“Fighting Truth Decay – A Study in Jude”

While it feels ugly, in our culture, to say, there are some frauds, fakes, mistaken and pretenders. We are aware of the existence of “knock-off” brands. They make themselves look like the real thing, but these products are inferior, not the real thing, as Coca-Cola would say. Of course, if we want it for appearance sake or to save resources, we might be more patient with a knock-off. Because these are fake, we know the quality is inferior and the lifespan is much shorter. It may turn out cheaper to spend the necessary resources on the real thing.

When it comes to God, He is never fooled. He wants a genuine believer, not a fake. He wants accurate belief and understanding of His Word. People can be false believers for several reasons. They may be mistaken, based on misunderstanding of what God’s word says. They may be trying to fix themselves, operating out of a false notion of “works.” There are some who intentionally mislead, trying to take advantage of God’s people, who trust and want to believe the best.

Jude, who won’t go by his given name, Judas, writes to warn and instruct genuine believers, genuine churches, about false believers. There are standards, proverbial lines in the sand. Our “woke” world would probably reject Jude’s letter, but the real church, comprised of real believers, must take heed of Jude’s warnings and instructions. False believers, wolves in sheep’s clothing, are prevalent. Do we know how to spot them?