Jude wrote his epistle near the middle to late first century. He wrote during a time when false teachers had already infiltrated the church and were promoting their false gospel. At the end of his short letter, he presents a strategy to the believers for avoiding apostasy and contending for the faith (Jude 3). You and I are still faced with the threat of false teachers. The same strategy presented by Jude, by extension, also belongs to us today. It is just as relevant now as it was then.
Jude gives us 4 duties that we must attend to in order to contend for the faith and avoid apostasy. First, we are duty bound to the Scriptures. He tells his readers,
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Remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Jude 17)
They were to remember the warnings of the apostles concerning the rise of the apostasy and the spiritual condition of the apostates. See Acts 20:29; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-3 and 2 Peter 3:3 for some of these warnings. We too, would do good to remember these warnings. As false teachers rise up around us, God has already given us the means to combat their falsehoods. We must remember the Word of God.
Second, we are duty bound to ourselves. Jude says,
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." (Jude 20-21)
He gives 4 things that we are to do in respect to our duty to ourself,
Third, Jude says we are duty bound to others.
"And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh." (Jude 22).
Jude's admonition to others is divided into 3 categories of people. His readers were to make distinctions between committed apostates and those who were deceived. John MacArthur's descriptions of these categories is helpful. They are the confused, the convinced and the committed. (MacArthur Commentary; 2 Peter & Jude).
Finally, we are duty bound to God. Jude's doxology is said to be one of the grandest in all of Scripture:
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 24-25).
We are to commit ourselves to God. He alone is able to keep us from stumbling. He alone is able to keep us from moral and doctrinal error. So, in all of our contending for the faith, all of our duties to Scripture, ourselves, and others, we are to bring glory to God.
Jude gives us 4 duties that we must attend to in order to contend for the faith and avoid apostasy. First, we are duty bound to the Scriptures. He tells his readers,
"
Remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Jude 17)
They were to remember the warnings of the apostles concerning the rise of the apostasy and the spiritual condition of the apostates. See Acts 20:29; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-3 and 2 Peter 3:3 for some of these warnings. We too, would do good to remember these warnings. As false teachers rise up around us, God has already given us the means to combat their falsehoods. We must remember the Word of God.
Second, we are duty bound to ourselves. Jude says,
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." (Jude 20-21)
He gives 4 things that we are to do in respect to our duty to ourself,
- We are to build ourselves up in the faith. In other words, we must know what the Bible says. It is the objective body of doctrinal truth. If we are going to recognize error and fight for it, we must become doctrinally strong.
- We are also to pray in the Holy Spirit. Despite what false teachers would have you believe today, this does not mean speaking in tongues or some kind of nonsense like that. It means that we pray from a heart that is indwelt, illuminated and filled with the Holy Spirit.
- We are to keep ourselves in the love of God, which means that we are to remain in the sphere of God's blessings, being occupied with His love for us and being in fellowship with Him. It means to be obedient.
- We also should live with an expectancy of Christ's return. We should live our lives with eternity in view as we eagerly anticipate the return of our Lord.
Third, Jude says we are duty bound to others.
"And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh." (Jude 22).
Jude's admonition to others is divided into 3 categories of people. His readers were to make distinctions between committed apostates and those who were deceived. John MacArthur's descriptions of these categories is helpful. They are the confused, the convinced and the committed. (MacArthur Commentary; 2 Peter & Jude).
- To the confused, Jude says to have mercy. There are those who are genuinely confused about what is going on. To them, we should show kindness, compassion and sympathy. That is not to say that we should commend their doubting, but with patience and gentleness, we should encourage them in the truth, clearly presenting the gospel.
- To those convinced of their false teaching, they need to be rescued. With humility and faith we must be willing to be used by God to snatch others out of the false teachings. Jude's word for 'snatch' has to do with taking something by force. The way to rescue people convinced of false teaching is by crushing their false ideologies. This was the method Jesus used with the Pharisees.
- To those who are committed to their false doctrines, Jude says to proceed with caution. When reaching out to false teachers who are committed to their error, we must proceed with utmost caution and clearheadedness. The terms, 'mercy' and 'fear' indicate the frightening nature of such outreach. 'Fear' stems from an awareness that getting too close to corrupt, apostate error could result in being tainted by that error. So, Jude uses extremely graphic language to describe the danger involved. A garment that is polluted by the flesh is basically underwear that is soiled by bodily functions. So, what he is saying is that we should use the same caution in getting too close to false teachers as we use if we have to handle someone’s stained, dirty underwear!
Finally, we are duty bound to God. Jude's doxology is said to be one of the grandest in all of Scripture:
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 24-25).
We are to commit ourselves to God. He alone is able to keep us from stumbling. He alone is able to keep us from moral and doctrinal error. So, in all of our contending for the faith, all of our duties to Scripture, ourselves, and others, we are to bring glory to God.