Our title is a reference to Jude’s warning concerning false teachers who had come to trouble brethren. “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 4).
The word lewdness (or lasciviousness, KJV) means “unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence” (Thayer). The description in seen not only in the consequences of the doctrine espoused by these evil men, but also in the actions taken by those emboldened by the doctrine. Note in Jude’s epistle:
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were given over to similar actions as these false teachers (sexual immorality, specifically homosexuality), (vs. 7).
These men were characterized by a rejection of authority, immorality and blasphemy (vs. 8).
They were ignorant, and driven by base lusts. They were compared to Cain, Balaam, and those who perished in the rebellion of Korah (vs. 11).
They were selfish and self-indulgent, serving as a stain to the reputation of all Christians (vs. 12).
They used flattery and manipulation to lead other Christians into the same lewdness they practiced (vs. 16).
They were driven by sensual appetites, and as a result brought division among brethren (vs. 19).
How does this happen? By the championing of a distorted view of grace! There is a term that is used to describe this type of doctrine. It is called antinomianism. The dictionary defines the term antinomian — “The belief that Christians, by virtue of divine grace, are freed not only from biblical law and church-prescribed behavioral norms, but also from all moral law.”
The apostle Paul in his teaching emphasized to the Jews that the Old Law had passed, and that under the new dispensation, men are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Grace is unmerited favor, bestowed by God. Simply put, men are saved despite their actions, not because of them. If we are dependent upon earning our standing with God by obedience to the Law, we are all doomed, because all have sinned. In truth, we are dependent upon God’s gift of His son for our redemption. This is why Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Because of Paul’s teaching, some falsely accused him of teaching antinomian doctrine. Paul defended himself by writing, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:1-4).
God’s grace does not free us from moral law or obedience to the commandments of the Lord. Instead, the gift of grace is intended to raise us to a new standard of righteousness. As we contemplate the redemption supplied by His death, our conversion leads us to walk in “newness of life.” Paul did not turn God’s grace into lewdness.
Others, however, do. These men, are an example. Though it is not possible to accurately date the book of Jude, it is probable it was among the last books written in the New Testament. Toward the end of the first century, an incipient form of Gnosticism was already forming. The gnostics believed that the flesh of man in no way impacted his spirit, or his standing with God. The flesh was bad, the spirit good. Therefore, the indulgence of the flesh had no bearing on one’s righteousness before God. This view turns the grace of God into lewdness.
Calvinistic theology does the same thing. The view that God’s sovereignty predetermines man’s acceptance or rejection by God is a view that ultimately makes man’s sins irrelevant. It turns the grace of God into lewdness.
But the theology doesn’t have to be well formed or structured. It is a typical view held by many religious people today that God’s love excuses our sin. If God is love, surely he would not send me to hell for a few indiscretions. There is no scriptural basis for this thinking. It is the foolish, illogical and malformed thinking of the ignorant. When men remake God into their own image, the end result is lewdness. “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves” (Romans 1:22-24).
Whatever the origin, it is a mistake to think that God’s grace gives us license to sin. Nor does it save us from God’s wrath should we descend into lascivious practices. God has, and still does require holiness of his people. “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
