Jude wrote this letter out of great concern for his brothers and sisters in Christ. His alarm came became he rec-ognized that false teachers had snuck into the Church under the guise of following Christ. They did not truly follow Him, but came to destroy true followers of Christ. In his warning, Jude described several characteristics of these false believers who came to disrupt the Church. His explanations provide guidance to us in our quest to ferret out the false prophets and teachers in our day.

First, Jude described their depravity of conduct. He explained in verse 4, "...certain men crept in unawares." These false teachers arrived in sneaky fashion. Their clever hypocrisy gave the appearance of true followers of Christ. They acted in deceitful and duplicitous ways. They did not reveal what they really thought down inside. They crept in unawares. People did not notice them right away because they behaved in a fashion like true be-lievers of Christ. However, they did not truly trust Christ. They just acted it in a false hypocritical fashion.

Throughout history, men and women have followed this pattern. They claim to have made a "decision for Christ" at some time in their lives. However, like many other decisions, it expressed only a temporary feeling and did not result from a life changing choice. Others have made no choice at all. They have simply assumed the role of a Christian, thinking that one becomes a Christian by behaving like one. Others come as messengers of the evil one intent upon destruction of the Church. All of these various types of "Christians" inhabit the Church. Some have progressed into positions of leadership. Jude's concerns depict our day as well as his.

Jude called these hypocrites ungodly men. Not only did they behave in a false manner, they also perverted the grace of God. In verse 4, Jude said that they had turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. In verse 7, Jude further described the wickedness of these who lived after the satisfaction of their own lusts. He said that they copied those who lived in "...Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving them-selves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh"

These false men lived to satisfy their own fleshly desires. In addition, they used their positions of influence and of authority to subvert and entice the unsuspecting. In Jude's day, false prophets and teachers had crept into the Church and said, "Because of God's grace and His goodness, He has saved me. Therefore, I can live any way I want to live."

In our day, we have a favorite phrase that many people use when they give the impression that they follow Christ yet follow a lascivious lifestyle. They say, "I am free in Christ." By that, they mean this. "Since I have made a decision for Christ, I can do anything I want. I can live any lifestyle I choose. I can behave in any fash-ion I want to follow, and no one can say anything about it because I have made a decision for Christ. Further, one day I will inherit eternal life. Once saved, always safe. It does not really matter how I live my life. I can live anyway I want. I am free in Christ."

Sadly, that explains a commonly held fallacy. The Bible does not teach that kind of attitude. The Scriptures teach that when you become a follower of Christ, you become a servant. Your lifestyle changes. You become increasingly more like Christ. Jesus did not live any way He chose to live. He lived after the pattern, dictates, and commands of His heavenly Father. He lived a holy, just life. He commands those who truly trust Him to live holy lives, too.

Therefore, if I follow Christ, I cannot live any way that I please. The Scriptures do not teach this kind of decep-tion. Those who trust Christ do not have the freedom to live selfish, licentious, lascivious lifestyles. They can-not pursue the gratification of their own fleshly lusts and desires.

Hundreds of years ago, Jude described conditions prevalent in the Church today. Unfortunately, many pastors and Church leaders today proclaim the same false message and live lascivious lifestyles. They mislead unknow-ing multitudes into a condition of false security and hypocrisy. Jude's warning rings true today. He called them ungodly men. We must do the same.

The depravity of the conduct of these deceitful, ungodly men led them to deny Christ. On the one hand, they claimed to follow Christ. However, in their deportment they rejected Him. Their actions betrayed their speech. They denied His authority over their lives. Obviously, you cannot claim to follow Christ and reject His author-ity over your life at the same time. Someone has rightly said, "If Christ is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all."

Many false pastors and teachers today separate salvation from lordship. They preach that someone can come to faith in Christ and, at a subsequent date or perhaps not at all, come to recognize Jesus as Lord. Yet, Jesus never separated them. To Christ, His disciples must deny themselves and submit to His lordship. If not, Jesus rejected them as disciples. (See Matthew 16.24-25.) Jude's condemnation provides clues to us on how to discern the false leaders among us.

Second, these deceptive leaders demonstrated disrespect for authority. Not only did they reject the Lordship of Christ, they also despised dominion. Without any respect for authority, they became a law unto themselves. They refused to submit themselves to authority within the congregation and other leaders within the Church.

Today, many false leaders in the Church follow the same practice. They do not submit to any authority in the Church, either within a local Church or from other Church leaders. Some hold a virtual dictatorial position in their churches.

Further, this resistance has affected their response to government. Peter and John faced a dilemma with gov-ernment edicts, as did the four captives in Babylon. Their examples remind us to stand for God's commands when governments demand that we obey them instead of God. On those occasions of direct conflict between man's law and God's law, we must submit and follow God's law. However, Paul in Romans 13 admonishes be-lievers to obey government and give respect to government officials. It saddens me to see prominent Church leaders hide behind the Church to reject legitimate government authority.