Jude 4, Romans 5:6,8

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You’ve heard of driver’s licenses or pilot’s license or even liquor licenses. There’s a lot of license that we give out in our world, in our country. But have you ever heard about a license to sin? Maybe wonder what in the world is that? Well, Saint Jude talks about a license to sin in the fourth verse of his book, where he says this. He talks about the ungodly. He talks about people who turn the grace of our God into a license to sin.

They are ungodly people who turn the grace of our God into a license for sin… (Jude 4)

You might wonder, what is he talking about concerning this license to sin? Maybe first and foremost, it’s good for us to understand who he’s talking about. Who are these ungodly people? Well, he’s talking about Christians, or at least people who call themselves Christians. They call themselves Christians, they claim that they know the grace of God, they know his undeserved love for them, how he has come into the world to forgive them all of their sins. And yet they use that as an excuse to sin. They say, because God has forgiven all of my sin, it doesn’t matter how I live, I can do whatever I want. Who cares? God will just forgive me anyway.

It’s good to note, though, the term that he uses for them, the term that he uses is “ungodly.” He’s talking about people who are acting not as Christians, but as unbelievers. Have you ever had such an attitude when it comes to God’s grace? Maybe thinking that you have a license to sin? As you consider your own life, is there something that you are doing right now that maybe a pastor has told you this is wrong? Or a parent, or a friend or maybe your own conscience? Or maybe it’s a combination of all those that you’ve been told very clearly, this is wrong. And you know, deep down that it is, but you just keep on doing it. You maybe have told yourself, well, what’s the big deal? I’ll just ask forgiveness later anyway. Or maybe you’ve thought everyone else is doing it, so why can’t I also do this same thing?

God is revealing to you and to all of us in His Word today that ultimately having that attitude of it doesn’t matter if I sin, that that is an attitude of an ungodly person. It isn’t right. And really, it’s a faith destroying attitude because it can lead us to ultimately think that the thing that we are doing wrong really isn’t that wrong. So I’ll just keep on doing it. And I don’t really need a savior because it isn’t really wrong. It’s very harmful to us.

That should be a wake up call. That should be something striking for us to consider. Maybe if your conscience has been pricked, though, as you consider that thing in your own life, it’s good for us to also consider the words of the Apostle Paul from Romans chapter five, when he says this,

For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)

Christ died for the ungodly. Christ died for people who thought they had a license to sin. People who took for granted the grace of God and said, I’ll sin now and I’ll ask forgiveness later. Christ died for those people. And it goes on to say,

But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

That’s amazing, isn’t it? To know that that God even forgives those types of sins, even though we knew it was wrong and we did it anyway, even though we were planning to repent later, even though that was a terrible attitude and terrible actions that we took. Christ died even for those sins. Let’s rejoice in that message and let us not want to ultimately live in our sin and think that we have a license to sin, but instead live for Christ, who has paid for that sin and taking care of it once and for all on the cross. Amen.

Jude 3

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I am always amazed at all the different health crazes and different diets and different workout routines there are out there. There is the keto diet. There’s the paleo diet. There’s the Atkins diet. And there are these beach body workouts. There’s P90X. There’s cross fit. People are dedicated to taking care of themselves. People are disciplined, they’re willing to persevere and push through the pain and suffering because they want to have a better positive experience on the outcome.

For us as Christians, we likewise are encouraged to have this kind of attitude in a spiritual sense. To be willing to contend for our faith. The New Testament letter of Jude speaks about this. In those days Jude was writing to encourage Christians who had to deal with a lot of trouble and upheaval in the world. Just as we still face here today. And Jude encourages those early Christians to contend to, to cling to, the Christian faith and that is the teachings of God’s Word. Jude writes

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you concerning the salvation we share, I felt it was necessary for me to write, to urge you to continue to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once and for all. (Jude 3)

That word ‘contend,’ ‘contend for’ is a powerful image. Imagine a marathon runner who is in the middle of his race and he hits his wall. He’s tired, he’s worn out, but does he give up? Does he stop running? No, he fights through it. He’s going to persevere so that he can get to the end. So that he can finish his race.

Or think of two warriors at hand to hand combat. They’re fighting as if their life depends upon it. And that’s the picture that Jude paints for us in this verse as he encourages us as Christians to contend for the faith. To contend for, to fight for, to cling to with all of our might the message of salvation that we have in God’s Word. And it is something that is worth clinging to even to the death for. Because it is a message about one who contended for us.

We have a Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who contended for us. He came into this world. He lived a holy perfect life for us. He achieved a righteousness with his life that he now desires to share with you and me. And he contended also even with death itself as he willingly went to the cross in order to pay for your sins and mine. And now we have a glorious message that we contend for. The faith that stands triumphant especially on Easter morning as our Lord Jesus is risen from the dead. And that is announcing to us a glorious message that our sins are completely paid for. Heaven is wide open to us.

As we face trouble and upheaval and turmoil in our lives. This is what we cling to. This is what we contend for this glorious message of salvation that we have from God. It’s a message that God has given to us announcing us as His saints. And so we do contend for the faith that was delivered to us.

Will you pray with me?

Lord Jesus, thank you for contending for us to make forgiveness and salvation available. Help us today and help us every day in spite of the trouble and unrest that is present all around us to cling to and contend for this message that you have won heaven for us. Amen.

God’s peace be with you.