Turning God’s Grace into Lasciviousness (4)

“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.”  Jude 4.

In our last three articles we were discussing  an important question sent in by a reader concerning the passage in Jude 4.  I quote the entire question.  “Of course, this verse is one of the relatively few times the NT mentions reprobation.  My question is about the phrase, ‘turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.’  I have seen this phrase used to teach that God’s sovereign grace is resistible when shown to the wicked reprobate.  I know that that explanation is in error.  But what does the phrase mean?  And why is the phrase used in a verse about the reprobate?  Were the false teachers antinomians who were perverting the truth of salvation by grace to excuse immoral behavior?  Does the ‘grace of our God’ refer to the grace God has shown to the Christians in the church, which the false teachers were distorting, rather than grace that was actually shown to the false teachers (since they received none)?”

After discussing a few other important elements in this passage in Jude, we discussed the main question of the reader: “What is meant by the clause which describes these ungodly men as changing the grace of God into lasciviousness?”

It is correct, as the reader suggests, that the idea is that these ungodly men change the doctrine of sovereign grace into lasciviousness.  They were antinomians and, to use the expression of the reader, they perverted the truth of salvation by grace to excuse immoral behavior.

It was the doctrine of grace which was distorted, a doctrine truly confessed by the believers and a doctrine only outwardly confessed by these ungodly men.  It was the doctrine of sovereign grace, not only, but the doctrine of particular grace.

These men are described as "ungodly."  Literally that word means to denote a lack of reverence towards God.  They profess to believe in God and in the truth.  But their hearts are not right before God, for they do not live in fear of Him.  And this is the reason why they feel perfectly free to change God's glorious truth of sovereign grace into lasciviousness.

That great sin of lack of reverence is further described in the text as a denial of "the only Lord God, and our Savior Jesus Christ."

That is indeed a striking expression.  While they profess to believe in the truth of God, by changing God's grace into lasciviousness, they in fact deny God and deny Christ.

We ought to notice how serious this is because the sin of these men is very common today.  They deny God the only Lord, the text says.  The word "Lord" here is really "Despot."  That word is used in several places in the NT as referring to God triune.  The word does not have the pejorative connotations which we give it, but the truth that God is absolute Lord Who alone is to be worshipped, adored, and served in faithful service.

When these ungodly men walk in all the lusts of the flesh, they in fact deny God, even though they outwardly profess faith in Him.  They deny Him because they will not serve Him Who is Lord and Who demands such service.

But they also deny the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of the church in Whom alone is found all of salvation.  Christ saves so completely that He gives His people the grace of sanctification as well as all other graces.  That means that Christ gives His people grace to walk in holiness and obedience and to flee the lusts of the flesh and the wickedness of the world.

But these ungodly men who claim to believe the truth walk in the very sins from which Christ has delivered His people by grace.  They thus deny Christ by their life when in fact they claim to confess Him.

What  scathing denunciation that is of many in the church today who profess to believe the truth, but who walk in all the ways of wickedness.