Spiritual Warfare: Beware of Deviant Teachings

S. M.

Toward the end of the first century, the truth of Jesus Christ was severely distorted, and the confusions resulted in the spiritual world not only undermined the faith of "those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus" (Jude 1), but were about to shake the church foundation.  The Lord's faithful apostle Jude was thus anxious to rectify the deviant tendency by warning his contemporaries.

Among the many confusions, the arising of the false prophets and false teachers was the most serious one (Jude 4; 11 Pet 2: 1; I Jn 4: 1).  As a matter of fact, while the Gospel of the kingdom must be proclaimed to the end of the earth, Jesus predicted that heresies would come to confound his followers (Mt 24:4-5, 11).  Jude reminds the believers to contend more resolvedly "for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).  According to Jude, the false teachers are:

Robbers or thieves: They are "secretly brought in" (Gal 2:4), and do not enter by the door (Jn 10:1).  What is the door?  It is the Lord Jesus (Jn 10:9, 14:6; 1 Cor 11:1; 2 Pet 2:21) and the Bible (2 Tim 3:15-16; 1 Cor 4:6; Is 8: 20; Rev 22:18-19).

The ungodly: The false teachers' words and deeds are opposed to God.  They acknowledge God, but their hearts are far from God (Mt 15:8-9).  They are corrupt and do abominable deeds (Ps 14:1).

The immoral: They take the grace of God as the opportunity to indulge in lusts and lower nature of the flesh (Eph 2:3, 4:19; 11 Tim 3:5).  Their immorality brings harm to the name of the Lord and the church.

Those who deny the Lord: They deny the great power of the Lord's redemption.  They use their learning, philosophy, or human tradition to corrupt men's faith (Col 2:8-9; 1 Tim 6:20-21, 1:3-4; 2 Tim 4:3).  The sanctity and power of the true message is different from "deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" (I Tim 4:1).

Moreover, Jude uses some striking similes to describe the hypocritical and vicious false teachers:

Reefs which cause shipwreck: They sit in love feasts and fellowship, but they wreck the faith of the innocent and the unwatchful.

Waterless clouds: To the disappointment of many, some clouds gather but fail to rain.  False teachers have a name of ministry but lack in power.  Rain symbolizes the Holy Spirit.  Any minister without the Holy Spirit can never bring the people to spiritual life and power.  As a result, those who follow the false teachings will be tossed around and swayed by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14).

Fruitless trees: Devoid of the Holy Spirit, no preacher or teacher can offer the fruits of the Spirit of God, nor can he benefit the spiritual needs of the hearers.  False teachers are not different from a leafy but fruitless tree.  They are "twice dead, uprooted," for they first died in transgression and sin and now they are dead in apostasy (Eph 2:1).  These are spiritual deaths, once in this life and once in the future, because their flesh died in sin and their soul will suffer the second death in hell (Rev 21:8).

Wild Waves: Waves are a common sight, but wild stormy waves alert the voyagers.  In church, the false teachers are like the hurricanes that often cause the "roar and foam" (Ps 46:23), A true believer should never be intimidated by the wicked false teacher.  They are not reborn from the Holy Spirit, and so in them there is no fruit of gentleness and peace.  Their remarks are like the foam and filthy tossed upon the seashore.  Isaiah gives quite an exact description: "The wicked are like the tossing sea.  It cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt (Is 57:20).  A true believer should shun themselves from these people.

Wandering Stars: Wandering stars are meteors, consumed in the outer atmosphere.  The false teachers are the dregs of the heavens, and, as such, they vanish into the darkness.  The debris of the meteor can sometimes cause injury or damage on the earth.  The destiny of the false teachers and the apostate will be similar to the vanishing stars , for "the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved forever " (Jude 13).