tree of life to be the Master Himself, that in the symbolism of the book of Revelation, the tree of life is Jesus. Remember now, He Himself has witnessed that He is a door, bread, light and life. He did not shy away from describing Himself in various ways.

If this “assumption” is correct, that is that Jesus is the tree of life in the paradise of God, we are granted access to Him through conquering. Where am I going wrong here?

So, this is the stumper, for John is writing to a church, the church of Ephesus, and Jesus is speaking of the churches lost love. In this regard, might the conquering (for this church) be the repentance Jesus spoke of, the return to the first love, that realization of a believer getting distracted, of a forsaken love. Of a believer in desperate need of running back to the One who died for us.

Ok, here is my desire. I want my faith to be a simple faith, a faith where I am in connection with Him, where I can actually understand His will for me and I am granted the courage and boldness to follow, simply out of love for Him. A faith where I understand the Spirit’s message, with the Word of God echoing in my mind, and the character of our great Savior always before me.

You know, in these conditional security posts, I sometimes come away thinking of the negative, the “if” in it all. Yet His love is draws me and you and will continue to draw us through the trials and troubles, the doubts and struggles, the fear and pain. We need to keep our eye on Him, for He is good, He wants us home, and He has suffered for us, experiencing the trials and temptations of this old planet, and succumbing to the terrors of the cross in the Father’s will and for our good.

Looking away from Him, and to any other so called savior is the temptation we must resist. We are called to continue in a faith in the Savior, the One we need to follow.

The same apostle wrote

1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

We can honestly say that John was consistent, for he spoke of the victory, (or the conquering?) as being our faith.

So when you hear someone tell you to keep the faith, remember that it is your faith that will conquer the enemies of our lives, for our faith in the Savior is our life, and will give us the victory, and allow us to eat from the tree of life.

For faith grants us to be in fellowship with the Savior.

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Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. – Gal 6:7-9 ESV

As one who spent most of his life in the Lord under the teaching of once saved always saved (OSAS), when I quickly review the passage above, I automatically think of the theme of rewards in the afterlife. It is a common teaching and given the background of the teaching I was receiving, made sense in many ways. After all, my teachers spoke confidently of the New Testament teaching the OSAS doctrine, sometimes providing a proof text to back up their claim. The few verses that do not fit the OSAS teaching must surely have a simple explanation. “Loss of rewards” is the slot this passage fell into. This response satisfied my curiosity for many years.

But as I read the passage, I want to be careful of not inserting words into the text that are not written down. We all do it, at least unintentionally I am sure, but we so often gloss over the text due to our familiarity, that the text isn’t allowed to communicate it’s actual message.

As an example, I often read verse 8 in the following manner.

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption loss of rewards, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap rewards in the afterlife eternal life.

Can you identify with my assumptions of the authors intent? If OSAS is the teaching of the New Testament, we must interpret the passage in a manner such as I have described. We cannot allow the verse to inform us that a continual sowing to the Spirit will result in eternal life, if we are eternally secure at the point of conversion. That just doesn’t fit the overall teaching of the New Testament!

Or does it?

As many also may know who have followed this blog, I have attempted to provide passages that bring the OSAS doctrine into question. If of interest to my reader, search Considering the Bible for “Conditional Security”. The number of posts dealing with this topic have increased greater than I had originally expected, and I still have additional passages waiting to be written and published.

When I began to have my initial doubts on OSAS, it was due to the Hebrews passages that are so often depended on. The I tripped over a passage in 1 Peter. Eventually I stumbled onto a passage in Colossians that caused quite a stir in my thinking, and as I brought the question up in a meeting, I received a reaction from a brother that mirrored my attitude regarding any challenge to the OSAS teaching. Conditional Security – Colossians 1:21-23. Since then, I have reconsidered my attitude regarding a commitment to OSAS, and found a growing number of passages that to varying degrees refute the teaching.

Maybe – just maybe – the New Testament does not provide the general overall (non-specific) OSAS teaching that my former teachers depended on.

My rose colored glasses are slipping off, and as the passages pile up that bring OSAS into question, I will also reconsider passages that OSAS depends on, in order to reconsider their meaning. One of the favorite passages I referred to in my OSAS days was John 10:28-30. That passage surprised me in my study, and allowed for a perspective I hadn’t allowed previously. Conditional Security – John 10:28-29

I suppose I have somewhat drifted from the intent of this study in Galatians to more of a general discussion on the topic of OSAS. For that I do not apologize, since I often hear the claim that general Bible teaching supports OSAS, and that a verse that may indicate otherwise requires to be “brought into line”. Let us seek to carefully reconsider “general” teachings that seem to conflict with specific Bible verses. This is a massive undertaking, and we need His grace to be open to these challenges, even if it is to simply admit blind spots we may have in our thinking.

May God provide us all wisdom and understanding as we seek to grow in our knowledge of Him and His message to us.

For we all know that He is good, and that He is good all the time.

