I. INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT BOOK OF JUDE 

An apostate, per the Bible, is an individual or Church that has spiritually defected from true, biblical faith. Apostasy is an abandonment of what was formerly voluntarily professed. Jude notes eight brief examples of apostasy in what amounts to the 4th shortest book in the Bible, only 24 verses long. It is located appropriately right next to Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Throughout this short epistle Jude provides a plethora of discerning illustrations which serve to enable the reader to easily recognize apostasy. A good way to remember this book is as follows: 

Whereas the book of Acts is all about the acts of the apostles, the book of Jude is all about the acts of the apostates. 

Writing to Jews who had come to saving faith, Jude was one of four half-brothers of Christ (v. 1; cf. Galatians 1:19, Matthew 13:55, and Mark 6:3). He is to be distinguished from Judas who betrayed Christ, and the seven others named Jude or Judas in the New Testament (NT). 

Jude calls on true believers to not only watch out for and be discerning of false teachers and their aberrant theological teachings, but to contend earnestly (v. 3) against them, standing firmly for true saving faith. The mature follower of Christ is to work hard at maintaining good tooling (doctrine) in the manufacturing plant where God intends to produce good products (healthy disciples). In this sense, Jude goes further than Peter in his similar subject matter. In 2 Peter 2:1–3:4, Peter summarily calls on believers in relationship to maintaining sound doctrine as the means by which we combat apostasy: 

Remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. 

But Jude adds this in verse 3 of his one-chapter epistle: 

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 

Both passages are in the context of properly responding to and combatting against encroaching apostasy. Accordingly, every believer today should not only possess a watchful eye toward the existence of fake forms of Christianity, but should also contend earnestly, that is to say, battle all who propagate scripturally-erroneous views, those who commit doctrinal malfeasance: for example, those teaching (as a supposed follower of Jesus) something other than salvation in Christ alone—or that same-sex ceremonies are within the purview of the churches’ blessing—or that God is a God of love who is for open borders when the Bible clearly teaches differently. 

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What Does It Mean To Contend Earnestly?

The emphatic command to contend earnestly is translated from the Greek verb epagonizomai. The Greek root here is the same word we transliterate into the English language as “to agonize.” Epagonizomai means “to anguish with extreme pain to self.” Underscoring this idea of “self-torture” in defending the faith, notice ep at the front of this root. When epi, or ep when preceding a vowel, appears on the front end of a Greek verb it serves in a way similar to an English exclamation mark. Jude, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit chooses a word to communicate to his audience the necessity to rachet up our need to battle for the truth of the Gospel against false teachers and apostates. Lastly, the Greek ending of this verb indicates it is a present infinitive, meaning true believers should not only be extreme and vigorous (epi) about defending the truth but continually at all times. Note similarly what the Apostle Paul states in this regard wherein he uses another phrase but with the same meaning: 

This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophesies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight. (1 Timothy 1:18). 

Fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). 

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). 

Contending earnestly and fighting the good fight are biblical synonyms as it relates to the believers’ proper interaction with apostates and false teachers. All believers are to continually battle against false teachers relative to maintaining the purity of the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

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Peter’s concluding remarks about Apostasy are found in 2 Peter 3:17, You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness. 

We are to fight apostates, not negotiate with them. 

The psalmist underscores this specific application in Psalm 1: 

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 

II. THE NECESSARY FIGHT AGAINST APOSTASY 

Jude penned this epistle at a time when Christianity was quite vulnerable. All the apostles but John had been martyred, and many heretics and heresies were creeping into the Church. Thus, the book of Jude is a clarion call for believers to be aware of apostasy and to do something about it! Passivity toward things said and done amiss in the name of Christ is a sign of spiritual immaturity. Further, the necessity of the need to contend earnestly is underscored not just by Jude and Peter, but other NT authors as well. 

A. JESUS CHRIST 

Jesus was very loving, but at the same time He stood firmly against the false teachers of His day. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus states in the Sermon on the Mount: Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15; cf. 16–23). In the book of Revelation, through His Angel, Jesus communicates to John who writes: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: … ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false’” (Revelation 2:1–2; cf. Matthew 16:11–12; 24:11–13). 

