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1:1 [Martin Luther also denied this book because it conflicted with his justified only by faith doctrine, which faith he defined as belief in Jesus being the Son of God. Jude, a natural brother of Jesus, strongly disputes the doctrine of grace justifying a believing man still walking after his own lusts, saying that it is twisting grace into a fictitious license for immorality; and that the people who were teaching it were covetous for money, destined to be destroyed in blackest darkness.]
Jude, the bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called and sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
1:2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
1:3 Beloved, while I was diligent to write to you about the common salvation, I found it necessary to write and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered to the saints.
1:4 For there are certain men who have crept in unnoticed, written about long ago, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lawlessness and wantonness, a license for immorality; and deny and disown our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.1 [These men twisted grace from a teaching process that leads to purity, to be an excuse for continuing to sin. By claiming grace excuses all sin, these men denied and disowned Jesus as their Lord and Master, who said, "repent or perish, and sin no more." It is not what one says that makes Jesus their Lord or Master, but their deeds — disregard and disobedience of his teachings and commands denies him as Lord and Master.]
1:5 Therefore I will remind you, though you once knew this, how the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
1:6 And the angels who did not keep their first place, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
1:7 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them who gave themselves over to sexual immorality and perversion, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
1:8 These filthy dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignities.
1:9 Yet even Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, as he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring a railing accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you."
1:10 But these people speak evil of things that they do not understand; and they corrupt themselves by those things that they know naturally, like unreasoning beasts.
1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and have run greedily after the error of Balaam for pay, and have perished in the gainsaying [rebellion] of Korah.
1:12 These are spots in your feasts of love, where they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever.
1:14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes in2 thousands and thousands of his saints,
1:15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds that they have committed, and of all the hard things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
1:16 These are grumblers and complainers, walking after their own lusts; their mouth speaks great flattering words, admiring men in order to gain advantage.
1:17 But, beloved, remember the words that were spoken before from the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
1:18 How they told you there would be mockers in the last time, who would walk after their own ungodly lusts.
1:19 These are those who separate themselves [cause divisions], sensual, not having the Spirit.3
1:20 But you, beloved, build up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
1:21 Keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring eternal life.4
1:22 Refute and convict those who quarrel with you. Have compassion and mercy on some who are doubting;
1:23 Save others, snatching them out of the fire; on others have pity but with fear, hating even to touch the hem of their garments polluted by their fleshly indulgences [sensuality].
1:24 Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
1:25 To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen._________________________________________
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1 For certain men, whose condemnation was written about long ago, have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny and disown our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. Grace has been twisted into lies from a process of teaching of repentance, leading to purity, to have become a license for immorality and continuing in our sinful natures with no repentance required. By claiming grace excuses all sin, all such men deny Jesus as their Lord and Master, who said, "repent or perish, and sin no more." Jude shows us that this evil perversion of doctrine began 2000 years ago in the early church. They were written about long ago by Moses when he wrote about Cain, Balaam, and Korah, the forefathers of these perverse Christians who change grace into wantonness, licentiousness, or a license to sin.
Having crept in among the sanctified Christians, they too would be claiming to be Christians. Of course they would say that they believe in Jesus and God, but they denied and disowned him as their actual only master and ruling Lord God, by their words, thoughts, and deeds; they denied the necessity of the controlling anointing of Christ's spirit to rule their hearts. They deny the necessity of Jesus to be their actual Lord and Master, perfectly controlling our thoughts, words, and deeds. On the night Judas betrayed Jesus, leading the mob to arrest him, Judas kissed Jesus and called him Master, as he said: "Hail Master;" but by his actions of betrayal he denied Jesus to be his Lord and Master. Christendom denies and disowns Jesus too by teaching instant salvation by grace, while ignoring Jesus' teachings of salvation's exclusions, requirements, and qualifying conditions. To ignore his teachings and commands, is to deny and disown Jesus as Lord and Master. Jesus is not Lord or Master of anyone who still sins: as he said, Truly, Truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. John 8:34. If you are still sinning, you are still walking according to the ways of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], Eph 2:2-3; Satan is your Lord.
These false Christians deny the narrow way's result of Jesus being in total control of them, while professing the broad-easy way's false doctrine of instant salvation: Christ having paid for all your sins: past, present, and future; consequence-free sin. They deny the necessity of repentance, perfection - purity - and holiness, all made possible by carrying the inward cross of self-denial. These were fleshly men - unperfected false ministers, uncrucified, without having received the Spirit of God through obedience. The false gospel of grace was being sold as salvation 2000 years ago; unfortunately false, instant salvation, has become universal today, with all sects being deficit sects. And so, the warning of Hebrews 10:29 applies to Christendom today:
The false church has made the blood of Jesus an excuse for evil, and therefore they have make his blood and unholy thing; and so they trample on Jesus and show contempt for grace. What is worse, they have changed the covenant, which Isaiah prophesied would result in the Lord devouring the earth, with few men left. Isa 24:5-6; which time fast approaches, and in which all who sin will be removed from the earth, not with water as in Noah's time, but with a scourge.
It is the Lord who is supposed to appoint by gift his preachers, teachers and evangelists, whose sole purpose is the perfection of the saints. Eph 4:-11-13.
