• Build yourselves up. How do you build yourself up? It involves what you read, who you're around, what you think. You can either plug things into your life that will make you stronger or make you weaker. The choice is up to you.

• Keep yourselves in God's love. How can we keep ourselves in God's love? Does God have his love tied to some kind of heavenly bungee cord that's close sometimes and faraway at other times? No. I like the way the late Ray Stedman put it, "God's love is just like the sunshine, constantly shining on us. But we can put up parasols and various barriers that shut it off."

• Wait for the mercy of God. Most of the commentators seem to think that's a reference to the Second Coming. The significant thing about this response is the term "wait." It doesn't mean to sit around waiting. It means to look, earnestly with longing and expectation. Too many Christian live in dread of the Second Coming. That was not the attitude of Jude. Basically he was saying, "I know it's bad now, but it's going to get better. Don't lose sight of that.

• Be merciful to those in doubt. When the church is being confronted by the kind of assault that Jude describes, it's inevitable that some people will be on the fence. In 2 Peter 2:14, Peter describes them as "unstable." The church will always have people like that. Some haven't been in the church long. Some have discernment difficulties and so they're heavily influenced by smooth talkers. They're not firmly grounded in the faith. Jude says that you need to cut these folks some slack. You need to be patient with them. Why? Maybe they can't sort out the rhetoric between you're saying and what the smooth talker is saying, but they do they do understand the language of mercy. They do understand when you say, "I care about you" and you really mean it and you show it with your actions.

• Snatch others from the fire and save them. There are people who have gone away from the Lord and need to be rescued. Doing that is a noble activity. James wrote

  My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. - James 5:19-20

• Hate the sin, but love the sinner. That's the essence of his last exhortation, "show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." We hate sin because anywhere sin gets a foothold, there's the threat of spiritual destruction. Earlier in the text, he was used some extremely strong language in condemning sin. It's okay to condemn sin. It's okay to fear sin. "Homophobia" - fear of homosexuality - is not a sin; it's a legitimate fear because it can bring about one's spiritual destruction, but while we fear homosexuality and its spiritual consequences, we must look upon the person who is trapped in that kind of sin with compassion and be merciful. We can never lead him out of that lifestyle otherwise.

  A few years ago, some zealous Christians in a congregation where I served took a militant stance against abortion. They were promoting participation in a massive public demonstration. I have a distaste for marches and public demonstrations anyway, so I chose not to participate. A brother rather strenuously suggested that I not only needed to participate but that I needed to be promoting it from the pulpit. I assured him that I was against abortion, but I also pointed out to him the fact that I had dealt with people in our own congregation who were trying overcome the emotional burden of having gone through abortions. I said, "I don't believe I can have a redemptive relationship to people like that, if I'm out on the street holding up signs." To me the last part of verse 23 confirms the validity of that decision.

CONCLUSION

The epistle closes with a grand and eloquent doxology. A number of doxologies occur in the writings of scripture. When our faith is threatened by sinister forces, the beginning point of our response should always be in the deepening of our relationship to God. That was uppermost in the mind of Jude. I can think of no better way to close this study than to simply recall the closing words of the epistle.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. - Jude 24-25

Norman Bales
Southern Hills Church of Christ
Norman's e-mail address: nlbales@allaboutfamilies.org

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