Hi everyone, welcome to our daily devotionals. Yesterday, we looked at the first 16 verses of a one-chapter book called Jude. Jude writes a short, but urgent and convicting letter, warning the church to be on guard of false teachers who dwell in their community, reminding them that God’s divine justice is surely coming. And today, we’re gonna read the rest of the letter, the last 9 verses. Let’s turn to Jude verses 17-25.
[17] But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. [18] They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” [19] It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. [20] But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, [21] keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. [22] And have mercy on those who doubt; [23] save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
[24] Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, [25] 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 called the church then and today God’s beloved. Twice in this passage, Jude calls the church beloved. We are loved by the Lord. And it’s for this very reason that I believe Jude feels the urgent need to write this letter to the church. As the church was faced with the dangers of false teachers, Jude called them to do three things: REMEMBER, KEEP, and SHOW MERCY.
First, verse 17 says, “you must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The prediction is in verse 18, which says, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” There’s no scriptural reference for these apostolic warnings, so they were probably common, early Christian teachings that were taught orally. Remember and receive these apostolic warnings, that the end is near. The last days are coming. And those who follow their own ungodly passions will receive the same judgment as those mentioned in verses 5-7. Remember.
Second, verse 21 says, “keep yourselves in the love of God.” And we do this by growing in our faith in Christ and praying in the Holy Spirit. The love of God is what keeps us on the path of righteousness. And the love of God is what leads us not to destruction but to eternal life. When we keep ourselves in the love of God, steering away from the false teachings that rebel against the authority of God, we stand firm upon the promises of God, the promise of eternal life with God.
And third, verses 22-23 call us to have mercy. Show mercy to those who doubt. Show mercy to those who are tempted to follow these false teachers and “snatch them out of the fire”. Show mercy to those who are dwelling with sin and unrighteousness, and do so with fear. Let the fear of God protect us from falling into sin as well.
Like the church in the days of Jude, these are three ways we can respond to false teachers and their way of life: remember, keep yourself in God’s love, and show mercy.
But Jude closes by remembering who our God is, praising God because He is, as it says in verse 24, the one “who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” Praise God that He has all power and authority and dominion to keep us holy and blameless before Him.
So in the likeness of Jude’s closing to the letter, I’d like to close with verse 25: “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.”
