3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 3-4 | ESV)
Examples of False Teaching Within the Contemporary Church
It is clear that Jude is calling us to defend the gospel against any attacks, specifically those attacks which come from people who profess Christianity. So, what are some examples of anti-gospel attacks that the modern, contemporary church is facing? If Jude were writing a letter to the 21st century church, what kinds of modern teaching would he warn against?
During an evening of perusing through blogs I came across this one by Mark Driscoll. This is an excellent series about the importance of Silence and Solitude. Here is a short five (5) part series entitled “Organizing a Silence and Solitude Day”, I wanted to share with all of you. The links follow with a SHORT excerpt from each post:
V1-6
After their night sleeping, Boaz gets up and goes downtown. We know this is downtown because of the accessibility of the elders/witnesses in V2. So, Boaz gathers 10 elders to be witnesses to this discussion and begins to speak to the close relative. Like any LEGAL thing today, we want to ensure there are 3rd party witnesses to any “legal” discussion. Boaz tells this relative, that Naomi has returned from Moab and has a bunch of land she cannot take care of and speaking on Noami’s half, he would like to offer this land to the close relative. And do so in the presence of these witnesses.
The previous post (Click Here for Previous Post) brings me to my point today I wanted to convey; that is, the Faithfulness/trustworthiness/following through with promises to the point of bringing Honor to God. Boaz didn’t marry Ruth because he can but he allows, he is obedient to the law; whereas, he doesn’t try to pull a fast one on the other family member who is next in line to redeem Elimelech’s name and take Ruth for his wife. As we saw last week, Ruth is basically saying “I can be yours” and now Boaz is saying “Yes, I want to be yours too” but he must remain faithful to God before he can be this kind of faithful to Ruth.
I want to compare that kind of faithfulness with today’s “faithfulness”. Today we are quick to abandon things and go back on our promises, aren’t we? I mean let us look at marriages. What is the divorce rate in our country? According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) the following statistics (Click Here) have been observed:
- Number of marriages: 2,162,000
- Marriage rate: 7.1 per 1,000 total population
- Divorce rate: 3.5 per 1,000 population (44 reporting States and D.C.)
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)
This is the end of the third chapter of Ephesians which finishes some of the most concise, deep theological passages in the entire New Testament. Paul starts of the book going through predestination, sovereign choice, our inheritance in Christ, the new birth, and salvation pile-driving into the mystery of the gospel being that it was meant also for the gentiles. He goes into the fact that he is the one graced with this mystery to bring it to the gentiles and to the world, as the “least of the apostles”. He proclaims that the reason he is in chains is for this mystery, in order that he might preach the gospel to the gentiles and the unsearchable riches of Christ.
I was recently blessed by a post on Grace to You entitled “Give me that Showtime Religion“, so I wanted to share it with you. All rights and verbiage are copied as noted and edited on Grace to You.
John MacArthur is highly acclaimed and probably one of the most trusted, and faithfully devoted theologian in our time. He is truly a man after God’s own heart and I find his teaching and testimony to be one of a kind.
Thank you John MacArthur.
Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Cor. 1:21, Matt. 5:16
John MacArthur
Can the church fight apathy and materialism by feeding people’s appetite for entertainment? Evidently many in the church believe the answer is yes, as church after church jumps on the show-business bandwagon. It is a troubling trend that is luring many otherwise orthodox churches away from biblical priorities.
V14-16 Continuing from Last Week…
Once mealtime came around, Boaz invites Ruth to come eat dinner with his people and/or family. This act is Ruth being included and treated as one of Boaz’s own paid reapers. He is attempting to treat her as one he cares for. Boaz is feeding his staff because he wants reapers who are nourished to harvest grain for him. He is nourishing her because he has found favor in her. After supper, Ruth heads out to glean again and, all the while, Boaz commanded the reapers again now demanding they not say anything rude to her.
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 3-4 | ESV)
As we set out on our study through the book of Jude, verses three and four are going to be very important verses for us to understand because they are, in a sense, the thesis statement of Jude’s letter. The basic structure of Jude’s thesis looks like this:
- Verse 3 is Jude’s explanation of his purpose in writing.
- Verse 4 is Jude’s explanation of the circumstances which have compelled him to write.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
This is a very familiar passage of scripture – perhaps the most familiar after John 3:16. It is most commonly referred to as “The Great Commission.” Regardless of how familiar it is or what it is called, the Great Commission is there and it appears to be a command. But what exactly are we being commanded to do here? There appears to be several things involved, but the primary command is to “make disciples of all nations”. Everything else describes how we are to accomplish this task (i.e. by going, baptizing, and teaching). Since this is a command, I believe it is beneficial for us to look into this command to discover EXACTLY what we are being commanded to do. read more…
Brandon Melton
Robbie Melton
Judson
Sean Hall
