These Instructions from Christ’s Apostles Prove Almost Every Church is Out of Line to

The instructions which the Apostles of Christ gave to the born-again Christian members of their very own churches in the first century prove that they regarded the way to life in Christ as much narrower, and much more difficult to navigate and continue on, than what is typical now. Across denominational boundaries, and along with most churches which say they are independent or nondenominational, the following warnings from Christ’s Apostles are incompatible with what is taught within churches now. Humanism has indeed invaded the realm of professing Christianity and has resulted in man-centered false gospels prevailing, which in one way or another, do not teach the narrow way to life in Christ nor properly estimate how difficult it is to be saved in the end.

Jude verse 3 says: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Those who want to have Christian unity without doctrinal scrutiny are deluded. The Apostles of Christ contended with false doctrine and subtle ungodly false teachers creeping into the Christian assemblies they had founded which were built upon the sound principles of Biblical truth. Jude understood that you cannot write about authentic salvation in Christ without dealing with this topic.

Jude verse 4: “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

These ungodly people were ordained or appointed in the Old Testament to condemnation because of their own choices and ways (Jude is about to elaborate on this). He is not saying that God appointed them to be evil deceivers. These people were subtly creeping into Christian assemblies, attacking the faith once delivered to the saints, and misrepresenting the common salvation in Jesus Christ which God has offered to mankind. They were teaching, somehow in some way, that God’s grace is compatible with lasciviousness or licentiousness. They were thereby denying God’s authority and Jesus Christ’s Lordship. Those who teach that Christ’s grace is compatible with transgressing God’s law and transgressing God-ordained authority (that is, practicing sin) are in this category of ungodly deceivers. That’s not a personal interpretation. That is what Jude makes utterly obvious as he continues.

Jude verse 5: “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.”

This was echoing what was already seen here in 2 Peter. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and many other passages Christians are warned that they can, and will, fall from God’s grace like the disobedient Israelites if they provoke Him like they did. The disobedient Israelites in the Old Testament did not have unconditional security like Adam and Eve didn’t have it in the garden. No one has unconditional security now; and no one ever will. Jude is stating this plainly here.

Jude verse 6: “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

This is also referenced also in 1 Peter chapter 3 and 2 Peter chapter 2. God did not spare Israel and disobedient angels. He does not spare those who commit fornication and those who practice sin before Him in any way.

Jude verse 7: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

This rebukes the progressive (who are really regressive) compromisers who say that homosexuality is not abominable to God and promote gay marriage and/or bless same sex couples. This also rebukes the multitudes of preachers and teachers who come in Christ’s name saying that people can come to Jesus Christ and obtain His grace while continuing to practice sin, as well as the multitudes who say that an authentically born-again Christian could never possibly go back to sin and end up lost. Jude is warning authentic Christians with reminders from these examples that those who transgress against God’s righteous authority are going to face the vengeance of eternal fire- even if they had previously been in the Christian faith authentically. There is no hesitancy about this nor backtracking to take the weight off of what he is communicating (such hesitancy and backtracking are so common in churches now- in the instances that severe Biblical warnings are given).

2 Peter 1:3-4 says: “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

A true believer in Jesus Christ has already escaped (or fled from in fleeing to God from the wrath to come) the corruption that is in the world through lust. The sin has already been utterly disregarded, renounced, and forsaken to the fullest possible extent. That point is not the end of the Christian life; it is the very beginning. It is the entrance into the school of Christ where the narrow gate has been passed through, the narrow way to life has been entered, the school of true discipleship is in session for the individual, and all diligence is required going forward. There is the need to grow as a Christian and the need to be purified as a Christian after that. Peter is about to talk about that in the following verses. Yet he is speaking of these things in the context of having already escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust. When many speak of Christian growth and maturity, they don’t speak of them in this context. They rather make it sound like wallowing in sin is normal Christianity. They lead their hearers to damnation. Peter is also working up to rebuking those who teach such things and working up to exposing their damnable doctrines. Peter will soon make it clear that a Christian who has already escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust can return to it, become ensnared in it, and end up in a worse spiritual state than they were in before. He will make it clear that many who teach in Christ’s name teach doctrine which naturally leads their hearers to this state and the damnation which accompanies it.

2 Peter 2:1: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

“Among you”= Among Apostolic Christian assemblies. And they turned these assemblies away from their faithfulness when they were given heed to. Revelation chapters 2 and 3 provide several samples of the damage which these false teachers did. Since those assemblies were not immune to damnable heresies from false teachers, no one is. It is most concerning now that such teachers not only exist, but that such teachers have had influence which already prevails somehow almost everywhere. This has widely caused what is sound doctrine to be labeled as heresy; and caused things which are truly heretical to be labeled as sound doctrine.

Swift destruction= Suddenly when it hits; not that it will necessarily come swiftly by man’s estimation.

Peter is also exposing those who should be obvious (such as virtually everyone on so-called Christian radio and television now).

And where does this leave those who blatantly deny Lordship salvation, those who say that sinning can’t affect a Christian’s salvation, those who add to God’s Word by claiming the words of humans are equal to or greater than what is written in the Bible, and those who just blatantly say we don’t need to what the Bible commands us?

