Hidden reefs in your feasts of charity

Jude is one of the most astounding letters in the New Testament. It is short, its writer did not write any other part of Scripture, and it very tightly and briefly sticks to just one subject, which is not in fact the subject that Jude wanted to write about initially. It is also very closely paralleled with II Peter 2, similar to the parallels between Ephesians and Colossians, except that these were both written by Paul. The  necessary repetition illustrates the grave importance of its contents.

None of this is what makes it astounding. It is astounding because of the subject that Jude chose not to write about: our common salvation (Jude 1:3). What could be more important than that? This calls us to sit up and take notice. Jude tells us that he had to write instead to exhort us to earnestly contend for the faith. The word "earnestly contend" is used only here in all of Scripture. The same verb (without the prefix here translated "earnestly") is elsewhere translated as "strive" or simply "fight".

This is often taken to be an urgent call to polemics in theological writing and to apologetics generally. While it certainly includes and implies that application, this is not primarily what Jude has in mind. What Jude is concerned about primarily is the exercise of right judgement in the practice of church discipline. Specifically, that such judgement ought to recognize the terrible implications of the doctrine of reprobation for church membership, namely, that there are reprobate hypocrites in the church for whom there is no possibility of remediation and salvation.

The letter is entirely composed around this subject:

1. Jude warns us that ungodly men who were eternally reprobated have secretly infiltrated the church (Jude 1:4).
2. Jude tells us to remember that unbelieving reprobate were among God's people brought out of Egypt in the Old Testament and even among the angels so that we do not deny the possibility of their existence (Jude 1:5-6).
3. Jude highlights Sodom and Gomorrah as specifically designed examples of God's vengeance on the wicked so we do not doubt the end God has appointed for them (Jude 1:7).
4. Jude outlines various characteristics of these dangerous reprobate hypocrites within the church so that we may recognize and rightly identify them when they expose themselves (recall that they attempt, with significant success, to hide these characteristics):
1. ungodly (Jude 1:4; 15)
2. abusing the grace of God as a license for lasciviousness (Jude 1:4)
3. denying the Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:4)
4. unbelieving (Jude 1:5)
5. giving themselves over to fornication (Jude 1:7)
6. going after strange flesh, e.g. homosexuality, paedophilia, bestiality (Jude 1:7)
7. filthy dreamers who defile the flesh (Jude 1:8)
8. despisers of authority, ignorantly speaking evil against those in office (Jude 1:8-10)
9. corrupting themselves like beasts even in what they know naturally (Jude 1:10)
10. murderous followers of Cain (Jude 1:11)
11. abusing their gifts and office for material gain like Balaam (Jude 1:11)
12. rebellious gainsayers like Korah (Jude 1:11)
13. blasphemers (Jude 1:15)
14. murmurers and complainers (Jude 1:16)
15. walkers after their own lusts (Jude 1:16, 18)
16. capable of making impressive persuasive speeches (Jude 1:16)
17. manipulating and flattering those in power to gain advantage (Jude 1:16)
18. mockers (Jude 1:18)
19. schismatic (Jude 1:19)
20. unspiritual and sensual (Jude 1:19)
5. Jude contrasts their attitude toward authority with the archangel Michael's manner in contending  even with Satan (Jude 1:9).
6. Jude pronounces a curse on them as followers of cursed Cain, Balaam, and Korah and gives analogies to illustrate how cursed they are (Jude 1:11-13).
7. Jude applies Enoch's prophecy of the Lord's judgement and vengeance to them (Jude 1:14-15).
8. Jude reminds us that the apostles also wrote about such people (consider Paul's pastoral epistles, and Peter's general epistles, especially the second; Jude 1:17-18).
9. Jude tells us in contrast to continue building ourselves up in the faith, in prayer, walking in love, and trusting in Christ for mercy and eternal life (Jude 1:20-21).
10. Finally, Jude tells us to rightly distinguish between such reprobate hypocrites and sinning brethren whom we must attempt to save with compassion with great care for the fiery danger to ourselves and the evil pollution of their sin (Jude 1:22-23).
11. Lest we should be alarmed by the apostasy and judgement of God against these reprobate hypocrites, whom we had supposed to be sincere and beloved Christians, Jude ends with a doxology praising God for His ability to preserve us from falling and sanctify us (Jude 1:24-25). This mirrors his opening address to us as those who are being sanctified by God, preserved in Christ, and called, in distinction from the reprobate hypocrites he describes (Jude 1:1-2).

