Perverts!

"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." Jude 4

The word, 'pervert' is often used to describe sexual deviants or criminals. It may be that the false teachers Jude is writing about here were sexually immoral. Whether they were or not- they WERE perverts: Not perverting the God-given gift of sex and sexuality, but perverting the grace of God.

We may learn a little more about HOW they did this as we go on, but to start it seems to be that there are two sides of their perversion: They pervert the grace of God and DENY OUR ONLY MASTER AND LORD.

This suggests to me that they were using the grace of God as a license to ignore the Lordship of Christ. By doing this they were actually belittling God's grace.

When we see God's grace as sufficient to bring us forgiveness alone, this belittles God and his mercy. When we recognize that his grace bring forgiveness and ALSO a new power to live a new way: with Christ as Lord, we understand the Gospel. The good news is not that God has brought forgiveness but left us under the power of sin. He has brought forgiveness AND freed us from sins dominion AND given us his Spirit to help us follow him.

We fail of course! But when we fail, we get up and try again- we don't use forgiveness as an excuse to sin! To do so is to be a 'pervert' - a perverter of God's grace!