B. THE APOSTLE PAUL 

We have already noted the three times Paul pens fight the good fight. Further to the same, most of his epistles are polemic in nature, meaning they are letters contending earnestly against, combating, and refuting heresies in the first-century Church! In Paul’s last communication to Timothy, he summarily states in this regard, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:3–4; cf. Acts 20:29–31, 1 Timothy 4:1–5, 2 Timothy 3:1–5). 

So many believers do not realize that the vast majority of Paul’s NT writing relates to his contending earnestly against encroaching apostasy! 

C. THE APOSTLE PETER 

Peter has already been quoted, but he states much more about false teachers in his two epistles. In 2 Peter 2:1 he states, But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves (cf. 2 Peter 2:2–3; 3:3–7). 

D. THE APOSTLE JOHN 

John drives home the distinguishing characteristics of fully bloomed apostasy in 1 John 4:1–6. Note verse 1 in particular: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits and see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (cf. 2 John 7–11). 

Take the time to look up all of those passages in their fullest context! Note how many there are! Should not contend[ing] earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints be something you emphasize as well in being a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3)? 

III. EIGHT PERSONAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF APOSTASY 

Building on these previous repetitive admonitions and warnings regarding apostasy, Jude herein will vividly illustrate—it can be argued that Peter gives more ink to apostasy than Jude—the various multifaceted, specific identifiers of apostasy by use of numerous personal parallels found in the Old Testament (OT). His intent is to further sound the alarm and challenge true believers to defend the faith as well! Each of those indicators will follow. 

But first, in an overall sense, Jude describes apostates as certain persons [who] have crept in unnoticed … ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Per this passage (v. 4), by way of further explanation as to what this passage is teaching, common in all apostates are these two characteristics: they pervert grace (deeming grace as a license to sin) and deny who Jesus actually is; every apostate demeans His personage (He isn’t God incarnate) and His purpose (salvation is not in Him alone—they add something to it). 

The following eight Old Testament OT passages are chosen by Jude under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to both reveal and illustrate God’s attitude in general toward those who once acceded to God’s grace and the personage and purposes of our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ ( Jude 1:4)3, but now possess a wrong view regarding of such. 

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When you grasp what this small, but profoundly important book of the Bible teaches, by way of application you may identify powerful people in D.C. who name the name of Jesus but who are not followers of the Lord Jesus the Christ! BEWARE! It follows that if you master this book, you will be equipped to identify and deal with apostates! Knowing the characteristics of an apostate as revealed in the book of Jude will greatly aid you in your understanding and help you to ascertain the underlying reason why these “Christians” espouse policies that are so diametrically opposed to what the Bible teaches! 

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A. APOSTATES ARE ETERNALLY DAMNED (v. 5) 

[T]he Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 

Jude jumps right in, bottom-lining in soundbite fashion what happens to apostates at the end of the day. The above passage is not a reference to the Egyptians, but to the Israelites who after the miracles of the Exodus, did not believe in Yahweh. Instead they rebelled against God’s chosen leaders for Israel, Moses, Joshua, and Caleb (cf. Numbers 13:25–14:12). Many Israelites apostatized during their 40 years in the wilderness, which manifested in rebelling and disobeying God’s personage and purposes for their lives. By using this OT illustration, Jude is heralding with finality the eternal damnation of apostates. 

B. APOSTATES ARE PRO SEXUAL PERVERSION (vv. 6–7) 

And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode …. 

Genesis 6:1–3 is a good cross reference to this brief mention of fallen angels by Jude (and is worthy of a study of its own!); this passage serves to further describe the apostasy of angels. In their fallen, demonic state, they possessed men in order to cohabitate with beautiful women! Jude is illustrating that apostates are, broadly speaking, characterized by sexual perversion. Are those today who name the name of Jesus, yet accept, promote, turn a blind eye toward, or practice sexual perversion actually followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, or are they apostates? 

Sodom and Gomorrah, … as these indulged in gross immorality, … are exhibited as an example. 

Jude adds an illustration to further clarify his point that sexual perversion is an indicator of apostasy by citing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God destroyed these two perverse cities that were situated on the SE corner of the Dead Sea because of their gross immorality. 