Notice that of the long list of characteristics, some of these are very general and simply necessarily the case: they are ungodly and unbelieving, even though secretly so. Some may only occur after they have perhaps been exposed and admonished: they become schismatic and perhaps later then even openly deny Christ. Others may be ongoing for years before discovered and recognized. What is remarkable is that none of these characteristics are explicitly or essentially doctrinal.

When Jude says that they deny the Lord, he does not mean that they start teaching Arianism or some other Christ-denying heresy. Heretics do deny Christ that way, and other letters speak of such false teachers, but it is not primarily what Jude has in view. He means that they deny the Lord by their evil and hypocritical lives. By abusing the grace of God as a cloak and license for sin, they deny the Lord.

Jude describes these people, not as openly repudiating Christ, but as hidden reefs in our feasts of charity (Jude 1:12). The ancient Christians, similar to today, would have meals of fellowship together, especially for the benefit of the poorer brethren. Jude means that the presence of these hypocrites meant that these meals became as dangerous as navigating a ship around hidden reefs. These reprobates are harmful to others, while also being cleverly concealed. They look like normal clouds, but they carry no water. They look like normal trees but their fruit withers, and really they have no fruit, being twice dead and even uprooted. They swell up and impress like powerful waves, but they foam out their shame. They look like normal stars, but like the planets, they move erratically, not staying in their courses, or like falling meteors, they disappear forever.

We can summarize the sinful characteristics listed above as basically four categories of antinomianism:

1. Sensuality like Sodom (Jude 1:4, 7-8, 10, 16, 18-19)
2. Rebellion like Korah (Jude 1:8-11, 16, 18-19)
3. Avarice like Balaam (Jude 1:11)
4. Hatred like Cain (Jude 1:11)

Any Christian may sin grievously in these general areas of his life, but what makes these hypocrites different is the depth and extent of their sin considering their knowledge of God and their outward hypocritical profession. They pursue these sins with impunity as long as they can get away with it because of their underlying attitude towards God. They behave this way because they fundamentally have no fear of God and are unbelieving. They know the truth, and they can speak very impressively about it, but they do not really love the truth. Having heard and understood the gospel, they infiltrate the church by a false profession and attempt to use the Christian religion as a cloak for their evil.

Compare this with Paul who was formerly an insolent blasphemer and zealous persecutor of the church. He explains that he found forgiveness only because he did so in ignorance and unbelief (I Tim. 1:13). He did not really know what he was doing, like any heathen. But when these hypocrites commit such enormous sins as a lifestyle and do so in hypocrisy over many years while claiming to be a Christian with careful deliberate deceptions through manipulating, flattering, and persuading others, they show themselves to be no different to apostates. That is, by such behaviour, they deny the Lord Jesus Christ, as really and firmly and definitively as an apostate.

This is not like the lamentable falls of David or Peter, though such falls may be as close as a Christian can come to this. Jude refers to the importance of making a distinction and having compassion on some. Astoundingly, for today's sensitive modern church, this means not having compassion on others. No compassion for the followers of Cain, Balaam, Korah, or Sodom in the church today.

Hebrews 6 speaks of apostates, as those who draw back in unbelief, for whom there is then no possibility of being renewed to repentance:

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned (Heb. 6:4-8).

Hebrews 10 then speaks of apostates who, having received the knowledge of the truth, continue to sin wilfully and presumptuously, i.e. treating the grace of God as license to sin as Jude describes:

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10:26-29)

These practical antinomians are covenant-breakers, subject to the worst punishment, and have no possibility of forgiveness as there is no sacrifice for their sins. Peter, in the parallel to Jude, says that their end is worse than if they had never joined the church and professed to know Christ at all (II Pet. 2:20-22).

John similarly warns against such antinomian hypocrites, calling these apostates "anti-christs" and children of the devil, lumping them together with those who deny that Jesus is the Christ, and comparing them also with Cain (I John 2:22; 3:12):

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (I John 2:4).

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us (I John 2:18-19).

Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother (I John 3:6-10).

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him (I John 3:14-15).

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (I John 4:20)

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death (I John 5:16-17).

John agrees with Jude here, that a distinction must be made. John tells us that some must be prayed for who have not sinned a sin unto death, as Jude says, we must have compassion on some. But John and Jude are not dealing with merely speculative or hypothetical situations when they describe those for whom there is no possibility of salvation, and more, whose salvation must not be sought inasmuch as God will not forgive their sins. These apostates, who deny Christ by their antinomian hypocrisy in the church, have committed the unforgiveable sin by blaspheming the Spirit.

