Jude (2012‪)‬ Dr. Robert L. Dean Jr.

Jude (2012) - 18 - Angelic Conflict - Sons of God: Apostates, Autocrats, or Angels [b]

Jude (2012) - 17 - Angelic Conflict: Judgment on the Genesis 6 Angels [b]

God judges the unbelief of unbelievers AND unbelieving believers. Jude is addressing believers in the church about unbelieving false teachers who have invaded their church and challenges them to defend the faith. Identify Jude’s description of them throughout this book that proves they are unbelievers. Understand the three phases of “saving” for the believer and how it can relate to deliverance, specifically the Passover event. Understand why God judged the unbelief of most of the twelve sent to spy out the Land before entering it and how this resulted in God's judgment of an entire generation of believers. God will forgive and forgive, but a time comes when strongholds of unbelief result in consequences for the believer.

It was Jude’s intention to write about soteriology, but the Holy Spirit challenges him to deal with false teachers who had infiltrated this congregation. Find out how two systems of thought, autonomy and antagonism toward God, assert themselves in a culture and influence thought independent from Biblical Truth. Review rationalism, empiricism and mysticism as viewpoints centered on man’s abilities and how faith undergirds these viewpoints. It is the object of faith that separates this faith from Biblical faith. What is the flaw in multiculturalism? How do we know these false teachers are unbelievers, succeeding as saboteurs, fitting in in order to corrupt Truth? How does Jude describe these men and God’s judgment on them in the succeeding verses?

We all grow up in cultures and subcultures which cause us to view the world through a distinctive lens. Parents can protect children through creating a spiritual filter, presetting a mental attitude which confronts every lie with absolute Truth. This allows children to create a defense to worldly exposures prior to being bombarded with them. In order to counter bad ideas we must know what they are and prepare to do battle with the ways they creep into our thinking. Contending for the faith is an intense, daily struggle which demands knowledge of the opposition and an even more thorough reinforcement of Truth. See the contrast between Biblical Christianity and Post Modernism which has invaded our culture and threatened the foundation of our Truth.

We are involved in a high priority battle for Truth. In order to know what we are up against we must study philosophical trends in history and how they formed the cultures of their times. Learn about basic thoughts and methods in Rationalism, Empiricism, Mysticism, Modernism and Post Modern thought. We cannot escape the influence of our own culture and how it serves to dictate behavior. But that’s our challenge. In our study of God’s Word we are called upon to filter out truth from the lie. This is hard work. The movement in our lifetime from Modernism to Post Modern thought is devastating. The consequence for such thought is the complete destruction of that culture. Knowing Truth is not enough. Truth will illuminate error and courage is required to confront the lie.