A public servant cannot say he is a follower of Christ and at the same time stand for laws that promote sexual perversion—either he is an immature believer or an apostate. The two are biblically incongruous. 

C. APOSTATES REJECT AUTHORITY (v. 8) 

Yet in the same way these men … defile the flesh, and reject authority. 

A good indicator of an apostate is someone in office who doesn’t follow the laws of the land even though he took an oath to uphold the constitution—and there is no accompanying shame or even an acknowledgment of their rebelliousness! Jesus states in parallel, “you will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20). In the same context He states, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (7:23). True believers, indwelt by the convicting Holy Spirit will always display humility and desire to be obedient to authority. 

D. APOSTATES DISPLAY BRAVADO AND BOLDNESS (v. 9) 

But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 

This may be the most interesting and informative passage in all of Scripture! Evidently Satan wanted possession of Moses’ body for some unstated reason. Michael the archangel was wise to defer to God versus fighting Lucifer himself. How does this relate to the subject? Jude is saying that apostates in their self-absorption and pride, in their crass bravado and boldness will attempt to usurp God’s authority and say and do things that are way out of bounds! Verse 10, which follows, adds that these men revile the things which they do not understand. Beware of people with smug, outrageous antics who are unjust with their use of power—blatant liars who know they are lying! These are those who pervert biblical truths and purposes yet identify with some form and in some way with “christianity”! Don’t be a naïve simpleton, my friend! Believe what the Bible says about such people; these are distinguishing characteristics of apostates in your midst! 

E. APOSTATES ALTER GOD’S PURPOSES (v. 11) 

Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain. 

The life of Cain in the book of Genesis portrays a person who pursued purposes outside the clear teachings of God’s Word. Cain openly rebelled against God’s design for OT blood sacrifices (cf. Genesis 4:1–15), offering instead a grain offering. Blood offerings were well-established in society by that time; they were important because they were intended by God to foreshadow the ultimate sacrifice and payment by the coming Messiah for the sins of the world. God cursed Cain’s distortion of His purposes. Jude is painting a colorful portrait here so we can clearly see the face of an apostate: he is brash and bold in his rejection of God’s authority, replacing His clearly defined moral standards with his own “superior (woke) morality.” Again, it is biblically incongruous to say you are a “Christian” and yet proffer a correctness that is patently non-scriptural; Jude is saying that such is the portrait of an apostate. 

F. APOSTATES HAVE DECEITFUL MOTIVES (V. 11) 

And for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam. 

Balaam in his deceit, knew how to cleverly entice God’s people away from the person and purposes of God (cf. Numbers 22–25; 2 Peter 2:15). More specifically, Balaam engineered a plot to have the Moabite women marry Israelite men so as to lead God’s people into compromise and cause God’s judgment. Motivated by financial reward, Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness states 2 Peter 2:15. This apostate lured the nation of Israel in the wrong direction. 

Today, apostates in civil government lure people in the wrong direction. 

Like Balaam, these “followers of Jesus” aka apostates in civil government today, proffer same-sex marriage, abortion, open border policies, and entitlement programs—just to mention four current-day issues touted by someone who identifies with “christianity” but entices people to embrace ideologies that in the end do not benefit them nor the nation, but rather damns them and it respectively. 

G. APOSTATES REBEL AGAINST AUTHORITY (v. 11) 

[They] perished in the rebellion of Korah. 

Not only do apostates reject authority (point C in our outline) they rebel against it. Korah and 250 additional Jewish leaders rebelled against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Therein they attempted to impose their purposes on God (cf. Numbers 16:1–32) and spurned the Lord (v. 30). Illustrative of point A in our outline, the earth swallowed them up and they ended up in Sheol. 

H. APOSTATES FIND FAULT WITH GOD (vv. 14–15) 

It was also about these men that Enoch … prophesied. … These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. 

The Greek word for grumblers, as used in the Septuagint (LXX) connotes those who find fault with God. Following after their own lusts speaks again to sinful self-satisfaction as the apostate’s ultimate goal. Speak arrogantly depicts great oratory yet without substantive meaning or sustainable possibilities, and flattering people is intended by Jude to describe someone who will tell others what they want to hear to achieve his own selfish ends. 

