Jude 1:4

For there are certain men crept in unawares More literally, For there crept in unawares certain men … There is a touch of contempt in the way in which, as in Galatians 2:4; 2 Peter 2:1, the false teachers are referred to without being named. Here also, as there, stress is laid on their making their way into the Church insidiously, and, as it were, under false pretences. The words that follow have often been urged as giving a sanction to the Calvinistic theory of a Divine decree predestining men to condemnation, but it is against this view that the word "of old" is never used in the New Testament of the Divine Counsels, which are in their very nature eternal, and are commonly indicated by such words as "before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4), "from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18), the "eternal purpose" (Ephesians 3:11) and the like. The Greek word for "of old" may, on the contrary, be used of even a recent past, as in Mark 15:44; 2 Peter 1:9. Nor does the Greek word for "ordained" express the thought of a decree like that of the Calvinistic theory, but rather of a public designation, as in Galatians 3:1. St Jude's words accordingly are adequately rendered by who were long ago before marked out as on their way to this condemnation, and may refer to previous prophetic utterances of the same type as those of 1 Timothy 4:1-2, or 2 Peter 2:1, which had already pointed to such men as the coming danger of the Church.

turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness The description agrees with that in 2 Peter 2:18-19, in pointing to the party who under the pretence of magnifying the grace of God (Romans 6:1), and asserting their Christian liberty, led base and licentious lives, the party, i.e., condemned alike by St Paul (1 Corinthians 6:9-18), by St Peter (2 Peter 2) and by St John (1 John 3:7-10). See notes on 2 Peter 2.

denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ The better MSS. omit the word "God," and as the Greek word for the first "Lord" is that used in 2 Peter 2:1 (see note there), we are probably justified in applying it also to Christ. On that view, or indeed in any case, it would be better to express the distinction between the two terms by translating, the only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. The "denial" spoken of is two-fold, both in doctrine, as in 1 John 2:22-23, or in life, but the context shews that stress is laid chiefly on the latter.