Study in the Epistle of Jude # 21: Verse 5

by Chris McCann

EBible Fellowship (http://www.ebiblefellowship.com)

Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are currently going through the book of Jude. We have come to verse 5, where God speaks about having saved Israel out of the land of Egypt but afterward destroying them. God was saying through Jude (who wrote this Epistle under the inspiration of God):

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this…

We have seen that God has warned the New Testament church very definitely and very plainly to look at national Israel and to take their history as an example. They rebelled against God and were unfaithful to His Law, and as a result, He judged them. We have seen a few verses that point this out. In Romans 11, we saw that God was speaking of Israel using the figure of branches that were cut off. God uprooted the natural branches, the nation of Israel, and grafted on the Gentiles, the New Testament church. Romans 11:20 says:

Well; because of unbelief they were broken off…

This is speaking about Israel. They perished in the wilderness due to unbelief. Hebrews 3:18-19 says:

And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Then Hebrews 4:1-2 gives the warning to the New Testament church:

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

When God says in Romans 11 that “because of unbelief they were broken off,” it was not because they did not have the Gospel. They did have it. They had it in figures and types and signs. They also had the Word of God. Some of them (very few, though) did become saved, and Joshua and Caleb in the wilderness would have been two examples. However, the overwhelming majority of them perished in the wilderness due to unbelief (Hebrews 3:19).

In Romans 11, God is speaking of the whole nation, the whole corporate body, of Israel, and saying that they were broken off because of unbelief. We have wondered how many of them were broken off. What kind of judgment was it that God brought upon Israel, the natural branches? We have seen that it was a one-hundred-percent, total and complete judgment against them. They would no longer be the holy people of God. They would no longer have any blessing of God. They would no longer have the salvation of God in their worship services. They were completely broken off.

Now God says to the New Testament church in Romans 11:20-21:

Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

This is a warning to look at what God did to Israel, and not be puffed up in your mind. The implication in verse 21 is that the churches and congregations, which are composed mostly of Gentiles, also might not be spared if God spared not the natural branches.

How can the New Testament church think that they are above the judgment of God? How can they think that there is no possibility that God could judge them and cut them off in the same way He cut off Israel?

God speaks directly to that question. Is it possible that God could deal with the New Testament churches and congregations in a similar manner as He dealt with national Israel? The answer is yes, definitely yes. Romans 11:22 assures us of that. We read there:

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

The New Testament church’s relationship to God is conditional. Its continuance in the goodness of God, in the blessed condition of being recipients of God’s grace and having the Gospel blessed in their churches, is conditional. If the church is to stay in the goodness of God, it must continue in God’s goodness.

We have seen that that word “goodness” is found in Titus 3:4 where it is translated as “kindness”—”When the kindness of God appeared.” That word is pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. They must continue in Christ, in the Gospel of Christ, in the doctrine of Christ, in the Word of God, because Christ is the Word. They must continue to faithfully be obedient to the commands of God in the Bible; otherwise, they also shall be cut off.

There is no mistaking the warning, the admonition that God is giving. It is very possible, He is saying, for the church to suffer the same fate as Old Testament Israel. They cannot think that because this is the New Testament period, they somehow can be passed over by the judgment of God if they go after other gods as Israel did. Yet the churches do not recognize this. They do not see the warning that God is giving to them. They think, “Well, Israel was under the first covenant. We are under a better covenant—the covenant of grace.”

This is a misapplication of the whole Gospel of grace. By grace alone—that is how God saves individuals, it is true. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves.” However, that is not so of the corporate body. Israel in the Old Testament was in a works relationship with God, and, likewise, the corporate body of the New Testament, the church as a whole, stands in a works relationship.

We can see this clearly when we think of what happens when a church becomes too disobedient—God gives them up. He has done this repeatedly during the New Testament age. Churches have gone after other gospels, and God has forsaken them and left them. Now if the church were in a grace relationship to God, God would have to overlook all its sins and erroneous doctrines, even if it became another gospel. That would be a grievous sin, but all sin is forgiven when God is bestowing His grace.

Yet, churches were cast off. Individual churches or even whole denominations, when they began to add to or subtract from the Word of God, were cast off. Therefore, we see that they were definitely bound to keep the Law of God. Churches must be faithful to the Word of God. They must keep His Word and obey it. Therefore, they stand in a works relationship.

In Acts 15, we read about some Judaizers, a sect of the Pharisees that believed. These Pharisees were teaching the newly formed churches that it was needful to circumcise the Gentiles who were coming in, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses. This was becoming quite a problem in the early church to the point where they held a council in Jerusalem, over which James presided. We read in Acts 15:13-20:

And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world…

We are about to read the conclusion of this council concerning the question before them of whether or not the Gentiles should be circumcised, and whether or not they ought to keep the law of Moses as this sect of the Pharisees was saying. Their answer is coming directly from the Holy Spirit. These are God’s commandments for the New Testament church:

Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

These are the commandments for the New Testament churches and congregations. In Acts 15:28-29 it says:

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

All the Old Testament laws, the ceremonial laws, the sacrificial laws, and all the laws that the Jews were called upon to keep—many of them were pointing to the sacrifice of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, they were done away with. Circumcision is a prime example. The Jews were called upon to circumcise their children and to be circumcised themselves. This pointed to the shedding of blood—the Messiah would come through the seed of Israel to shed His blood for the sins of His people.

Yet now, Christ had come, so it was no longer necessary to keep this sign of circumcision. That sect of the Pharisees that believed was definitely wrong and incorrect in their understanding. God no longer wanted to place the sign of circumcision upon His people; the New Testament sign would be baptism, the washing away of sin.