Sound familiar? These additional indicators, descriptive of the presence of apostates, sound like more than several in D.C. who “name the name of Jesus” in the Capitol community. 

IV. SUMMARIZING THE EIGHT PERSONAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF APOSTASY 

These numerous OT descriptions of apostasy serve to overwhelmingly inform Jude’s readers regarding its characteristics and its outcome. Make no mistake, as points A and G specifically indicate, God does not tolerate apostates! Theirs is a woeful end. It follows, 

Be wise! 

Learn to both discern these eight characteristics as well as discount (earnestly contend with) apostates before their ways destroy you and our nation. 

Instead of allowing apostates to destroy our nation, be proactive with them! Don’t negotiate with them, reject them! Again and again, remember Jude, verse 3! Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. You and I are not to be passive with apostates in office—rather we are to be able to discern who they are, expose them for what they stand for, and diminish their credibility! That is the specific contextual meaning and purpose Paul has in mind when he says, I fought the good fight.⁴ 

V. FOUR CHURCH ILLUSTRATIONS OF APOSTASY 

Not only does Jude describe apostates with eight individual examples, but the apostasy of the corporate Church is in view in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. Therein are listed seven historical church bodies whom Jesus is instructing in Asia Minor. Note that He identifies four of those churches as extremely troublesome to Himself—either already apostate or headed in that direction. A brief examination of these churches further aids our understanding of apostasy. 

Before briefly examining each of these four, consider this: Barna Research, a leading, very credible analyst of the health of the Church, continually researches and publishes metrics that reveal a quickly declining American Church—in fact one that is apostatizing at an alarming rate!⁵ Unfortunately, here following are alarming parallels found pertaining to the overall health of the Church in America. 

A. POLLUTED PERGAMUM 2:12–17 

This Church, in addition to having “faith in Christ,” had some who held to the teachings of Balaam (this doctrinal compromise is the same one mentioned in point III.F. above) and the Nicolaitans (vv. 14–15). Remember, in the OT Balaam engineered a plot to have the Moabite women marry Israelite men so as to lead God’s people into compromise and bring God’s judgment. In the NT, Nicolas (once a deacon in the Church, cf. Acts 6) was a false believer who led the Church into similar sensually related temptations. Nicolas interpreted liberty in Christ to mean license in Christ, which led to self-indulgent lifestyles. Overall, Pergamum was infected with a licentious definition of spirituality—a polluted, headed-toward-apostasy body of believers that, given their direction, would not and could not produce effective, mature believers. 

B. TOLERANT THYATIRA 2:18–29 

This Church tolerated the prophetess, Jezebel. She is most likely the OT woman of the same name who depicts one who leads others into immorality and idolatry. Similar to Pergamum, this Church was headed toward apostasy by the very fact that they were open to such false teaching. 

C. SLEEPY SARDIS 3:1–6 

Members of this Church had a reputation of being alive, but Jesus (via John, cf. Revelation 1:1) states here that most of them were spiritually dead. Herein again is a challenge to churches to avoid slipping into total apostasy. 

D. LUKEWARM LAODICIA 3:14–22 

This Church was wealthy and had no physical reasons for depending on God. This led to a lukewarm Christianity that Jesus strongly rebuked. 

An increasing number of American churches have fallen into one of these four categories of apostasy. Whereas the first two churches are characterized by the acceptance of bad theology and doctrinal error—a head problem—the latter two churches are characterized by a heart problem. 

One prevalent form of Apostasy that has greatly affected the American Church in the last century is the heresy of Theological Liberalism aka, the Social Gospel. Many main-stream denominations have embraced and are teaching Social Gospel core beliefs which include the following: that man is basically good and doesn’t need a savior, that Jesus is merely a humble, humanitarian role model worthy of personal exemplification, and that salvation is achieved corporately when men change society for the better. Rather than repent and return to true biblical teachings, (the common call of Christ to all four of the churches depicted in Revelation), many Evangelical denominations have come to ruin as a result. They are now apostate. Nonetheless the manifest heretical theology of the Social Gospel, as promulgated by its apostates who are in office, carry vast influence in D.C. policymaking to this day. 

