Jude 17-25

¹⁷ But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; ¹⁸ How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. ²⁰ But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, ²¹ Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²² And of some have compassion, making a difference: ²³ And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. ²⁴ Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

The Letter of Jude is a difficult letter in the New Testament. It serves as a sobering reminder that, just because everything looks good on the surface, it does not necessarily mean that all is well. The largest portion of his letter is dedicated to his main purpose that is to warn the church about “certain men” who “crept in unawares.” These “men” existed in his day and they still exist in the church today. We have identified them with the term “apostates.” An “apostate” is one who falls away from the faith. There are obvious ones in Scripture that defect and leave, like Judas, but there are others who are far more subtle and less obvious because they may not outwardly and openly deny core Christian doctrine. Instead they cause damage and division in the body of Christ through ungodly hypocrisy and an influence of subtle undermining. Verses 4-16 identify their character and some of their actions. In the final portion of his letter, Jude wrote to instruct God’s people on what we are to do in recognition of the potential presence of these “certain men” in our midst. There are essentially five things that he calls us to do. We looked at the first three last week. We are to focus on knowing God’s Word, growing in godliness, and living in the hope of the return of Christ by remaining faithful. These are three things that we should be pursuing at all times as Christians. We will examine the final two instructions this week.

The fourth instruction that Jude gives to us is found in verses 22-23 and it is simply to warn others. In these two verses, there are three categories of people involved in different ways with the apostates and with apostasy. To each of those groups, Jude gives us a way to respond. First, there are those that he says are confused. The phrase “making a difference” describes an individual in a confused state. He says to “have compassion” on such. This would describe those in the church being confused by false teaching or being misled by the behavior of the apostates. In verse 16, we talked about one of the marks of apostates as using flattery to draw attention to themselves. Someone with good intentions who is a genuine believer in the church may not know better and fall prey to that trap for a time. Jude says to have compassion as we warn them. That means we should do so gently and kindly. The second group Jude identifies are those who need to be saved “with fear” by “pulling them out of the fire.” This would be the group that has been confronted, the pastor has preached on it, etc., and yet they remain participating in the same false teaching, sins, and sinful behavior patterns that cause issues in the body. “Fear” describes reverence or being afraid for the soul of the individual involved. Leading the individual to repentance is equated with “pulling” or “snatching” them from “the fire.” The imagery is from Zechariah 3:1-4 where Joshua the high priest is a “brand plucked out of the fire.” It served as a picture of God saving Joshua from his sin and its end. James gives a similar instruction at the close of his letter in James 5:19-20 where turning a “sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death.” Those who are in grave danger because they demonstrate that they are like those that Jude identifies or are associating with them in behavior are to be reverently lead to repentance. The last group that Jude identifies here is a little ambiguous in some translations, but there is the phrase “on some have mercy with fear” attached to “hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” This would create a third group that is involved in some form of sin identified in this letter. Here is a call to “have mercy” on them, but to do so “with fear” or “reverence.” The way we love other people in sin is very important. We don’t love them by leaving them in their sin. Our goal should be to love them out of their sin. The way we do that is that we must maintain an attitude of reverence toward God which means that we will hate “even the garment spotted by the flesh.” That means we must utterly hate the sin they are involved in. When we confront others or witness to others in sin, we must recognize the sin for what it is so that we are not dragged into compromise with them. If we do not treat the sin for the evil thing that it is then we can never truly help the person. Our intentions can be pure and our methods not. This is why Romans 16:17-18 says to “mark” and “avoid” those that persist in unrepentance of living and belief that is contrary to Scripture. We must be uncompromising with sin and confront such individuals carefully that we are not caught up in sin ourselves, either the sin they are involved in or being sinful in how we confront them. We must always confront with fear and trembling, with love, with reverence, and with merciful compassion.

The final instruction that Jude gives to us as we face apostasy is found in verses 24-25 and that is to trust in God’s power. Jude has given a monumental task, not only in facing apostates in the church, but in confronting it and its effects in the lives of others. How in the world are God’s people sufficient for such a task? The answer is His power. In these final two verses, Jude gives us three things that Christ does for His people in the face of “perilous times” (2 Timothy 3:1) of apostasy. First, He safeguards His people. Jude reminds us here that it is Christ who keeps all those that truly belong to Him safe as we face error around us. He “is able to keep you from falling.” In John 6:37-40, Jesus lays out the responsibility given to Him by His Father to faithfully preserve all of those that truly belong to Him until the end. For us to be lost again once we are saved would be for Him to fail in that work. 1 Peter 1:5 tells us that we are “kept by the power of God.” In John 10:27-29, Jesus tells us that we are secure in His hands and in His Father’s hands. Therefore, for a believer to be lost in such circumstances would mean that God would have failed to preserve us. He doesn’t. He can’t. Nothing is more powerful than Him. He not only safeguards us but, secondly, He sanctifies us. He is working in the hearts and lives of all true believers right now for the purpose of conforming us into His image (Romans 8:28-29). He will finish that process (Romans 8:30; Ephesians 1:4; Philippians 1:6). His present work of making us more like Christ is one of the great evidences that we belong to Him. He disciplines us (Hebrews 12:5-11) and is with us as we struggle against sin (Romans 7:13-25) in this world. Lastly, He also saves us. Hebrews 7:25 promises that Jesus is “able to save to the uttermost” or save completely because He lives forever to intercede for us. He is “the only wise God our Savior” to whom belong “glory and majesty, dominion and power” forever. God’s purposes in the world are saving and preserving a people to one day stand before Him and declare “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10). All of the redeemed will one day be joined together in heaven and say, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12) because He “loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father” (Revelation 1:5). As believers face all that we face in this world, we cannot do so with confidence in our strength because we have none or with confidence in our faith because it is often weak, but we must do so in His power. This is where spiritual warfare is waged. We must “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). We must trust in His power.

Jude gives us instructions in the final words of his letter. As the church seeks to “earnestly contend for the faith” against the “certain men” who “have crept in unawares,” we must first look to our own walks with Christ. We should strive to know His Word that we won’t be led into error. We must focus on growing in godliness so that our lives don’t fall prey the apostate behavior patterns. We are to live in hope, recognizing that we will be delivered from this age and give an account to Christ at His coming. We must love others in reverential fear enough to warn them without being dragged into sin ourselves. Lastly, we are called to trust and rest in the power of God in Christ. He will equip and preserve us all the way through everything that we face. Jude’s call is not just for us to look around at others, but look into our own hearts through the lens of God’s Word. Who are you really? Have you truly been saved by God’s grace or have you played a part? If God has spoken to your heart through His Word or He has convicted you by His Spirit, you can be saved. Don’t be given over to the deception that many have. Simply put your trust in Christ before it is too late.