Tag: Jude

  • Snatched from the Fire

    Mercy without excusing sin

    I often hear people say the Old Testament has no value today, and I completely disagree. I was reading in the Minor prophets this morning and hit a verse in Amos where the wording immediately brought to mind some parallel passages.

    I was in Amos, and the Lord is rebuking Israel for their unfaithfulness. He had rescued them from harm and yet they still rebelled.

    “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. Amos 4:11 ESV

    That reminded me of another verse, one I wrote about recently. Satan is accusing the High Priest before God. The Lord extends compassion and mercy without excusing the sin.

    Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” Zechariah 3:1-2

    A burning stick pulled from the fire suggests something (or someone) being pulled from the very precipice of danger. The stick has already begun to burn; it will be unsalvageable shortly.

    That, too, led me to the New Testament book of Jude.

    But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.  Jude 1:17-23 ESV

    The metaphor of the burning branch is clear in the New Testament as it stands, but our understanding is enriched by seeing it through Old Testament eyes, as Jude’s audience would have.

    There is an interesting progression in Jude’s letter.

    Jude 22 — mercy toward those who doubt

    Jude 23a — actively rescue those in greater danger

    Jude 23b — remain morally separated from the contamination itself

    That combination is very much at home in the Old Testament: compassion for the person, intervention to rescue the person, and rejection of the sin/uncleanness.

    Jude’s audience were living in dark times with many mocking and oppressing them, and things were getting worse. Does that sound familiar? Yet they were to be merciful, offer the grace of God and reject sin.

    That’s the way Christians are called to live. It isn’t a New Testament “thing”; it’s been God’s way from the beginning.

    May we find ourselves living and preaching the gospel and snatching others from the very fires of Hell.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    A verse in Amos this morning tied together the rescue images in Amos, Zechariah, and Jude, all showing God’s mercy without excusing sin. Jude’s call to show mercy, rescue the endangered, and still reject sin isn’t new; it’s the same pattern God used long before the New Testament.

    TAKEAWAY

    Amos, Zechariah, and Jude all picture someone already burning, pulled out before the fire consumes them.

    You’re called to follow Jude’s pattern toward others: mercy for those who doubt, active rescue for those in greater danger, and a clear rejection of the sin itself.

    You can trust that pairing mercy with truth isn’t a New Testament invention. It’s how God has dealt with people from the start.

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  • Hey Jude

    Yesterday, I spent time studying the tiny New Testament book “Jude”. Written by one of Jesus’s brothers. It is so short (1 chapter, only 24 verses) that it is often overlooked, yet it contains some very important teaching.

    Much of the teaching surrounds false teaching and false fellowship in the church.

    Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 1:3-4

    Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. Jude 1:8-13

    But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Theysaid to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment[ stained by the flesh. Jude 1:17-22

    Jude’s warning has grave implications for today. The church is awash in poor teaching. The word “sin” has become politically unacceptable in many churches and has been exchanged for a victim philosophy, i.e., “It’s not my fault … it’s my parents or the abuse I suffered.” 

    Please understand that I am not trying to minimize the damage others have caused to many people. There is no doubt that circumstances can be terrible and bring us to horrible places, BUT we need to take responsibility for our own actions at some time and deal with them. Our sin will never be forgiven if we will not admit we are sinners.

    One megachurch that comes to mind has a huge international following, but its leader has publicly stated that people do not need to know they are sinners. The church preaches a gospel of self-esteem, allowing people to feel good all the way to hell. True self-esteem comes from knowing who we are in Christ and experiencing His forgiveness and unconditional love for us.

    There are churches with Christian roots that have abandoned the “need” for Christ. They teach that there are many paths to salvation. In doing so, they do just as Jude warned they would. They “deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” These teachers pollute the truth, and their own destruction follows them. It has been ordained so from before the beginning. 

    What about those who choose to follow such teaching, either by choosing to ignore the truth or by simple ignorance? They need to hear the truth and be brought to safety. Jude had this to say to us …

    But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment[ stained by the flesh Jude 1:20-23

    We are to snatch them away from hell’s fires. We are to love them but hate what they have been taught and their sin. We need to be careful not to condemn the teaching, not the teacher. 

    If you know people stuck under these false teachers, pray for them. Encourage them to read the Word for themselves. Invite them to a church where the truth is proclaimed. Sitting under false teaching is not a small matter; it could be the difference between life and death for many.

    Until next time, keep “building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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