But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

Jude

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. Jude 17-19

I proceed with my study of Jude using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  Today, my study consists of a review of Jude 17-23, with a focus on a commentary-assisted review of the first division per the commentary - vv17-19. Per the commentary:

Main idea for vv17-23: "Since there will always be false teachings, Christians should diligently watch for false teachers and seek to rescue all from their destructive message, even as they eagerly await the return of Christ."

Division and subdivisions for vv17-19:

• Remember the Words of Our Lord
• The presence of false teachers is certain
• The portrait of false teachers is clear
• They are scoffers, sensual, schismatic, and Spiritless

We are of course not surprised how the gospel is warped by many of our contemporaries, even within the church and this will continue until Jesus comes again.  Vv17-19 start with Jude urging us to remember the words of Jesus and His apostles.  We must also remember how false teachers are just as much a certainty as the gospel itself in terms of how it saves and it is Truth. On top of Jude's warning, the commentary points us to Matthew 7:15-23, 24:11,14, Acts 20:29-30, 1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 2 Peter 2:1-3,12-22, and 1 John 2:18-23, 4:1-3.  We should be able to spot these false teachers as they focused on self vs God - the commentary shares how they: "laugh at, sneer at, and make light of God’s holiness and moral perfection. They joke about God’s righteous character and have no reverence for his purity....[and how they] [m]ock God’s law and moral precepts, these men walk according to their own ungodly lust....[and they] pursue anything that pleases their selfish desires. They live on the earthly plane, not the heavenly. They are not spiritual but carnal. For them lust is lord. Passion is their sovereign dictator." The commentary also shares how false teachers can be identified by how they cause divisions in the church and how they remain lost and Spiritless, as we are referred to Romans 8:9 and Titus 1:16.  See also my post yesterday. 

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who provides Truth so that I can know You, follow You, be sanctified by You, and ultimately saved by You.  Thank for these blessings and so much more!  Of course I am undeserving.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from and overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

Jude

These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.  Jude 12-13

I proceed with my study of Jude using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  Today, my study consists of a review of Jude 11-16, with a focus on a commentary-assisted review of the second division per the commentary - vv12-13 - which the commentary titles God Condemns the Ungodly Because of Their Deception. The commentary shares that "[p]retending to be full of love and concern for others, they are egocentric and selfish. Stepping into positions of leadership, they are like destructive reefs hidden just below the surface. They are slow to reveal their true colors and commitments; and when they do, the body of Christ can be damaged or destroyed. A church, a college, a seminary, even a denomination is vulnerable if it is not vigilant in keeping its eyes open and its guard up."  The commentary then, referring to "waterless clouds" with clouds and wind but no rain, shares that "[t]hese false teachers promise liberty but enslave; they promise prosperity but impoverish; they promise refreshment and leave their followers parched; and they promise life but bring death."  Describing the text which compares false teachers to fruitless trees that wither and die, the commentary shares that "[t]hey project a false understanding of godliness and the spiritual life, and those who buy into their deception eventually discover they produce no good thing. Fruitless and rootless, rootless, dead top to bottom, they are uprooted and destroyed. They show no fruit of regeneration, no fruit of character, no fruit for King Jesus."  Referring to how the text describes false teachers as waves that crash and expose their sin, the commentary shares that "[t]hey make a lot of noise with great swelling words, but they do not have a life to back it up. They may tour and fill arenas, get on television and write books, blog and gain a following, but none of this proves their genuine faith." Finally, the text describes false teachers as washouts that do not produce anything eternal: "[f]alse teachers are shooting stars, here today and gone tomorrow. They burn bright for a night and then vanish into the midnight darkness, never to be seen or heard from again. Their history is short lived, leaving a legacy of no real significance. Because they wander about, these teachers show no consistency or reliability. They promise spiritual light; but they are aimless, erratic, and destined for God’s condemnation, which is described here as “the blackness of darkness” reserved forever. They may fool men, but they do not fool God."  We are encouraged by Jude to discern Truth including churches we attend and other influences we have.  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of love and grace for me - giving me Truth and a church and Godly men and women who sharpen me and provide Godly examples.  Thank You Jesus!  I am grateful for such blessings!  Yet I am undeserving of such blessings and for my salvation. My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

1 Corinthians 2-3

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:12

I continue my study of 1 Corinthians.  I am assisted in my study by the Christ-Centered Exposition Series commentary for this book.  Today my focus is a review - aided by the commentary - of 1 Corinthians 2:10-3:4.  The commentary* indicates the main idea of this text as "[h]ow a person thinks and lives will reveal whether he or she has the Spirit and is growing in maturity in Christ."  The introduction from the commentary* for this text opens a deep dive into the text by sharing how authors scripture often use categories of people to draw contrasts for illustrative purposes.  In the case of the text today, Paul compares natural/carnal people with spiritual people - not as a judgement but as a matter of "spiritual reality."  The commentary* lays out and describes three divisions for the text: 

1. The Natural Person Does What Comes Naturally (2:14): Here, the commentary* explains how a natural person (someone who is not a mature enough believer to see how the Holy Spirit is active in their life, "enslaved by their fallen nature") "does not accept spiritual things" nor "appreciate" them. The natural person cannot understand nor appreciate these things because by definition they need the Holy Spirit to discern them. This is not an "intellectual inability."  The commentary* summarizes the problem here as "[natural people] will never see [the Word] as beautiful, precious, and valuable. They are blind to its beauty, deaf to its melody, and insensitive to its fragrant aroma." 
   
2. The Spiritual Person Does What Comes Supernaturally (2:10-13, 15-16): Here Paul now describes spiritual people as those who "are captive to the Spirit of God who has taken up residence in them as his temple[.]"  The commentary refers us to 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20 for scriptural support with this interpretation. The division provided by the commentary* is further unpacked and broken down as the spiritual person (a) is informed by the Spirit, (b) instructed by the Spirit, and (c) is given insight by the Spirit. The commentary* quotes Leon Morris who shares: "When the Spirit enters the life everything is changed and one new thing that appears is the ability to make a right judgment. This does not mean that the man has acquired greatness; it means that the Spirit of God is guiding him. He has the point of reference within himself and is thus able to make judgments about all things."  Similarly, the commentary quotes Morris regarding the inability of natural people to understand spiritual people: "the spiritual man cannot be judged by the natural man for precisely the same reason that he himself can judge all things. He has the Spirit of God within him and the natural man has not. This makes him an enigma to the natural man."  We are referred here to Isaiah 40:13.
   
3. The Carnal Person Does What Comes Unnaturally (3:1-4): The commentary* describes how these verses are often misunderstood so it provides clarification about what is meant by them and how 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 are provided to address these issues:

• Christians can be slow to mature in their faith without proper nourishment. 
• Christians can sometimes act like spiritual babies when they should act like spiritual adults. 
• Christians need to be reminded of the basics of the gospel even as they grow in their depth of understanding the gospel. The gospel is both milk and meat! 
• Nominal Christianity is inauthentic Christianity.
• Spiritual backsliding is possible, but it should not be permanent (see also 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:16-21).
  

The commentary* further unpacks the third division by describing how the church in Corinth (and us by extension can be) (a) are weak spiritually, and (b) are willful in sin.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God - I am grateful for how the Holy Spirit entered my heart and continues to sanctify me - making me more like You.  Thank You.  Yet I know I am both undeserving and there is work to do - my sin continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

*Akin, Dr. Daniel L.; Merritt, James. Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.