Jude 1:19
“These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →These are the people who cause divisions, governed by mere natural instinct and lacking the Spirit.
What Does Jude 1:19 Mean?
Jude sums up the troublemakers in a single sharp sentence. They are the ones who separate themselves, drawing lines and splitting the fellowship, setting themselves apart as though above the rest. They are sensual, governed by the natural appetites of the soul rather than by anything higher. And, most tellingly, they are having not the Spirit.
This last phrase reaches the root. For all their talk and confidence, they lack the very life of God within. Without the Spirit, a person is left to instinct and self, unable to see or love the things of God. Jude's diagnosis is honest but it also clarifies the contrast he is about to draw. Where these men divide and follow the flesh, the faithful are united and led by the Spirit of God, and that indwelling presence makes all the difference.
In the Original Language
psychikoi (ψυχικοί), "sensual" — living by the natural soul and its instincts, untouched by the Spirit of God.