Creeps, Pervs, and Deniers

“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” (v4).

Creeps. Perverts. Deniers. Not the kind of language you would expect to find in the Bible, is it? Maybe your mom told you not call people names. Well, clearly God doesn’t have a problem with it when it’s true. Throughout the Bible, He uses strong language to make very strong warnings. A close look at God’s Word lets us know without a doubt that Scripture doesn’t pull any punches. And in this case, these folks are creeps, perverts, and deniers. Well, that’s EXACTLY the labels Jude slaps on the bad guys here in his letter. He warns the folks he loves that there are people out there doing a ton of damage to local churches. They creep in under false pretenses. They pervert the goodness of God. They deny the authority of Christ. So there you have it. Creeps. Perverts. Deniers.

In the previous verse, Jude encourages us to “contend for the faith” (Jude 3). We must be FOR Jesus. We don’t just simply fight AGAINST things. Be careful going around leading boycotts and fighting ungodly causes without telling folks Who and what you’re FOR. Let’s face it, the followers of Jesus have become famous for what we’re against and not Who we’re FOR. “Contend FOR the faith” (Jude 3, emphasis added). Contend FOR Jesus!

But to fight FOR something, you do have to fight against something or someone. Jude lets us know who those someones are. They are “certain people…ungodly people” (v4). These people don’t give a rat’s rear end about God. There is no awe of Him. There is no worship of Him. They are irreverent, unholy, profane, and ultimately godless. But don’t be to quick to throw these folks under the church bus. We need to remember that Jesus went to Calvary them too. We need to remember that we fit that label before Christ saved us from ourselves. “For while were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6). At one time, we were the “certain people.” Before Jesus got busy in our lives, we were the “ungodly people.”

Jesus’ kid brother says this particular godless gang is up to something. Something very devious. Something very destruction. They “have crept in unnoticed” (v4). This is all summed up when he uses the Greek verb pareisduo. It means to sneak in under false pretense, slip in unnoticed, or join secretly with evil intent. It’s a compound word that literally means to sink in next to something. They are infiltrators who worm their way into local churches to tear them apart from the inside out. This is spiritual espionage. They’re moles. Double agents. They use stealth to sneak in under the radar. They creep in. And if you creep in, you know what that makes you? A creep.

It’s not exactly as if this was a new tactic by the opponents of Jesus. Pete wrote a sequel warning of “false teachers…who will secretly bring in destructive heresies” (2Pet 3:1). It happened down in Galatia. Paul tips off believers about “false brothers…who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that they might bring us into slavery” (Gal 2:4). And 2,000 years later, it’s still going on. 

Jude tells us that his big Brother isn’t going to be caught off guard by this inside job. Jesus slapped the label of guilt on them way ahead of time. These folks were “long ago were designated for this condemnation” (v4). God knew this was going to happen a long, long time ago. He used His prophets and apostles to hang spiritual wanted posters for this godless gang. He put out a BOLO alert. Be on the look out for these moles. We can be absolutely sure that the infiltrators will get caught and punished. If you think Jack Bauer can take out the trash from inside CTU, wait until you watch our Savior go to work. The Apostle Peter made it very clear that the long range forecast for these creeps is going to be a hot one. “The heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2Pet 3:7). Fire. Judgment. Destruction. Condemnation. Jesus will make sure these creeps won’t get away with it.

After these sneak inside our churches, they have one purpose. “Pervert the grace of our God into sensuality” (v4). They twist the truth of His overwhelming goodness into a get-out-of-hell-free card. They distort the Good News as the license to do whatever you want with whoever you want whenever you want. Make absolutely NO mistake here. This is NOT the overwhelming and abundant life that Jesus promises (Jn 10:10). The grace of Jesus isn’t a license to get away with sin. It’s freedom FROM it. Can we talk honestly here? We’re perverts too. We bend and contort the Gospel and to my advantage like a game of spiritual Twister. I tell myself that I can do this or that because I’m under His grace. But there’s a small problem with that view. THAT’S NOT GRACE! That makes God’s mind-blowing and overflowing goodness all about us. While His grace is certainly for you and me, it’s not all about you and me. Grace doesn’t put us on the throne. It focuses us on the lavish generosity of God. These pervs misuse, misapply, and misrepresent His grace. 

Just in case you think these false teachers aren’t THOSE kind of perverts, Jude lets us know that’s EXACTLY what they are. They corrupt the message for sexual pleasure and “sensuality” (v4). The author busts out the Greek word aselgeia. It means debauchery and lustful indulgence in general, and outrageous sexual behavior specifically. Paul makes it VERY clear that the followers of Jesus must not allow their libido behind the steering wheel. “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in sexual immorality and sensuality (Gr. aselgeia)” (Rom 13:13). Sexual sin had done huge damage in the Corinthian church. Paul was concerned that his friends there had “not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality (Gr. aselgeia) that they have practiced” (2Cor 12:21). 

In the words of those great theologians Salt ’N’ Pepa, let’s talk about sex. Well, at least in how it relates to following Christ. Sin has completely corrupted our view of sexual intimacy. God’s original design is for a husband and wife to be hot and bothered for each other. But when we’re horny for someone other than our spouse, we do one of two things. First of all, we doubt God. Or in the words of Jesus’ kid brother, we “deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ” (v4). We don’t believe in Him because we don’t want to do what He says. Especially when He’s trying to keep me from a roll in the sack. We give Him the Heisman because He’s keeping us from sexual pleasure. Second, we pervert the Gospel as a license to shag. That’s what these creeps and pervs are up to. Don’t think that the first century false teachers cornered the market on sleeping around in the church. It still goes on today. God’s Word is loud and clear. “Flee from sexual immorality” (1Cor 6:18). Beat feet like our boy Joseph (Gen 39:12). It’s not like God is some sort of cosmic killjoy. He’s protecting us from ourselves. “The sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1Cor 6:18). He knows the destruction it causes within us.

Jude tells us to be on the look out. Watch out for creeps. Watch out for perverts. Watch out for deniers. We should recognize them. They probably look a lot like us.