EXPOSITION:

As Christians, we need to know some of the fundamental sins in the lives of false teachers and apostates. They have taken the way of Cain, they have profited in the error of Balaam. The way of Cain among others speaks about how Cain disobediently ignored the voice of God that finally saw to the death of his brother Abel with his murderous spirit. The “way of Cain” is also the way of pride, where a man establishes his own righteousness and rejects the righteousness of God that comes through faith in Christ only.

The error of Balaam, on the other hand, speaks of how Balaam the prophet encouraged others to sin, while at the same time seeking to gain monetary value from their error (2 Peter 2:15-16; Numbers 22:21-31). Similarly, the false leaders of Jude’s day in their greed for money led others into sin without recognizing the danger of their actions.

What Jude saw in those days is more prevalent in our societies especially among developing countries like Ghana. We live in nations where supposed men of God would even encourage their church members to steal money to stake their so-called God-given lotto numbers.

Charles Spurgeon once said that “the new views are not the old truth in a better dress, but deadly errors with which we can have no fellowship. To him, false doctrine is a deadly poison that must be identified, labeled, and avoided.