1:22,23
Jude has been very direct and “unforgiving” in his treatment of false teachers, and rightly so. However, we now see that there is mercy as well. All too often we go from one extreme to the other, either being very harsh with people, or being way too soft. As always, the Bible gets it right! Sin, in all its forms, needs to be treated with the utmost seriousness, but the hope is always to lead people to repentance. We do not achieve this by saying that sin doesn’t really matter, and definitely not by saying that sin is actually good. Sadly, this is what a significant part of the church is doing. Nor do we achieve this by unremitting harshness. Instead we act with grace that leads to repentance. This is the heart of God (2 Pet 3:9).
Jude has been very direct and “unforgiving” in his treatment of false teachers, and rightly so. However, we now see that there is mercy as well. All too often we go from one extreme to the other, either being very harsh with people, or being way too soft. As always, the Bible gets it right! Sin, in all its forms, needs to be treated with the utmost seriousness, but the hope is always to lead people to repentance. We do not achieve this by saying that sin doesn’t really matter, and definitely not by saying that sin is actually good. Sadly, this is what a significant part of the church is doing. Nor do we achieve this by unremitting harshness. Instead we act with grace that leads to repentance. This is the heart of God (2 Pet 3:9).
We are to be merciful to those who doubt. We need to distinguish between false teachers, mistaken teaching and doubting. All humans struggle to believe the truth. Where I do understand, the understanding is a result of God’s grace. There are many areas where I still do not understand. So we are to recognise when people are genuinely struggling.
At the same time there will be those who are in grave danger, meddling with sin. Even such people can be saved as one snatched from the fire. But this needs to be done with great care. We do not appreciate how serious sin is, and we need to have fear. There is a real danger that we could end up being caught in the same sin. We need to make sure that we are not naive.
1:24,25
Jude closes with a great doxology, a pean of praise. Note that the praise is to God’s glory, and to His ability to save us. He is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us on the last day without fault. He will complete the work that He has started in us. The situation is very serious and very dangerous, life is a serious business, but our God is able to keep us, able to save us. And we will be presented with great joy. There is great joy in store. All power, majesty, power and authority belong to our God. They belong to know one else, they belong to nothing else. When we are under pressure, when the world is seeking to crush the truth, we need to remember who is who. We serve the one to whom the glory belongs, it always has done, and it always will do. Those who know their God shall be strong and do exploits (Dan 11:32).
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