Charitable and compassionate church members ought not to be wasting their time and offending God by praying for such people. Well-meaning and conscientious church office-bearers ought not to be wasting their time and offending God by trying to bring them to repentance when God has said that He will not renew them to repentance.

When such a hypocrite has been exposed, for example, as a serial killer, or a sexual predator, or a scheming rebel, or a greedy embezzler, so that he can be plainly seen to have denied Jesus Christ, such a person must ordinarily be viewed as an apostate. He is a candidate for anathemas, not loving church discipline (I Cor. 16:22). And Scripture gives us specific examples of such people.

An excellent example is Alexander the coppersmith, regarding whom Paul, far from praying for his repentance, prays that the Lord rewards him for his evil works (II Tim. 4:14). Paul prays this not out of spite, but out of a knowledge of Alexander's reprobation. Further, this knowledge was not by divine inspiration, but deduced simply from Alexander's apostasy. Not that he necessarily no longer claimed to be a Christian, but that he blasphemed like Hymenaeus (who claimed the resurrection was past already) and did much evil to the apostle Paul (note, Jude's characteristic of rebellion against those in authority). Paul does not tell Timothy to go a give Alexander a gentle pastoral visit to try again to admonish him to repent, but rather, he simply warns him to beware of this person.

In summary, Scripture no where teaches that the judgement of charity is a command to be naive. Rather we are given very many detailed warnings and examples, exhorting us to judge both charitably and righteously, echoing the principle the Lord taught us:

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matt. 10:16).

The Equality of Jews and Gentiles in the Church

In a previous blog post, I answered the objections of a brother who did not respond positively to my answer to his questions about amillennialism. Sadly, the brother continued to accuse me of allegorical interpretation, of eisegesis, of promoting "Replacement Theology" heresy, and of pride while failing to interact with the Scriptural arguments I had presented. To these, he added the charge of anti-semitism, claimed that I could not define the church, and claimed Revelation 20 cannot refer to the present time because Isaiah 65:20 teaches that there will be no infant death in the millennium and people would be living to 100 years of age. To his credit, he approved of my view on "salvific essentials," and advised me to pray about my view of eschatology and to keep searching. This blog post includes some of my answer.

Isaiah 65 refers to the eternal state in the new heavens and new earth (Isa. 65:17). It specifically says this in verse 17. It is also, incidentally, a vision using Old Testament pictures and earthly figures to illustrate what the eternal state will be like. If not interpreted as such, one would have to conclude that there is literally death still in the eternal state, which is absurd and contrary to all the rest of Scripture which speaks to the subject of eternal life (e.g., I Cor. 15:53-54). Update: Amazingly, his answer to my explanation of Isaiah 65 was that the "new heavens and new earth" referred to the millennial kingdom--not very literal for a dispensationalist!

I was not previously asked to define the church. Here is my definition: The church is the company of the predestinate. That is, all the elect in Christ from the beginning of history to the end. In the pre-diluvian world, the church was gathered from the line of Seth, until only Noah's family remained. Afterwards, the church was gathered from the line of Abraham. Now, the church is gathered from both Jews and Gentiles, as the Scripture says:

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham (Gal 3:7-9).

And again:

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him (Rom 10:12).

We are the circumcision: 

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3:3).

We are the true Jews: 

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God (Rom 2:28-29).

Do you, reader, call this heresy and antisemitism? Are you offended by this word? The Jews were also offended, and many to their eternal destruction, as Isaiah prophesied:

As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed (Rom 9:33).

Here is the offence to the unbelieving Jew, that the believer is blessed, and not the mere physical descendants:

And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham (Matt. 3:9).

Christ has broken the partition between Jew and Gentile by His cross. We share in the same inheritance and the same promises and the same kingdom:

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but **fellowcitizens** with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:11-21).

And again:

Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be **fellowheirs**, and **of the same body**, and **partakers of his promise** in Christ by the gospel (Eph. 3:4-6).

Not those of the law are heirs, but those of faith:

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect (Rom 4:13-14).

And the promise of Canaan was the promise of the world pictured by Canaan: the heavenly country which Abraham desired and looked for.

But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city (Heb. 11:16).

God is therefore ashamed of those who look for an earthly kingdom. The gospel which Christ came to preach, and which we believe and follow, is the gospel of the kingdom of heaven:

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15).

