Jude 1:4

Apostates Described

Jude explained that false teachers were the cause of his writing. Woods says the idea of "crept in unnoticed" is that of entering in by the side door, without revealing their motive of leading the saints astray. This description might be compared with Galatians 2:4; 2 Timothy 3:6 and 2 Peter 2:1-2. These false teachers were the ones who were written of before, probably in the Old Testament. What was written concerning them is described as being "marked out for this condemnation" (Judges 1:4).

The false teachers were likewise described as "ungodly men," which seems to indicate they were not pious or reverent. These were the same type of men that reaped their reward at the time of the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:5-6). Being of such a nature, they turned the grace of God, which is salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9), into a support of gross fleshly indulgence. Thayer says "licentiousness" is unbridled lust, excess and shamelessness. As Woods points out, there is similarity between these men and those in 2 Peter 2:18-19.

There is some question as to the meaning of the words "only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." The A. S. V. puts "the only Master, and our Lord Jesus Christ" in a footnote as a possible rendering. Some think it refers to the Father and the Son. The title "Master" is applied to Christ in 2 Peter 2:1, and the characterizing word "only" is used more properly of God, as it is in verse 25 of this book. (See The Pulpit Commentary for a fuller discussion.)