Maximum Mandatum

In their short letters, Peter and Jude were addressing a nascent threat arising in the early church: false teachers who denied the future return of Christ, and accordingly taught that there was no future judgment and no need to pursue sanctification. They preyed upon the Christians’ exilic fatigue in the world and subtly deceived them into giving up and walking away from the faith. It was like a precursory postmodernism. Apostasy is a real allurement, but a slow—almost inadvertent—one that progresses from impatience to doubt and skepticism, to cynicism and bitterness, to eventual rejection and desertion. Savage wolves in sheep’s clothing are creeping into the church, casing the fold, and culling out who they might devour next.

These first century letters are still potently relevant today. We are currently witnessing a rise in progressive pseudo-Christianity and a rise in apostasy—abandonment, defection, deconstructing, deconverting, falling from grace, walking away from the faith—whatever you want to call it. Although there are many underlying, complex factors, ultimately, it is to throw in the towel, to stop abiding and contending. With the escalating hostility and pressure from the world to conform, we are tempted to dilute the truth of the Gospel and “rediscover” a more comfortable life apart from God’s “rigid” holiness and truth. Our response to persecution and pressure should not be compromise, but rather to diligently stand against false teaching and to dependently stand firm in Christ and the truth of the Gospel—to contend for the faith and for our faith.

Here are some of the most important takeaways for us today—

The Threat of False Teachers

1. Interestingly, false teaching is nothing new. It existed before the fall and is still a threat to God’s people today led by the same great manipulator and consummate deceiver.
2. Our cunning foe has launched a dark campaign—an extensive assault against the Gospel—and false teachers are his secret agents. We must maintain a wartime mentality; we must remain alert and vigilant.
3. We must also know our enemy. We must know what they look like and how they operate. Then we must mark them and avoid them. We must not give them a platform or an audience or any influence among us.
4. False teaching is especially dangerous because it is so subtly close to the truth and creeps in often escaping our notice. But, over time, wolves can be identified and distinguished for Jesus said you will know them by their fruits.
5. The chief characteristic of false teachers is that they deny the sovereign authority of Jesus Christ. They spurn his holiness. They doubt, distort, downplay, and disregard the truth of His Word.
6. Wolves prey on the immature and unsuspecting—those who aren’t well-grounded in the truth, those who are not satisfied in Christ, those who isolate themselves from the fold.

The Peril of Impatience

1. Conversion is not a one-time event, but a life-long process. Faith is a journey. As exiles, we live in tension between two worlds. As pilgrims we are ever progressing toward Christ.
2. The psychology of waiting is challenging. Waiting can be miserable and agonizing. Persecution and false teaching can exacerbate our situation. Contending for Christ and waiting for him can be exhausting. Temptations to give up are real.
3. In the meantime, false teachers prey upon our impatience. They offer the false hope of relief—softened persecution and increased relevance—if we only compromise the most holy faith and integrate it with secular ideology and philosophy. It’s a trap.
4. Eschatological delay should not discourage us. We must understand God’s heart and his positive purposes in delaying his return—he has more sinners to save, more people to rescue. His delay is not a sign of neglect, but concern. If Christ appears to be slow to return, it is because he is slow to anger.
5. At the same time, God’s patience does not equal his approval. Radical self-expression—however relevant and appealing it is today—will only lead to eternal self-destruction. Although godless men appear to be thriving, God’s judgment is imminent, certain, and sure.
6. The world is constantly telling us we will be on the wrong side of history. But history is moving forward to a definite end where sin will be destroyed, absolute righteousness will rule, and perfect love will reign. I would rather be on the wrong side of history than on the wrong side of the future.