Saving the Nations by Casting Out the Prince of This World

The first printed map to show the world as a sphere from 1515 was a collaboration between Albrecht Dürer and Johann Stabius

In a previous blog post, I answered some queries from a brother about amillennialism. I was disappointed in that the brother claimed that it was arbitrary and/or inconsistent for me to interpret the vision of Revelation 20 figuratively. Here I answer this claim and support my interpretation by comparison with Scripture itself.

I had already answered his question about the correct way to interpret Scripture. We ought to interpret Scripture in the way it intends for us to interpret it. History must be interpreted as history. Didactic teaching in letters must be interpreted as such. Parables must be interpreted as parables. Prophetic visions must be interpreted as prophetic visions. Prophetic dreams must be interpreted as prophetic dreams.

Scripture itself does this and teaches us the appropriate context. As an example, Daniel records history, and in that history Nebuchadnezzar is given a dream containing a vision of earthly kingdoms and the kingdom of Christ. Even Nebuchadnezzar understood that this had to be interpreted, that the parts of the statue were intended to represent something figuratively. And Daniel, by the Spirit gives the authoritative interpretation.

Revelation contains a series of prophetic visions given to John, some of which concerned the present (e.g. the seven churches), some pertaining to the recent past (e.g. the ascension and session of Christ), some pertaining to entire New Testament age up to and especially including the end of the world. John is also given visions of the eternal state. The exact phrase "I saw" occurs 35 times in Revelation, which phrase in this context indicates a prophetic vision, and John even refers to that which he saw as being a "vision" (Rev. 9:17). The book opens by specifically telling us that the things contained in it which John "saw" were things that were sent and "signified" (Rev. 1:1). The interpretation of these visions is not by a wild allegorical method according to the imagination of the reader or the speculations of Origen, but by a sober and objective interpretation of Scripture with Scripture. The visions deliberately draw upon ideas explained and taught elsewhere in Scripture.

It is nothing less than disobedience and rebellion against the Scriptures to therefore presume that these visions are intended to represent literal things. Besides which, it would be extreme absurdity. The absurdities and even heresies would be too many to enumerate. Until a man submits himself to the way Scripture chooses to interpret itself, he will make very little progress and profit very little from instruction or discussion with others.

The "thousand years" in the context of the text, in my opinion, fits best with the idea of the church throughout all her generations (cf. Deut. 7:9). The general idea of "thousand" is simply "very many" or even "all" (cf. Ps. 50:10). But whatever reasoning or explanation is given here, there is no doubt that the beginning of this period is the cross of Christ, and the end is the resurrection at the final judgement. It is also clear that this heavenly reign then continues into eternity.

The binding of Satan is specific here, that he can no longer deceive the nations, and more specifically, so he cannot yet bring them all together against the church, that is, as the beastly antichristian kingdom just described in previous visions, building upon what was revealed to Daniel. Furthermore, when Christ came, that is exactly what He did. He "cast" out (or "bound") devils, to show that the kingdom of God was at hand.

When Christ went up to Jerusalem, some Greeks sought after Him, which was a token that His time had come. His response upon hearing this was: "The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified" (John 12:23). He explained that this would be by His death on the cross, and that this casting out of Satan, would mean the salvation of the nations:

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die (John 12:31-33).

In the Old Testament, the nations were left to themselves (Acts 14:16; 17:30), but the death and resurrection of Christ has brought salvation to the whole world. more than anything else, that is what has characterized the New Testament era, the redemption and gathering of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation under heaven.

A dispensational may call this subjective interpretation and presuppositional bias, but in fact, it arises from Scripture itself. We come to Revelation, written last of all, when John was already old, already with the groundwork of the whole rest of Scripture laid, and we interpret it in that light, and then it makes sense, and it fits within what we have already learned, and then it fills out and informs us more, and edifies and instructs us.

In my previous post, I never suggested a literal throne of David. Christ's throne (or reign) is from heaven and all authority in heaven and earth falls under His rule. David's literal throne was literally a chair in Jerusalem, and figuratively represented his literal reign over a literal small nation in Palestine. Those were types and shadows of better things, as Hebrews (and the rest of Scripture) explains to us. The angel, quoted in Luke's gospel, tells us that Jesus is the promised Son of David, the one who inherits a kingdom far greater than what David ruled over, yet it is called David's throne, because that was a picture and a shadow of what was to come.

Everywhere Scripture teaches us that Christ and His kingdom and His priesthood and His sacrifice and His church is the fulfillment of the types and shadows and promises of the Old Testament. This is not "Replacement theology." This is Fulfillment Theology, also known as New Testament theology, or Biblical theology.