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THE JUDGMENT OF APOSTASY (IV)
THURSDAY, APRIL 9
Jude 5-7
1 Corinthians 10:11
 
“Now all these things …
are written for our admonition …”
 
THE JUDGMENT OF APOSTASY (IV)
 
It is instructive for us to consider the import of the examples used by Jude in verses 5 to 7 of his epistle. Jude is writing to Christians, in the New Testament era. He is addressing the danger of apostasy in the New Testament church. He gives a warning to his readers concerning certain men who have crept into the church. Yet in his writing, in his address, and in his warning to the New Testament church, he makes liberal use of the Old Testament.
 
Jude uses the example of the Israelites and their tragic rebellion on the brink of entering the promised land, as well as the example of the apostasy among the angelic host, to show that the seeds of such defection may be present in the church ‒ to prove the possibility of such danger creeping into the church “unawares” (Jude 4). He uses the example of Sodom and Gomorrah to prove that God indeed hates such carnal indulgence and sensual lust ‒ to prove that those who try to turn “the grace of our God into lasciviousness” are indeed “ungodly men,” no matter what they may profess or claim.
 
It is sometimes felt by Christians that the Old Testament is not all that relevant for us today. The detailed records of Israel’s storied history may seem distant and far removed from our present situation. But this is the inspired Word of God, which “shall stand for ever” (Isa 40:8); and He has seen to it that “all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor 10:11).
 
Jude’s use of the Old Testament, and his desire to “put [us] in remembrance” of these things, ought to convince us of the enduring relevance of the entirety of God’s Word. No part of it is to be overlooked or dismissed; all of it is to be studied reverently, and obeyed diligently. In many ways it is precisely the failure to learn from the lessons of biblical history that breeds complacency in the church and paves the way for apostasy to creep in and take root.
 
THOUGHT: “All scripture… is profitable” (2 Tim 3:16).
PRAYER: Lord, admonish me by Thy Word!

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