Why does God warn believers about false teachers creeping in?
God warns believers because false teachers secretly creep into congregations, looking sanctioned and credentialed while actually ungodly. They turn God's grace into lasciviousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Since God foreknew their condemnation, He alerts believers to be careful and earnestly contend for the faith once delivered.
Les teaches that Jude's burden was to exhort believers to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. The reason is verse 4: certain men, not many but enough, crept in unawares. Les points out that a false teacher does not openly announce he is adding poison to the good stuff; he comes in as perfectly sanctioned, with all the credentials, yet he is a false teacher. This has been a warning from day one. God in His foreknowledge knew what these men would do, and that is why He warns the believer to be careful. They were before of old ordained to this condemnation—God's condemnation. In reality they are ungodly, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So the warning is for believers to be careful and contend for the faith, recognizing that false teachers creep in secretly and are not what they appear.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
More Questions
How do false teachers enter a church?
False teachers do not announce themselves as false; they enter a church or denomination appearing perfectly sanctioned and credentialed, yet they are false teachers.
What does it mean that certain men crept in unawares in Jude 4?
The phrase 'certain men crept in unawares' means they entered secretly into the midst of the congregation without the people knowing what they really were.