The Danger of Apostasy

1. Apostasy and deconversion are particularly dangerous because after having been exposed to the Gospel, having an experience in the Christian community, then walking away and repudiating Christ—you become inoculated against it all and are less likely to return to the fold.
2. Christian celebrity is often the great Trojan Horse that Satan uses to attack the church. It’s always a tragedy for anyone to depart from the faith. But how utterly diabolical is it for them to go and use their “Christian” platform to recruit others?! They actively undermine God’s authority sowing seeds of doubt and confusion by parroting that same insipient seminal whisper, “Has God really said?”
3. Deconversion is always cloaked in humility—“I don’t know;” “I have questions;” “I’m searching;” “I’m finding God in new ways and in new places.” Don’t be deceived. It’s a prideful repudiation of God and his truth. And worse, it’s not just a personal journey or phenomenon, they demand a following. They want to make disciples.
4. In apostasy we do not find genuine Christians being seduced and losing their salvation. Rather, we see counterfeits being revealed. They went out from us because they were never among us.
5. Saving faith is not something God gives and takes back. Saving faith is not something that we choose and then choose to give back. Rather, this faith is such a glorious, incomprehensible gift that it is intentionally counterfeited and often unwittingly feigned.
6. Warning passages in Scripture are for us. They aren’t meant to rob us of security and assurance; they motivate us to persevere. They’re not meant to make us question our salvation. In them, we are encouraged to endure to the end, desperately and diligently depending on God.

We Must Contend

1. An elementary understanding of the Gospel is not sufficient to sustain a life of endurance in the onslaught of persecution from without and false teaching from within.
2. Having a plurality of shepherd elders will provide more eyes and ears to recognize and deal with the threat of false teachers in the church. And it is their responsibility, not only to warn, but to train up a mature, discerning flock that is equipped to spot and avoid dangerous wolves.
3. Shepherds are gentle with their sheep, but their harshness and boldness toward savage wolves is an expression of their care for the sheep, love for the truth, faithful undertaking of their responsibility, defense of the Gospel, and commitment to Christ.
4. Contending for the faith is not prideful or unloving. It is not prideful to stand on and stand up for God’s Word; it’s actually a mark of humility. And defending God’s Word is the best way we can love others—pointing them to the only true source of hope.
5. Contending is defensive and offensive; it is preemptive and reactive. We must take great pains in guarding what has been entrusted to us in order to pass it down to the next generation uncorrupted in all of its power and purity.
6. Our greatest offense and defense is the Gospel—it is the power of God to salvation. We fight for it, and we fight with it. Contending for the faith is storming the gates of hell; it is forestalling the enemies’ efforts to undermine the truth and lead people into captivity.

We Must Persevere

1. The Christian life is a conscientious pursuit of Christ. Growth and change are organic to the Gospel. We must diligently depend on him.
2. If faith is a divine gift, then we can be confident that part and parcel of that gift is the means to persevere. He has enabled and equipped us with everything we need. God is the animating and propulsive power behind saving faith. He is its author and the finisher.
3. We must learn to live with the tension of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. We are kept by God, and we must keep ourselves in the love of God. He is holding us, and we must cling to him. He has chosen us, and we must conscientiously choose to follow him every day. He has elected us, and we must make our calling and election sure. We have eternal security and we must progress in purity. We are preserved, and we must persevere. He has suffered for us, and we must be willing to suffer for him. He has carried his cross, and we must be willing to carry our own.
4. We are not given a one-time measure of grace. And faith is not a one-time reliance on Christ the moment of salvation. It is a daily commitment to Christ met with God’s enduring provision of grace. Regeneration enables real, active participation with God’s work in our lives. But we don’t do this independently of him. Spirit-driven, dependent effort does not take away from his sufficiency.
5. Aimlessness and pointlessness have no place in the Christian life. We are not meant to be stagnant or stationary; there must be progress and growth. Our faith should be private and public, foundational and functional, affecting belief and behavior.
6. True Christians, by God’s grace, persevere to the end. They do not desert, detract, defect, deconstruct, deconvert, deny, disavow, disbelieve, denounce, discard, or disclaim Christ. Their devotion and affection for Christ will be sustained by him unto the end.