True or False?

Can you identify a fake? Do you know what to look for when it comes to telling the difference between who is lying and who is speaking the truth? In his short letter to the Jewish Christians, Jude wanted to celebrate their shared salvation and belief in Christ, but found it more urgent to warn them about the threat of false teachers invading the church and how they should respond to them.

Jude's warning was not just for the people of his day, it's a warning for us as well. He wants us to be aware of what these false teachers look like, act like and want to see happen. Many of them are looking to turn us away from God's truth and to embrace their false teaching - also known as apostasy. Jude sought to motivate his readers to wake up from their complacency and take action - and it's his call to us as well!

* Who They Are: Jude 4 describes them as "godless men who have secretly slipped in among you." Their goal is to get Christians to believe that they can do whatever they want without fear of God's punishment. They have made God's grace a license for immorality and make light of God's holiness and justice.  Even today, wome Christians minimize the sinfulness of sin, believing how they live has little to do with their faith.

* What They Do: False teachers's attitudes represent a rebellion toward God's truth and a desire to promote themselves and their beliefs. Jude warns that this only will lead to their own corruption and destruction (v.10b). Their attitudes include pride, selfishness, jealousy, greed, lust for power and control and a disregard for God's will.

* What They Are: False teachers promise much but produce little, like rainless clouds and fruitless trees. Verses 14-16 describe them as ungodly in their acts, their ways and with their words. They are grumblers, complainers and faultfinders following their own lusts. They speak evil of anyone who disagrees with them and their "swelling words" boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

* What We Must Do: The Jewish believers had been warned. They had been told what to look and listen for...and so have we! Jude gives us a plan of action in v. 20-21. 1) Build yourselves up in the faith - know what you believe and why you believe it. 2) Pray consistently in the Spirit of God's will and 3) Keep ourselves in God's love by living close to Him and not listening to false teachers who want to pull us away.

Do these false teachers exist today? Yes! As long as Satan is alive and well, false teachers will threaten the church with error. We must do what we need to do to know the truth! One of the revealing characteristics of a false teacher is his fearless and disrespectful disregard for God's truth and ungodly behavior. They act as if God will not punish them for what they say and do....but the truth is - God always punishes rebellion against Him. Know that genuine servants of God will faithfully point to Christ with their words and actions.

We must be able to tell the difference between true vs. false teaching. As in Jude's day, the false teachers slipped in secretly, not making a big announcement of their arrival, and then slowly started getting people to question God's truth. It's not an option to be complacent. We are to earnestly fight for our faith. You've heard that a frog won't know it's boiling to death when the heat is turned up a little at a time - so we must not let our faith die, one lie at a time.