Paul, Peter, James and John all warn of false teachers and scoffers, and indeed the Lord Himself (eg Matthew 24) did so as well. False teachers are a fact of life in the church, and we need to know how to recognise them and how to respond.
Jude gives three characteristics of the "scoffers". They cause division, they follow their natural instincts, they do not have the Spirit. Jesus in John 17 prayed for unity among believers, Paul talks about preserving the bond of peace (Ephesians). False teachers will cause division among believers. A godly person will be motivated and led by the Holy Spirit, a false teacher will be motivated and led by their own spirit.
Jude then gives positive instructions to his readers.We are to build ourselves up in the faith. The primary antidote to the negative is the positive. We need to feed on the word, believe the word and do the word. We need to mediate upon who Christ is and what He has done. We need to dwell in God. We are to love as God loves, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. God is completely different from the world, His ways are different.
While Jude has given uncompromising words on the false teachers, his readers also need to be on their guard. In dealing with false teaching we can easily crush others. We are to be merciful to those who have genuine doubts. There is a difference between someone who is hard heartedly pursuing their own ends, and someone who does not understand some things but is willing to learn. We need to know when to be gentle. And the goal is to save people. If the false teachers continue in their ways they will indeed end up in hell, but a far better outcome is that they repent and so get saved. Our desire should be to see people saved, not go to hell.
We always need to be on our guard, making sure that we ourselves do not fall.
Jude closes his letter with a paean of praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our whole focus needs to be on Jesus, He is the foundation and source of our faith. He is the way, the truth and the life.
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