Are there no laws then for the New Testament church to obey? No. We find that the council in Jerusalem did establish some laws for the New Testament church. It was not a long list of laws—there are only four. It is nothing like the laws that were given to Old Testament Israel, where we could read through Leviticus and Deuteronomy and Numbers and other places in the Old Testament, and read law after law regarding this ceremony and that ceremony.

We must remember that the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, was instrumental in this. This is the Law of God for the New Testament churches and congregations, and they were bound to keep these laws. “We write unto them, that they (1) abstain from pollutions of idols, and (2) from fornication, and (3) from things strangled, and (4) from blood.” Four laws for the churches—this definitely was a lessening of the burden placed upon Old Testament Israel. Yet still, these were the commandments of God, the Holy Spirit, which He laid upon the congregations.

What do these laws mean? What kind of laws are these? Why is it that God chose these four laws for the churches to obey? What if they did not obey these laws? What would happen if the church failed to keep them? We will see that if the church was disobedient to any of these laws, they could be held accountable by God, and He could bring His judgment upon them. He could, during the Church Age, forsake a particular church or denomination. Why? Because they had broken these laws.

As we get toward the end of time in the period of the Great Tribulation, we are going to see that God visits the churches and congregations of the world to see if they are obeying these four laws that were given at the council at Jerusalem in the first century AD. It is God’s pleasure to enforce the Law. It is His pleasure to come at a time appointed, and say, “At this time, you are not keeping My Law.” Even though it could have been for many years or hundreds of years that these laws were being broken, yet God in His good pleasure allowed the church to continue on. He did not bring about its destruction until a set time, exactly as it was with the nation of Israel.

Israel was given the Law of God and they continually broke it; yet, God put up with it. He endured longsufferingly the nation of Israel for many hundreds of years until certain times when He would bring His judgment upon them. Then finally, after about two thousand years from their formation, God completely forsook Israel and abandoned them when Christ went to the Cross and “the veil of the temple was rent in twain” (Matthew 27:51). That was the time when God had decided to visit Israel and to bring judgment upon them for their failure to keep His law.

It is the same with the church. God has picked a certain time, the time right near the end of the world during the Great Tribulation, when He is going to visit the church and examine the congregations of the world to see if they have been faithful. Have they kept these laws that the Holy Spirit gave through James and this council at Jerusalem? Have they abstained from pollutions of idols? Have they abstained from fornication? Have they abstained from things strangled? Have they abstained from blood?

It is all according to His timing. We are seeing, as God is visiting the church in our day, that they have broken the Law. They have broken the law that they were bound to. They had to keep these laws; if they did not, God could hold them responsible.

What are these laws pointing to? What does it mean to abstain from pollutions of idols? We saw in verse 29, “Abstain from meats offered to idols.” The same kind of language as this is found in 1 Corinthians 8:1. We read there:

Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

“Things offered unto idols”—this verse is dealing with the same information. Why does God begin to speak here touching things offered unto idols? The word “touching” is, I believe, better understood as “concerning”—”concerning things offered unto idols.” Then immediately, He begins to speak of knowledge. What does knowledge have to do with “concerning things offered unto idols”?

God says, “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” This is somewhat disturbing to us. Does God not want us to learn? Are not His people encouraged to study the Bible and to gain knowledge (2 Timothy 2:15)? Does He not tell us to grow in the grace and knowledge of God (2 Peter 3:18)?

If knowledge “puffeth up,” then we would not want any part of it. We do not want to be puffed up proudly. We do not want to have pride in our lives. We do not want to have the foot of pride come against us, which brings the wrath of God. God resisteth the proud (James 4:6). What is the solution then? What are we to do?

God wants us to learn about Him, but at the same time, He says that knowledge puffs one up. The answer to this is that He is saying that knowledge, the true knowledge of the Bible, does not puff an individual up. Learning through God’s methodology and comparing Scripture with Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:13) is not going to puff anyone up. If we are learning the truth of God’s Word, and we are a true child of God, this is a wonderful thing. God wants us to learn more and more each day. He wants us to learn about Him. What is in view here is fleshly knowledge or the natural mind.

Let us turn to Colossians 2:18, which says:

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

That is what puffs up an individual; that is what puffs up a professing Christian who is studying the Bible—a fleshly mind. When someone has a fleshly mind, they have a natural mind, which indicates that they are not saved. As they are learning theology, or whatever topic they are on from the Scriptures, it is only going to serve to puff them up. They are not truly humbled. They do not have that broken and contrite spirit that comes with salvation, but rather a proud heart. Anyone in that kind of condition, as they learn about the things of God, will be puffed up. Also, they will tend to learn erroneous things. They will tend to lean toward wrong doctrines. This is because they do not have the Spirit and they do not have the ability to discern spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14). They are going to end up with wrong doctrines and possibly even a wrong gospel.

This is what is being offered unto idols. An idol is a false god. When someone has a false doctrine or a false gospel, they are not offering that up to the true God, but to false gods, to Satan himself. That is why we read about meat being offered to idols. Meat has to do with doctrines. In Hebrews 13:9, we read:

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

Doctrines—that is what is in view here. If we look at this verse carefully, we see that the doctrines are related to meats. That is what God is saying about abstaining from meat offered unto idols. Abstain from “divers and strange doctrines,” from things that puff up the fleshly mind, from this type of knowledge that is not beneficial to anyone and that is harmful to the weak brother. If we would continue reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, we would see that. “Abstain from this; avoid this,” God is commanding the church. He is commanding the pastors and the elders and the deacons to stay on the right course, to preach the true and faithful Word of God and to avoid things that are offered unto idols.

In our next study, we are going to look at this a little more. Lord willing, we are going to go through these four laws that were given to the New Testament churches and congregations.