A Balanced Gospel - a podcast by Lewis Marsh

Hey Jude

Part One: A Balanced Gospel

By Louie Marsh, 2-20-2022

 

Intro – Who’s Jude?

 

“1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: 2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” (Jude 1–2, NIV84)

 

Jude was the brother of James (probably “James the Lord’s brother,” Gal. 1:19). He likely wrote sometime between a.d. 65 and 80. Tradition states that Jude, along with Simon the Zealot, was beaten to death and then beheaded in Persia sometime in the first century. The precise date is not known, estimates range from 65-80 AD.

 

 1) I need a HEALTHY approach to sharing the Gospel.

 

“3Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation… (Jude 3, ESV)

 

• But I can’t IGNORE

 

…I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”  (Jude 3, ESV)

 

2) I must OPPOSE those who pervert God’s grace.

 

“4For 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.” (Jude 4, ESV)

 

3) BEWARE of the two ways God’s grace is perverted.

 

• Sensuality = license – antinomianism

 

 “1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1–2, ESV)

 

• Sensuality = moralism - legalism

 

“23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:23, NIV84)

 

4) Everyone will eventually be held ACCOUNTABLE.

 

“5Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” (Jude 5–7, ESV)

 

5) Always treat those who oppose you with RESPECT.

 

“8Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”” (Jude 8–9, ESV)

 

6) Sin eventually leads us against REASON.

 

“10But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11Woe to them!... (Jude 10–11a, ESV)

 

“15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV84)

 

• That is the pathway to

 

11Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.” (Jude 11, ESV)

 

• Cain – Murderer – Genesis 4:8
• Balaam – rebelled against God (Numbers 22)
• Korah – (Numbers 16:3)

 

• Christ is the way to

 

“5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”” (John 14:5–7, NIV84)

 

 

 

 

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