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Revelation 12:11

11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Who was the book of Revelation written to? The unsaved? Jewish proselytes? Roman soldiers? We all know who the recipients of this final book of the Bible was written to. John makes it clear in the very first verse.

Rev 1:1

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

The message was for those who had entered into life, who had trusted in the Messiah, and who were undergoing trials, like all believers. (To be a believer is to undergo trials.)

Although some may consider the following discussion on Rev 12:11 to be based out of a vacuum, I would request your consideration of my thoughts.

The believers in the verse above were described as conquering him – the accuser of the brethren – through the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. This conquering is a common theme in Revelation, and we will see it come up in our studies on conditional security in the Book of Revelation quite often. Nevertheless, for Revelation 12:11, John defines these saints as overcoming the accuser through two actions – the death of Christ (the blood of the lamb) and the word of their testimony. (As a matter of fact, their martyrdom is a third action described in the passage, but the martyrdom is a result of the first two actions and doesn’t relate to the point of todays post.)

This is an amazing claim of John, since he is the apostle who often stated the only requirement for salvation was to believe. (Check the gospel of John and few if any time does he link belief with repentance, works etc.)

The act of faith is not to be ignored or glossed over in this verse, for the object of the saint’s faith is the One who shed His blood, yet John couples that faith with the act of the saint giving testimony, of providing witness of the faith they claimed to own.

Although it may be conjecture on my part, I fear the witness we give in the modern church is somewhat acceptable to the culture we exist in. It is, at the least somewhat palatable for the culture to accept our message of “inviting Jesus into their heart”, of “doing good and going to church”, of being a “nice” Christian that doesn’t rock the boat.

Believe me, I am one who falls into this very thinking far too often, but those in John’s day were speaking of Christ, not as a King, but THE King, a Ruler over the most powerful, jealous and vengeful government the world had ever seen. The message was a dangerous message, and by preaching this message of a loving yet ruling King calling followers out of the nations, the saint would place his life on the line. Out of that commitment to the King, the saint would overcome the accuser. The saint would be strengthened in his security before His God, and confirm his own standing before his Savior.

What thinkest thou? Is the security we so desperately seek a security that is frivolous or costly at times?

What would it mean for a believer to not overcome?

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Revelation 17:14

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

Those with Him are described as chosen and faithful.

First off, it is ludicrous that “they” will make war with the Lamb. “They” can’t kill Him again, for He has an indestructible life. “They” are fighting against a Lamb – How crazy is that! A Lamb that has shed His blood for those very ones who are fighting against Him.

Yet, we are all like that are we not? When was the last time you were completely compliant, obedient to His every word and way? He will conquer His enemies, through means and methods He has established, though a sacrificial love that makes the conquering complete, effective and thorough!

It is also good to remember that He is the Lamb (and we are not) and that the Lamb will conquer. All action is described as being His!

The chosen and faithful are simply with Him. Yet those with Him are called faithful. Those with Him are not described as those who had faith, or those who once believed, or that raised their hand at a church service once.

Those with Him during His conquering are faithful. The term faithful is an adjective. For a quick reminder on what an adjective is, I refer you a definition below.

Adjectives describe or modify—that is, they limit or restrict the meaning of—nouns and pronouns.

The noun being described are “the called”, correct? They are described as faithful. To describe someone as faithful, there needs to be evidence!

Let me try to explain it in simple terms so I can understand it. (Yes – I sometimes get lost in my own thoughts!)

I don’t see a red car and declare – “That blue car sure is nice!” The evidence tells me it is a red car, even if my favorite color is blue! If I stand out in the rain, I don’t shout – “The day is sunny and bright” The adjective I naturally use describes the evidence, not my wishes.

Those that were called, that were with Him are described as faithful. The evidence of a faithful life must have been obvious, for the one who was overseeing this writing.

May we as believers, in our faltering and frail faith, exercise a life that will provide evidence of faithfulness. Proof that others may see and naturally describe us as faithful. To achieve this result, we must not look to them to see if they are noticing, but look to Him, to His conquering victories, even to the conquering our our own wills.

For He is good and He is good all the time

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so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, – Ephesians 3:17

May may may. I had an engineering professor once teach the class that “may” will become a critical word as we enter into report writing in our careers. He was so right!

When I say “may” what do you understand?

A dictionary on the web, for the word may, “may” help. (Underlining added)

may

auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person may, 2nd may or (Archaic) may·est or mayst, 3rd may; present plural may; past might.

• (used to express possibility): It may rain.
• (used to express opportunity or permission): You may enter.
• (used to express contingency, especially in clauses indicating condition, concession, purpose, result, etc.): I may be wrong but I think you would be wise to go. Times may change but human nature stays the same.
• (used to express wish or prayer): May you live to an old age.

I find it interesting that the apostle, as he speaks to the church of Christ in Ephesus, that he speaks of the indwelling of Christ being possible, an opportunity presented, if we understand the term “may” correctly, In other words, does Paul intend to inform the believers something I am not reading? Is Pauls message to the believers in Ephesus to be understood as follows?

