Jude, The Judgment Of The Ungodly

Jude 15 “to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Verse 15’s focus and Enoch’s focus is on the ungodly, and what makes them ungodly. The word is used four times in this verse, supplying the central theme of the coming judgment. Verse 14 told us that the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints. Why? To execute judgment.

Before the descent into the ungodly begins, let's pause here. Enoch informs us that God comes to execute judgment on all. The context here has universal application, but it also smacks of the prophet’s warning to a world that entirely lacks genuine faith any longer, Luke 18:8. It’s a wakeup call for a sleeping world that feels secure in its debauchery. A part of the mentioned judgment will be the separation of the godly from the ungodly, and removal of the ungodly from God’s presence, as was taught in the parable of the wheat and tares, Matthew 13:24-30. This separation was typified in Noah’s time when the people–saved and unsaved–lived together until the Flood killed rebellious man, while Noah and his family were spared. 

Judgment in the Greek is the word, “krisis.” When used as a noun it denotes the process of investigation, the act of distinguishing and separating.

The godly and ungodly face drastically different judgments. The godly are judged in regard for fruitful service and subsequent reward, while the punishment of the ungodly is determined by the severity of their works coupled with their awareness. Believers are not judged in the way unbelievers are, because the saints are not appointed for wrath but to salvation, 1 Thessalonians 5:9. As painstakingly outlined in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, believers will stand before the Bema, or judgment seat of Christ to receive reward for our works, or to be stripped of reward due to a lack of spiritual fruit. In his second letter to the same church, Paul reiterates his point about the saints, writing, “For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad,” 2 Corinthians 5:10. 

This topic is again addressed in Romans 14:10-12, where Paul summarizes, stating, “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” Paul includes himself and the Roman Christians in this pale, so we may deduce that this judgment seat is for believers, and neither he nor the Roman saints are exempt from it. A more universal application is found in Romans 2:16, where we read of the day, “when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.” Like the term, “all,” that we just encountered in Jude’s verse, Paul leads with the word, “men,” which can be universally understood as mankind. This segue brings us into the rest of Enoch’s conversation, going beyond the judgment of all into the judgment of the wicked specifically, or as he calls them, the ungodly, which occurs at the Great White Throne judgment when time ends and eternity eclipses all. 

To be clear, anyone unsaved is ungodly. Ungodly is a loaded term nowadays that tends to create an image of some beast-like monster bereft of pity or feelings at all. But ungodly simply means without God. Be it a mass murderer, petty thief or occasional liar, we are, one and all, ungodly if we do not know God. How do we know Him? Only through the gospel of His Son, of course. We are saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ, the only name under Heaven by which men (or mankind) must be saved, see Acts 4:12.

The phraseology in this portion of the verse seems at first glance to indicate multiple parties. Enoch speaks about convicting the ungodly who are, “among them,” of their deeds. However, this appears to merely be a reference to the ungodly in general and is phrased differently in the NIV, NASB, HCSB, RSV and ESV, with no direct mention of that particular phrase. The HCSB renders this portion of the verse, “and to convict them of all their ungodly deeds.” “Them,” is literally translated, “all,” in the HCSB footnote. The mention of them is self-referential of the ungodly, who are facing impending judgment.

The ungodly are being convicted of their ungodly deeds, which they have committed in an ungodly way. Conviction in this instance is in the penal sense: to be found guilty of a criminal offense. How is this affected? “Books were opened…And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books,” Revelation 20:12.God records our words, thoughts and actions and what energizes them, so to speak. In other words, we are our own worst enemy because we have compiled such a ludicrous body of evidence to demonstrate our guilt before God that it boggles the mind. No one will receive acquittal before the Great White Throne, where all of the unsaved, or the dead as Revelation refers to them, gather for judgment. To conclude the matter, Enoch warns that the ungodly will be particularly judged for what the unsaved have said about God, or in his words, against God. 

All pseudo-Christian religions will have much to answer for, because they have created a Christ that is not the real Lord and mingled human effort with divine grace. Rome, Mormonism, the Watchtower, SDA’s, Christian Gnosticism, Christian Science, et al. will have to answer to the Lord of Heaven and earth, the God who inspired Scripture and sent Christ as the payment for men’s souls, to ransom us back from Hell and death. They are the worst offenders, because they present a Jesus that is a caricature or parody of the genuine Man and do not permit Him to be sole God and Lord, Savior of mankind, King of Israel, Creator of the universe. Rome invites Mary to share the throne, for instance, and offers good works and penance in place of faith in the Biblical gospel, while Mormonism offers (unabashedly) the very same godhood Satan offered Adam and Eve in the Garden. We shall all answer for the cruel lies and slander we besmirched God with in this life, using Him for a scapegoat or blaming Him for any bad thing that we perceive as unjust, as though we ourselves aren’t unjust so often in a thousand ways.