Everything Jude Says
About These People |
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Actions |
Beliefs |
Description |
Judgment |
| Ungodly persons (v.4). | Deny Jesus Christ (v.4). | Crept in unnoticed (v.4). | Long beforehand marked out for condemnation (v.4). |
| Turn grace into licentiousness (v.4). | Reject authority (v.8). | They are hidden reefs in your love-feasts (v.12). | By what they do know, they are destroyed (v.10). |
| Indulge in gross immorality like the Sodomites (v.7). | Revile angelic majesties (v.8). | They feast with you without fear (v.12). | They have gone the way of Cain (v.11). |
| Went after strange flesh (v.7). | Revile things they do not understand (v.10). | Caring for themselves (v.12). | For pay, they rush into the error of Balaam (v.11). |
| By dreaming, defile the flesh (v.8). | Flattering people to gain an advantage (v.16). | Clouds without water (v.12). | They perished in the rebellion of Korah (v.11). |
| Following after their own lusts (v.16). | The ones who cause division (v.19). | Autumn trees without fruit (v.12). | |
| Prophecy in the last time, there shall be mockers (v.18). | Worldly-minded (v.19). | Wild waves of the sea (v.13). | |
| Prophecy in the last time, following after their own lusts (v.18). | Casting up their shame like foam (v.13). | ||
| Wandering stars (v.13). | |||
| These are grumblers (v.16). | |||
| Finding fault (v.16) | |||
| They speak arrogantly (v.16). | |||
| Devoid of the Spirit (v.19). | |||
Apostasy Defined |
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Apostate |
Unbeliever |
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| Falling away from God and His truths having once received them. Men can be saved from ignorance, but not from willful rejection. God continues to "speak" to the apostate, but they continue to not listen. | |
Examples of Apostates and Backsliders |
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| Ge.5; 2Pe.2:7 | Lot is called "righteous" (2Pe.2:7). (2Pe.2:8 "his righteous soul tormented day after day."). [Backslider]. |
| 1Sa.15:11 | King Saul, who turned back from following the Lord. |
| 1Ti.1:19-20 | Hymenaeus and Alexander, who "suffered shipwreck" of their faith. |
| 2Ti.4:10 | Demas, who forsook Paul because he loved this present world. |
Apostasy in the Church |
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Warnings |
Its Nature |
Increases in Times of Trial |
Impossibility of Restoration |
| 1Ti.4:1 "But the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons." | 1Ti.4:1 falling from the faith. | Mt.24:9-10 "9Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. 10And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another." | He.6:4-6 "4For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame." |
| 2 Th.2:3 "Let no one in any way
deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction." –The day of Christ. |
He.3:12 falling from the living God. | Lu.8:13 "And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away." | He.10:26 "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries." |
| 2Pe.3:17 "You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness" | |||
Apostasy Influence |
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| Mt.24:11 "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many." | 2Ti.4:3-4 "3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; 4and will turn their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths." |
| Ga.2:4 "But it was because of the
false brethren who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in
order to bring us into bondage." Here it probably is unbelievers ("false brethren"). |
2Pe.2:1-2 "1But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;" |
| Ga.1:6-8 "6I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel." | Jd. 3-4 "3Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." |
| From these passages, it is clear that apostasy was and will be a real problem the church will need to confront. This may take on different forms, but the result usually will be (1) to deny the deity of Christ and (2) to deny the simplicity of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone (another gospel). | |
What Happens to Apostates? |
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| 1Co.11:29-30 1Co.5:5 |
God brings them back through suffering and chastisement |
| 1Co.11:30 | God removes them through death. |
| He.6:1-6; 10:26-31 | God allows them to remain, but they willfully reject God’s method of repentance. |
| Jd.4, 10, 11 | God will judge the Apostate. |
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What is the difference between backsliding and Apostasy? – Both have believed!ANSWER:
With the backslider there is still a desire for the things of God. They still want to do what is right, though their lives may not show it. An apostate has no desire for God. He does what he does for selfish reasons. God still "speaks," through the conscience and the Holy Spirit, to both. The conscience of the backslider is telling him he is wrong. The conscience of the apostate is seared, and appears to no longer communicate to him, good or bad, his spiritual state.?
What is the difference between an unbeliever and an apostate?ANSWER:
An unbeliever has never believed in Christ. An apostate has believed in Christ, but has willfully rejected what he believed.Classes of Men |
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Class |
Description |
| Unbeliever | One who has never believed in Christ. |
| Believer | One who has believed in Christ. |
| Backslider | One who has believed in Christ, but whose life may not reflect that belief. This person has a spiritual desire for God. |
| Apostate | One who has believed in Christ, but has willfully rejected that belief. This person has no spiritual desire for God, but only selfishness. |
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Is false doctrine and apostasy the same?ANSWER:
No. Apostates may teach false doctrine, but they are not the same. False doctrine is based on ignorance. Men can be saved from ignorance. Apostasy is a willful rejection of God and His truths.?
What do the Believer, Backslider, and the Apostate have in common?ANSWER:
They have all believed in Christ.?
In a practical sense, what does this all mean to us?ANSWER:
We need to watch out for false teachers.We need to earnestly contend for "the faith."
There is going to be a great apostasy prior to Christ’s return.
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