According to Young’s Analytical Concordance, the word “ungodly” only appears in the Holy Scriptures 26 times. This is a very harsh word with such definitions as “worthless, without value, perverse, wrong, wicked, irreverent.” These are all words with bad definitions, and we can easily get the picture that ungodliness is evil and, therefore, something undesirable. To be ungodly is to be without God!
In short, the Epistle of Jude uses the word “ungodly” six times. This small epistle is a warning against false teachers. It applied to those false teachers of the time it was written and still applies in today’s Christian teachings. Jude didn’t mince words as he spoke of “ungodly men who turn the grace of God into lustfulness and deny… God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 4). He cut right to the heart of the matter. To deny is to reject. These people rejected (that is, despised) God! Paul had something to say about this very matter. “…to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” (Titus 1:15-16). It is such a sad commentary to know that there are those today who still say they are true believers of God but in their works, they deny His very existence.
In verse 15, in speaking of old prophecies, Jude truly was inspired as he spoke of the return of our Lord “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.” He reminded them in verse 18 that the apostles “told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.” The people of that day and of this day have every opportunity to mend their ways and become God-fearing, faithful people who will not have God’s judgment come upon them for being ungodly.
So how does one avoid such a sad pronunciation of judgment that will send him or her to an eternal place of fire and brimstone? The opposite of “ungodly” is “godliness,” and that’s for which those who want to avoid the fire and brimstone of Hell must strive. In instructing young Timothy, Paul told him to “be an example of the believers in word, in manner of life, in love, in spirit, in faith and in purity… give attention to reading, to exhortation and to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:12-13). Timothy was a young man who had accepted God as his Creator and Jesus as his Savior, but he was living among people who didn’t believe in or serve God. Does that sound like what is happening today? Some make a pretense of godliness, but their lives say otherwise. The same things Paul told Timothy to do are still applicable today. Christians must be Christian examples to those who are not Christians. We must do that with what we say and how we act and live. When Christians do “ungodly” works, they cease to have any hope of setting a godly example to unbelievers. God’s faithful will strive to set examples to others by the way they live, talk, worship, respect others and the good works they do in reaching out to others.
How can Christians do this? Paul’s instruction to Timothy was to ‘spend time reading, exhorting and teaching doctrine.’ Christians must read and study to know God’s will to be able to teach and exhort others. Simply, godly folks will learn God’s Word, apply it to their lives and teach and exhort others to do the same. True Christians will practice what they preach rather than be guilty of ungodliness!
