Let’s get straight to the answer – pastors, elders, ministers. Whatever the local church calls their leadership. These people are the problem in the church here in America. They will also be the ones held most responsible for the decline of the church because of the deception they have brought into the fellowship.
They are spoken about in Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. What does this phrase mean, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness? The word grace is the most misunderstood and misused word in the New Testament. The modern usages by most pastors mean nothing. The word grace is almost always incorrectly interchanged with the word mercy.
For example: When you fail to pay a bill on time, it is often stated in the contract you have a “grace” period in which you can pay the bill without any consequences. What does this mean? This means that the one owed money is going to withhold the penalty for a time to allow you to pay the bill late without any consequences. So actually they are showing you mercy not giving you grace. Mercy is defined as “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.” Yet we call it a “grace” period.
So what is grace in the New Testament. Grace is a dynamic power. It is an inner ability or strength to acknowledge God and believe in God. Apart from grace, man is void of any belief or understanding of God or who He is. We are told in three different passages in Scripture that man left to himself is not able to be righteous, to understand God, or to seek after God. Romans 3:10-12
But God in His mercy, extends to every man His grace. Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. So every man is able to know about God, think about God and determine if they want to follow God. When a person then humbles himself, acknowledges (by grace) who he is apart from God, repents, and accepts God’s gift of salvation provided through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then they receive salvation. This all happens because God gives us grace to believe, repent, accept, and follow Christ.
But grace does not stop there. It is this dynamic power within us that God gives us that allows us to walk in the truth, to follow Christ, to trust Christ for our life, to obey the commands of Christ, to be willing to suffer for Christ. And it is grace that sets us apart from the world, allows us to overcome the flesh, our former ways of life, and gives us the victory in the Lord.
What is lasciviousness? The Greek word behind the English term “lascivious” is aselgeia. It occurs nine times in the New Testament. Twice it is rendered as “wantonness” (Rom. 13:13; 2 Pet. 2:18), and once it appears as “filthy” (2 Pet. 2:7). The other six times it is translated as “lascivious” (cf. Mk. 7:22; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 4:19; 1 Pet. 4:3; Jude 4). The word can connote several attitudes or actions. With reference to sexual matters, it embraces the concepts of excess, unbridled lust, debauchery, and sensuality. It suggests a disregard for public decency.
This, no doubt, is an accurate description of our modern day American culture. Excess sexuality everywhere in society through advertising, internet, pornography, entertainment, music, art, and culture. But what about the Church. In the church we too have lost our regard for decorum, propriety, respectability, and appropriateness. Churches today pride themselves in saying come to our meetings as your are. We do not judge anyone for the way they dress, look, or even behave. The vast majority of churches today are simply a reflection of the lascivious culture in which we live; and we have lost all regard for public decency in this nation.
And why has this happened in our nation and in the Church of Jesus Christ? Because the leaders of the church have failed to take a stand, a godly stand, a humble stand, a clear stand against this pervasive lasciviousness in our society. And the reality is most “growing” churches have embraced the modern culture by incorporating it into their church which has allowed them to become acceptable to people in all stages of lasciviousness.
So let us play out this statement of turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness in the Church. The pastor says to the congregation. God wants you to come to Him, live for Him, and grow in Him, but God is not concerned about rules, regulations, or laws. God is concerned about your heart. If you are sincere in your heart towards God, you can do almost anything you want. You can dress however you feel. You can participate in whatever sport you want. You can go wherever you want. You can eat, drink, and sleep however you want. You can have whatever job you want to have. You can spend your money however you want. You can promote your brand of Christianity however you feel led. In other words, whatever you want to do and call it Christian is acceptable to the church and to God, because it is all about grace. This thinking that is being promoted by modern day pastors is anathema to God. He hates this thinking and will severely judge those who promote it. They are turning His grace into lasciviousness.
What does this type of thinking lead to in the Church? It leads to divorce and remarriage. It leads to immodest dress. It leads to course language and humor. It leads to the members of the church becoming addicted to food, pornography, anti-depressant drugs. It leads to a sickly congregation that has poor health. It leads to worldliness in every form i.e. drinking alcohol, dancing, listening to rock, country, jazz, and all other manner of music (but it is “Christian” they say). It leads to watching any kind of worldly entertainment even though it has nudity, swearing, immorality, debauchery of any kind. Hey, it’s just entertainment they say. It leads to overspending, debt, bankruptcy; even gambling (but remember it’s just entertainment). It leads to a warped view of true godliness and all that the saints of old stood for.
This kind of wrong thinking leads to a distorted view of Scripture. The modern church of America has thrown out the Old Testament. They think it is just good for history, and really interesting stories, but it has way too many laws, regulations, restrictions, and hard teachings. So the focus is on the New Testament. But then they teach that we need to be careful, because much of what was written there was for the specific churches that had specific problems, and it does not apply specifically to us today.
So God’s grace (dynamic power) which empowers the child of God to live the Christian life has been turned into lasciviousness (all manner of excess, unbridled lust, debauchery, and sensuality).
By the way, what is in it for the pastors? The following is what they are getting from this wrong teaching. Money. Prestige. Power. Independance. Pastor’s today make more money than the average person in their congregation. The pastors of the large churches that are on the leading edge of this new approach to Christianity are making upward of a million dollars or more.
The pastors of America have made the church a place where people are made to feel comfortable with whatever lifestyle they want to live as long as they put the brand of Christianity on it. The pastors are the reason this has happened. They have compromised the truth of scripture, especially as it relates to the grace of God, because they want the benefits that have come to them that often include an opulent lifestyle, public admiration, personal freedom, and all other forms of outward success given to worldly leaders. What would the apostle Paul think if he traveled America today and visited these churches?
More importantly what does Paul say to us as true followers of Jesus Christ. In his last letter he writes to Timothy about pastors like we have in America today. He says they have a form of godliness, but no power in their life. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
How should we relate to these leaders of the Church? Paul states clearly, from such turn away.