VI. SUMMARY 

In relation to the state, apostate churches have produced to some degree apostate individuals who are now in public service: apostate churches have influenced if not sent their kind into positions of government authority! It stands to reason that many apostates hold office and affect the direction of our nation in ways displeasing to God (to say the least!). Their manifest actions and legislation stemming from their aberrant and twisted biblical understandings are presently driving our country into ruin. William Penn summarized very well what is happening when he said (and I paraphrase) that good men make good policies, whereas bad men make bad policies. 

In relation to current America, increasingly apostatizing churches and individuals today means there will be fewer in office and fewer running for office who have been discipled by biblically solid churches—those possessing distinctively Christian world view convictions. An apostatizing church portends fewer who are spiritually fit for the rigors of non-compromising, God-honoring, effective public service. 

Apostasy affects the American Church’s ability to positively affect the State! And if good churches will not cast a vision for mentoring, discipling and maturing individuals in Christ for (among other things) the purpose of leading in public office, then who will? 

A doctrinally-healthy, discipleship-focused Church is essential for the longevity and well-being of any nation. 

Jude is a tiny NT book, but it packs an enormously powerful punch: by way of application to the state, the book cuts to the chase. It best analyzes the underlying crucial problem our nation faces. As the church goes, so goes the state; as discipleship goes, so goes the influence of the disciple! The production plant isn’t turning out the amount of good products that it should especially when demand is so high! 

The supposed solution of attempting to arouse the Church to “take back America” is not the solution if the Church is sick. 

We cannot solve a problem unless we first get to the real heart of the problem. May Jude’s inspired counsel from above help in that regard.

 

 

1. It can be effectively argued that the State can and does become a causal agent of change on itself and those whom it serves when for decades it harbors policies that are less than biblical. For example, Roe v. Wade has served to intellectually inform a generation of Americans that abortion is an acceptable practice. It is no wonder that after 50 years of Roe, younger Americans tend to view a woman’s decision as more important than a human life. 

2. The skeptic who reads this study will immediately shout, “what about the separation of Church and State? What is being postulated here is in direct violation of that!” No, it’s not. In response to this oft-postulated position, keep in mind that God created and ordained all five of His aforementioned institutions, the Church and State being two of them. It follows that all are to bring glory to Him since He created them and ultimately owns them! At the same time each ordained institution has a specific, God-designed purpose; in that sense there should and must be an institutional separation of each from the other. Failure to institutionally separate the Church from the State is to spell theocracy; the Bible does not advocate theocracy in the NT Church Age in which we live. It follows that each institution needs to do what God ordained it to do, which is separate and distinct from the other. Pro institutional separation, the Bible knows nothing of an influential separation of the Church from the State! The Church should and must influence the other four institutions, and that is the presuppositional premise of this Bible study. See my Bible study, “God’s Institutions and Their Roles on Earth.” (Often the motives of those who cry out for both an institutional and influential separation do so because they desire to be the only voice of influence at the table—even though out of the other side of their mouth they would seemingly advocate for “freedom of speech.”). Additionally, our government was structured to be influenced by the people. Among the groups that openly lobby, exert influence, and even forward their own candidates for office include environmentalists, abortion promoters, global warming devotees, various businesses, and many, many others. In standing firm for biblical values, the Christian citizen is assuming his rightful place alongside his fellow Americans to make his voice heard and make changes through our democratic process. 

3. An apostate is someone who at one time made an intellectual and perhaps emotional decision for Jesus, but never a volitional one. Accordingly, he was never saved in the first place, which means he never received the seal and empowerment of the Holy Spirit who guarantees eternal security and the fruit of the Spirit respectively (cf. John 1:12, 2 Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30, Matthew 7:20–23, Galatians 5:22–23). 

4. It follows, contextually, fight the good fight, as is used by Paul in the pastoral epistles, relates specifically to fighting apostates and apostasy, versus fighting against bad legislation with no view toward the individual and his or her aberrant theology which is promoting it. All too often political leaders use this verse out of context. 

5. See: https://www.barna.com/research/changing-state-of-the-church/