Heresy Creeps in Unnoticed

These false deceivers have crept in unawares. They do not come in waving a flag saying, We are false. Come, and follow us away from the truth. They do not come in announcing their intentions or their purpose. They do not even come in saying, We are going to change what the Scripture says. They come in under every pretence of being proper and acceptable, but they are crafty deceivers, they are wolves in sheep's clothing. This is the only way that they can creep in without being detected, hence they have crept in unawares. And as Jude points out the subtlety and the craftiness of the deceptions of these, that in itself is an incentive unto vigilance. Hence Peter, who wrote much as Jude did, exhorts: be sober, be vigilant! And repeatedly in Peter's epistle, he is exhorting his reader to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure. Jude tells that these deceivers are indeed exactly that—crafty, deceptive, subtle—because he is encouraging his people unto vigilance. You should know that there is an enemy and the enemy is focused upon you, and that he is one of exceeding subtlety and craftiness, so that you will be alert and aware. People of means will hire personal bodyguards to be watching for them, and they are driven to that by the reality of an enemy who seeks suddenly to destroy them. If this be the case with the truth that was once for all delivered to the saints, then the knowledge of that is in itself an exhortation to vigilance.¹

John McKnight