No unperfected person can fulfill the ministry's function, which is the perfection of the saints; any unperfected teacher/preacher is a false minister, not having been appointed or gifted by God. Jesus specifically warns us that unperfected ministers are blind guides and tells us to leave them. Luke 6:39-45, Mat 15:14. Any unperfected minister, by his unauthorized and false preaching or teaching, denies Jesus as Lord and Master.
It is the Lord who is supposed to send the workers to the fields of harvest, Mat 9:38, but today's ministers have not been appointed nor have they been sent by direct orders. They are man-appointed, man-taught, and man-sent, and as such they are not Christ's. Instead, they are Satan's ministers transformed to appear as ministers of righteousness, 2 Cor 11:14-15.
Peter even warned us to be careful with Paul's letters, the false gospel's source, (which was Romans and 1 Corinthians), that they were easily misunderstood:even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you; As in all his letters, speaking in them of these things; in which some things are hard to understand, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest [twist], as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.
Therefore, beloved, since you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. 2 Peter 3:15-17. (If you only partially read Romans, you can easily misunderstand grace, thinking you need do nothing but have faith in Jesus; but if you look at the whole letter, as it was intended to be read, you know you have to kill your sinful nature to be pleasing to God. Look at Paul's Romans 8:8, Romans 8:13, Phil 2:12, Galatians 5:19-24, 2 Cor 7:1, 1 Thes 4:7, 1 Cor 15:34, and I declared.. that they should repent and turn to God, and do works consistent with repentance. Acts 26:20 if you have any doubt.)This doctrine of guilt-free sin is the intoxicating cup that the Whore of Babylon offers and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication," Rev 17:2; the wine of her fornication is the false promise of living in lusts and pride with no consequence of the fury of God. And the whole world has drunk from her cup and follows this Whore who pretends to be the bride of Christ, riding the beast with horns like a lamb, (appearing to look like Christ).
2 Behold the Lord comes in thousands and thousands of his saints. The King James original says "with" his saints, not "in." George Fox has a list of translation errors which he knew were wrong, including this one, and then checked the original Greek to support his statement. You too can see that the translators had a choice between with and in. The translators were all unregenerated men of the false church, and so had no idea what the Lord's coming (or appearing, or arising, or come into) even was. It never occurred to them that the Lord appeared "in" individuals who had been purified by his grace on the inward cross of self-denial, and so they naturally translated it as "with." You can see the options of the word "with [1722] " in the full verse by hovering your mouse over the underlined number "1722," or by clicking here for the detail of 1722. You can see the optional definitions of the translated word "coming," by hovering over the word "coming [2064] ," in the full verse, or by clicking here for the detail of 2064 .
3 These false prophets are covetous, still living in their sinful nature. Flattering men to obtain control over them. Speaking words from their carnal minds, not from the Spirit of God, as do the true ministers. Preaching for money, not because they were sent by God; but claiming to be God's ministers. Here is what God said he would do to such people claiming to represent him, when he never directly authorized them: I will bring upon them an everlasting reproach and perpetual shame that will never be forgotten, Jer 23:40.
And Peter also described such men:
This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority, [such as the Apostles who tried to correct them]. 2 Peter 2:10
....Then continuing with 2 Peter 2:12
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast [hearing the Word spoken in fellowship] with you. With eyes full of adultery, [lovers of money and the world instead of God] they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness, [they preached for money, which Peter prohibited]. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness. [Fox said his era's ministers' spiritual progress was less than that of Balaam's ass because the ass spoke the Word of the Lord, but the ministers could not even hear the Lord's voice, much less speak the Word of the Lord; they could only quote the Bible; exactly like the ministers today.]
These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words, and by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those [lustful desires of sinful nature] who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 2 Peter 2:17-20. (And Jesus said, I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. John 8:34)
And Paul also spoke of false Christians who opposed the crucifixion of the sinful nature:
Brothers, be followers of me, and observe those who walk after the pattern we have set, so that you have us for an example.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose end is destruction, whose God is their stomach [appetites], and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. Phil 3:17-19For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13
As long as we live in our sinful nature, we are unruly and incapable of being ruled, controlled, or led by a Lord or King. So, if you want Jesus to be your Lord and King, you must put to death your selfish, sinful nature by repentance to purity on the inward cross of self-denial.See George Fox's Excellent Writing on The False Teachers in Christianity.
4 Beloved, while I was diligent to write to you about the common salvation, I found it necessary to write and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered to the saints. Keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring eternal life. Jude 1:3,21. Now if you think that just believing is all that is necessary, for what are you advised to contend? And if you think you are instantly saved by believing, why would the brother of Jesus be writing believers that they must keep themselves in the love of God, looking (future tense) for Jesus to bring eternal life? Do you think you are a more special Christian than those in the early Church, founded by the Apostles, who were looking for a future bringing by Jesus of eternal life to them in their lifetime? Eternal life is brought by Jesus at the completion of one's salvation in all generations of those who have the hope and have purified themselves! He will appear the second time, not to bear sin, but to bring full salvation to those who are waiting for and expecting him. Heb 9:28.
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