2 Peter 2:2-3: “And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”

Don’t limit these to those who get rich preaching. The agenda of many is more subtle. And even if they are seeking to get rich, they can fail at that and still succeed in leading many to damnation. Even if they are hirelings seeking to make a living and/or be respected through being regarded as a pastor, that is bad enough.

2 Peter 2:4-6: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly…”

You can know a false teacher for sure when they say that how we actually live doesn’t impact our salvation. Peter rebukes that lie as clear as day here. Our lives must demonstrate that we’ve embraced the entire package of Christian doctrine and prescribed living; that we are in line with Jesus Christ’s Lordship.

2 Peter 2:17-18: “These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.”

They allure true Christians who have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. They allure them through the allowance for sin in their doctrine and/or through their subtle sensuality in their conduct which practically reconciles Christianity with living after the flesh to those who are under their influence. Those who give into this allurement return to corruption. They end up hardened in this state with a spiritual delusion and false security as they live after the flesh which is a worse spiritual state than they were in before they had been converted.

2 Peter 2:19-22: “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

Peter is talking about true Christians being led astray into a worse spiritual state than those who never knew Christ at all are typically in. The unconditional eternal security teachers are being exposed for what they are and their doctrine is simultaneously being proven false. If these were still in God’s grace and heirs of salvation anyways, what Peter said here could not be true. These have fallen from the grace of God.

In a true conversion to Christ, people indeed stop acting like dogs and pigs in a spiritual sense. Yet when people who were truly converted revert to living after the flesh, the illustrations which Peter gives here are appropriate. To see them otherwise would require twisting and nullifying the rest of the book, making the one who does this the very type of teacher whom Peter is warning us to beware of and not give heed to.

2 Peter 3:17: “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.”

You (authentically born-again Christians)- Peter is emphasizing this here so that there is no mistake that it is possible for these to be led away from Christ to ultimately be condemned with the wicked. For these to not be led away with the error of the wicked they must acknowledge the danger which the Apostles said that Christians are in is a real danger.

2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

This is put in contrast to being led away with the error of the wicked. Many wrongly think they can do what verse eighteen prescribes while holding onto wickedness and refusing to submit to the Lord.

2 Timothy 4:1 says: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick (that is, the living) and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;”

Christ will return to reign. The Book of Daniel makes it clear that the Messiah will reign over all forever- yet it also speaks of the Messiah being killed for the sake of others (see Daniel chapter 9:25-26). Psalm 110 is another clear example from the Hebrew Scriptures that the Messiah’s enemies will be crushed under His feet and He will reign over all- yet it can also be inferred from what is said there that He would take on flesh and blood, and be put in humiliating circumstances, before that happens.

2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”

“Instant” here= Be ready; stand by; be at hand.

The right goal in preaching the Word is to direct the hearers on how to be in line with Christ’s coming kingdom; and to thus ready to stand before Him at His appearing and His kingdom.

1 John 2:28: “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”

2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

“Sound” here= Hygiano (hoog-ee-ah’-ee-no) in the Greek; the source of our word hygiene which is used frequently to describe Biblical doctrine in the New Testament.

“Heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears”= Accumulate teachers to themselves in piles according to their itching ears. They (the Christians) want relief from the way of the cross, from the crucifixion to their carnality that receiving the true grace of God, which disciplines those who receive it in accordance with the righteous ways of Christ’s kingdom, insists upon.

“Fables” here= “Mythos” in the Greek text. Concepts opposed to the truth of God’s Word. Vain, empty words. Unconditional eternal security is a myth. Zionism is a myth. Much deception now even comes through fictional books (which preach real lies) such as “The Shack.”

Two closely related passages to the things Paul is driving home to Timothy in these verses are Acts chapter 20:17-31 and Titus chapter 2:11-15.

The temptation now to turn away from sound doctrine is especially great since lawlessness is abounding and there is much tumult in the world. The mainstream media and its great corrupt influence is enough in itself to overwhelm people with anxiety. People easily get frustrated and seek escapes and/or solutions which abiding in the sound doctrine of the Bible doesn’t allow for. The way to life is narrow even in relatively peaceful situations because it is simply difficult to endure the crucifixion of the flesh involved in continuing in the sound doctrine of the Bible. It is also especially difficult to be saved in this generation because of the multitude of temptations, occasions for distraction, the easy accessibility to a torrent of bad concepts which war against the soul, and how easy it is to be psychologically manipulated into a distorted reality- especially through what the internet has become.

2 Timothy 4:5-8 (the Apostle Paul is continuing to exhort Timothy): “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Those who will love Christ’s appearance will be those who have submitted to Him in truth and continued to be governed by the doctrine of His Word.

“Fought” in the preceding verses from 2 Timothy 4= “agonozomai” in the Greek text. This word speaks of contending with an adversary in a struggle. It is where we get the English word “agonoize” from. And yet, back to the myths which people’s itching ears draw them to and the false easy grace which is so prevalent now, many teachers actually teach that Christianity isn’t supposed to be a struggle- and many more yet teach that our salvation isn’t dependent upon our victory in that struggle.

“Fight” here= “agon” in the Greek- the source of the English word “agony.”

Paul is literally saying that he has agonized well in the agony that is authentic Christianity.

Paul had fought to stay true to Christ the King by exercising a living faith in Him towards the goal of being in line with His kingdom, in cooperation with His true grace.

It is extremely likely though that your church denies the need to do so- or badly twists and misrepresents what it means to do so.