License To Sin - Conditional Salvation
"...ungodly persons who turn the GRACE of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:4)
These "ungodly persons" were the Jewish religious leaders of Israel who apparently had embraced Jesus as the Messiah but were denying that his death, burial and resurrection was the "atoning sacrifice" for the sins of all Israel and the "whole world".
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (Israel), and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world...a gift by His GRACE through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. God presented him as an atoning sacrifice..." (1 John 2:2; Romans 3:24-25)
These "ungodly men" ridiculed those Jewish believers who trusted solely in the "GRACE of our God" for salvation, apart from the works of the Law. They preferred the Conditional Salvation provided under the Law of Moses. In denying salvation by grace alone, these religious men are called "ungodly" because they have turned "the GRACE of our God into licentiousness" thereby denying "our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
I have been warned by religious men that if people are told they have been saved by the "GRACE" of God without repentance of sin and a free will choice, they would have an unrestrained License to Sin. Paul was warned about this in his day...
"Why not say, as some slanderously claim we say, let us do evil that good may come? Their condemnation is deserved" (Romans 3:8)
I respect their concern but would remind them that adding repentance and a free will choice, or any other work as a condition to salvation looks a lot like the teaching of those "ungodly men" Jude was condemning. Paul clearly states...
"...there was an introduction to The Written Law that sin would increase, and wherever sin increased, the GRACE superabounded. That as sin reigned by death, in this way GRACE shall reign by righteousness to eternal life by our Lord Jeshua the Messiah...and sin has no authority over you, for you are not under The Written Law, but under GRACE" (Romans 5:20-21; Romans 6:14 Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
Regardless of any license to sin, my personal experience is that the ones who come to believe that salvation is a free gift of the "GRACE" of God do not deny the "atoning sacrifice" of our Lord Jesus Christ "for the whole world" thus "bringing salvation to all men". All of them live in this age according to instruction of the "grace of God"...
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age…” (Titus 2:11-12)
We are told in Scripture that Salvation is not "a result of works", but by the "GRACE" of God. Not religious faith, but the faith "OF Christ".
“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works…that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ, not of works." (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16 KJV)
Finally, we are instructed by God not to mix grace with our own faith and works in order to qualify for salvation - that is no gospel at all…
"...if it is by GRACE, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace..I am astonished how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is not even a gospel.." (Romans 11:6; Galatians 1:6-7)
These "ungodly persons" were the Jewish religious leaders of Israel who apparently had embraced Jesus as the Messiah but were denying that his death, burial and resurrection was the "atoning sacrifice" for the sins of all Israel and the "whole world".
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (Israel), and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world...a gift by His GRACE through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. God presented him as an atoning sacrifice..." (1 John 2:2; Romans 3:24-25)
These "ungodly men" ridiculed those Jewish believers who trusted solely in the "GRACE of our God" for salvation, apart from the works of the Law. They preferred the Conditional Salvation provided under the Law of Moses. In denying salvation by grace alone, these religious men are called "ungodly" because they have turned "the GRACE of our God into licentiousness" thereby denying "our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
I have been warned by religious men that if people are told they have been saved by the "GRACE" of God without repentance of sin and a free will choice, they would have an unrestrained License to Sin. Paul was warned about this in his day...
"Why not say, as some slanderously claim we say, let us do evil that good may come? Their condemnation is deserved" (Romans 3:8)
I respect their concern but would remind them that adding repentance and a free will choice, or any other work as a condition to salvation looks a lot like the teaching of those "ungodly men" Jude was condemning. Paul clearly states...
"...there was an introduction to The Written Law that sin would increase, and wherever sin increased, the GRACE superabounded. That as sin reigned by death, in this way GRACE shall reign by righteousness to eternal life by our Lord Jeshua the Messiah...and sin has no authority over you, for you are not under The Written Law, but under GRACE" (Romans 5:20-21; Romans 6:14 Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
Regardless of any license to sin, my personal experience is that the ones who come to believe that salvation is a free gift of the "GRACE" of God do not deny the "atoning sacrifice" of our Lord Jesus Christ "for the whole world" thus "bringing salvation to all men". All of them live in this age according to instruction of the "grace of God"...
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age…” (Titus 2:11-12)
We are told in Scripture that Salvation is not "a result of works", but by the "GRACE" of God. Not religious faith, but the faith "OF Christ".
“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works…that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ, not of works." (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16 KJV)
Finally, we are instructed by God not to mix grace with our own faith and works in order to qualify for salvation - that is no gospel at all…
"...if it is by GRACE, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace..I am astonished how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is not even a gospel.." (Romans 11:6; Galatians 1:6-7)
It appears to me that the religions of the world who teach some form of Conditional Salvation are the ones dishing out the proverbial License to Sin.