Jude 19These are the people who divide, unspiritual, not having the Spirit.
Jude lists three specific spiritual problems with the infiltrating false teachers. Each characteristic will cause problems in any church. First these people are divisive The substantival participle (apodiorizontes) occurs only here in the New Testament and can have two interpretations. It can mean to separate oneself from others, as if a person is special. This meaning could fit the self-focused people who had snuck into the church and perverted the gospel. The other meaning is to cause separation, which also fits the situation because these people had come in and caused problems that could lead to division in the church. The first interpretation could lead to the second. Selfishness is usually the cause of church division.
The second problem was that they were unspiritual (psychikoi). This word is difficult to translate because it can have several nuances. It expresses how a person follows the way of the world and not the way of God. It could be interpreted as “natural instincts” or “worldliness.” It describes living like animals that follow their instinctive desires and not being aware of God or living in rejection of divine revelation. In the natural world, it is eat or be eaten, kill or be killed. Everything is about survival of the fittest and strongest. This type of living always leaves victims because it is all about self.
Third, these people lacked the Spirit (pneuma). The first two problems lead to the third problem. The proof that they lacked the Spirit was in how they lived in ungodliness and selfishness. The way of the Spirit is about loving and giving of oneself by putting the needs of others before our own (Philippians 2:1-4). The natural way is inspired by the fallen sinful nature, which, because of its inherent selfishness, often results in division and broken relationships. The readers of this letter were experiencing this problem as a result of the bad influence of these people. The answer to the problem of sin is submission to the supremacy of Christ and following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings unity, whereas the way of the world brings brokenness.