Jude 1:4

"Certain persons" stands in contrast to the "saints" (Judges 1:3). These people had "wormed their way in" (NEB) to the churches (cf. 2 Peter 2:1).

The verb "crept in" (Gr. pareisedusan), ". . . indicates a secret, stealthy, and subtle insinuation of something evil into a society or a situation." [Note: William Barclay, The Letters of John and Jude, p. 211.]

". . . not only is the local community troubled by importations of an alien creed, but it seems that the heretics themselves have invaded the church, bringing their doctrines with them." [Note: E. M. Sidebottom, James, Jude, 2 Peter, p. 83. Cf. Pentecost, p. 920.]

"They slipped in secretly (Judges 1:4; cf. Galatians 2:4) as itinerant preachers, a common part of first-century religious life (cf. Acts 13:15; 2 John 1:7-11; Didache 11.1-12; 13.1-7). Or they arose within the community itself and later quietly brought in heretical teachings from outside (2 Peter 2:1; cf. Acts 20:29-30; Romans 16:17-18)." [Note: Buist M. Fanning, "A Theology of Peter and Jude," in A Biblical Theology of the New Testament, p. 468.]

These people were tares among the wheat (cf. Matthew 13:24-25; Matthew 13:38-39).

"Jude’s opponents are a group of itinerant charismatics who have arrived in the church(es) to which he writes. Everything else Jude tells us about them is related to their antinomianism, which is the target of his attack. They reject all moral authority, whether that of the law of Moses (Matthew 13:8-10) or that of Christ himself (Matthew 13:4; Matthew 13:8), even though they claim to be followers of Christ. . . .

"In line with their rejection of moral authority, they indulge in immoral behavior, especially sexual misconduct (Matthew 13:6-8; Matthew 13:10); in this they may be deliberately flouting accepted standards of Jewish morality and conforming to the permissiveness of pagan society." [Note: Bauckham, p. 11.]

This writer meant that the false teachers were charismatics in the general sense of that word: they possessed great powers of charm or influence. He did not mean that they believed in the charismatic gifts of the Spirit necessarily.

Probably God had marked these opponents previously for condemnation in the sense that He knew their sin long ago and would punish them in the future for it. "This condemnation" refers to the sure punishment that lay ahead of them for their sin (cf. Matthew 7:15; Mark 13:22; Acts 20:29-30; 2 Peter 2).

Jude’s original readers could see the ungodly character of these people in two specific activities. They used the liberty from the Law of Moses that Christians enjoy as an opportunity for sensual indulgence and debauchery (i.e., antinomianism). Gnostics were guilty of this, and their influence seems to be in evidence here as well as elsewhere throughout this epistle. [Note: Green, p. 162.] However others have disputed this inference. [Note: E.g., Michael Desjardins, "The Portrayal of the Dissidents in 2 Peter and Jude: Does It Tell Us More About the ’Godly’ Than the ’Ungodly’?" Journal for the Study of the New Testament 30 (June 1987):93-95.] Second, they denied God and Jesus Christ, evidently by distorting the truth that Scripture reveals (cf. 1 John 2:22-23; Titus 1:16). In view of the Greek grammatical construction of this verse, "Master" seems to refer to God and "Lord" to Jesus Christ. [Note: See J. N. D. Kelly, A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude, p. 252; J. B. Mayor, "The General Epistle of Jude," in The Expositor’s Greek Testament, 5:257; and Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, 4:531.] However, many scholars believe that Jude had Jesus Christ in view in both of these titles. [Note: E.g., Hiebert, Second Peter . . ., p. 226; George Lawrence Lawlor, Translation and Exposition of the Epistle of Jude, p. 60, footnote 57; and Bigg, p. 327.]

"Although they claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, Jude says that by rejecting his moral demands they are in fact disowning him as their Master and repudiating his authority as Lord." [Note: Bauckham, p. 41.]

Doctrinal deviation often accompanies and often justifies ethical and moral sin.