… that Christ actually and without debate dwells in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, are saved due to one decision in the past- Ephesians 3:17

A short post for your consideration. God is good, and His love for us is steadfast, eternal and deep. We have much to be thankful for and His love properly understood should motivate us to delve deeper into a relationship with the lover of our souls.

Be blessed today and remember His goodness, faithfulness and deep love He has expressed at Calvary for us. He is good!

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Our last set of verses we will consider in the book of Jude.

Verse 12 is the original portion I was going to provide for the sake of our topic, but as I looked through the passage, I just couldn’t resist including the passage from verse 4 on.

So let’s take a few moments, and listen to Jude as if we were hanging out 2,000 years ago in a brothers home, getting ready to worship Him.

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 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.

Jude brings forward three Old Testament characters to describe these ungodly people, along with the predominant characteristics associated with these three.

Cain

Walking in the way of Cain. Let us remember that Cain was the first natural born human on earth and the natural inclination of this firstborn was to bring a sacrifice of his own choice to the Lord. He was religious. He is the father of religion, and in that religion, the works of envy, hatred and jealousy erupt. We see this to be a consistent attribute of religion, even to the ministry of the Lord Himself.

The work of religion is to frustrate the grace of God, and as the religious Jews sought to crucify the Savior, they brought the very act that began with Cain to its natural end.

Religion not only kills, it is also deadly, for it deceives the religious adherent, and seeks to destroy truth to support it’s own lies.

Cain killed Abel freely, since there was no social restrictions at the time, and this allowed for the the very nature of the religious to be seen clearly. Nowadays, we cover it up with niceties, with pleasant sayings and polite nods, but given the right circumstances, religion erupts into all forms of hatred, envy, works of violence and jealousy.

These certain men that had crept into the body, whether they were believers at one time or not, have woe coming upon them. But the descriptions of these ungodly men continues.

Balaam

Abandoned themselves for the sake of gain. As many who may have followed my blog, you may recall that I have a distinct concern for the professional Christian. Many who are professional Christians have serious hearts seeking the God who delivered them, but the office of the professional Christian attracts many who care not for the Lord but only seek after the gain they may receive by speaking great swelling words.

Although this description again does not help us with our topic, it is instructive to understand Jude’s position for the sake of the health of the church. Those who abandon truth to seek gain are not our allies. They are certain men who are condemned to perish.

Korah

Jude’s last character is Korah, the one who led a rebellion against Moses, God’s appointed leader.

Who do you identify in your life as God’s leader? For we need to know who our leader is in order to take the correct side, that we may determine who is walking as Korah did in the camp.

But let us be clear. There is one leader that pleases God in each of our experiences, and He is the One who sacrificed Himself for our sake. Any person who seeks to take His place as an authority in a Christian’s life is following in the rebellion of Korah.

Each of these character’s Jude provides gives the believer, upon reflection, good direction as to those who may be of danger within a congregation. It is for the believer to reflect on these characteristics and to first of all, check our own condition before the Lord. These certain men above are warnings for the church, and we ignore them to our detriment. But within these descriptions, there does not seem to be any clear teaching regarding our topic of conditional security.

Until our next verse. And I will admit that my understanding of Jude’s phrasing in this verse lends itself to various interpretations, so I try not to go beyond the limits he allows with his statements.

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;

The phrase I will bring to your attention is “shepherds feeding themselves”. Why does this perk my ears up? I suppose those who attain to a status of shepherd would have shown life at one time in their witness. Now granted, I may be inserting my understanding into this phrase, but consider.

As a body starts to meet, opportunities to minister are various and abundant, and for a believer to exercise the gifts given to him or her, amongst a small, close knit group of believers, allows for a very personal examination of the believers way of life. Passion for the Lord, a commitment to others, a desire to see God’s will expanded in the area all signal to the life of God in a person. These who exercise this type of passion commonly “float” to the top in the body, and become shepherds of others. And in doing so, open themselves to temptations that may be destructive, as we saw above.

Paul took up this subject when he warned Timothy that young men should not to take on leadership roles too early, for fear the converts fall into condemnation of the devil. (We will address this verse under the Conditional Security topic in a separate post!)

1 Timothy 3:6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Although Jude does not directly address our current topic in every verse we have reviewed, many times he provides teaching that does not refute the teaching. During my time in the OSAS camp, I found that this passage was great for condemning every teacher that I didn’t like, or that didn’t carry water for my denomination, but I fear there is more to this passage than a simple us / them mentality. Jude is warning us of serious dangers that are lurking in the camp, and we need to be diligent in assessing our own hearts, judging our own actions, and being open to the leading of the Spirit in relation to the attitude, lifestyle and submission of those who seek to lead us in the way of God.

The Lord taught us of these men, and I will finish with His words.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The thieves are abundant! God is good! The difference makes all the difference!

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