Jude 1:23

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Verse of the Day: Jude 23

“save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” – Jude 23

The book of Jude is the shortest book in the Bible, but says a lot about what we, as Christians, need to do as well as be careful of. He wanted to write about their ‘common salvation’, which was a very positive idea, but he felt compelled, by God, to encourage his brothers and sisters to stand firm in the faith. “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” Jude 1:3. This was important because people were sneaking in to speak against what the Christian faith was all about. “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4. These are dangerous people who have secretly entered the Church fellowship with the purpose of deceiving believers to believe the same ungodly things they did.

Jude then uses a term that fully explains what he meant. Licentiousness or lewdness is not a sign of weakness but one of willful disobedience. Licentious people do things that are really wild. Some look upon God’s grace and kindness as an excuse to sin, saying, in effect, His kindness does away with law, so we are free to do as we please. Essentially, they suppose that, somehow or other, the more they practice sin, the more grace they will receive. And they also deny Christ. It is not that they say Christ never existed or is not the Savior. It is that everything they say and do, everything they believe, contradicts God’s way. If one denies a statement, he is contradicting the person who says it. Jude is using “deny” in this sense. The false teachers contradict Jesus Christ in all things. They can appear to be doing what they are supposed to, but inside deny the truth of God.

However, Jude knew this was happening. Therefore, instead of writing, at this time, about their ‘common salvation’ he felt it important to help them contend for the faith, to come against what the false teachers were teaching, and remind them of the truth of the Gospel. He was not saying to speak against the false teachers, but their teachings. He gave several examples of similar actions; the angels including Lucifer, the unbelievers in Sodom and Gomorrah, and those who were rescued out of Egypt and denied God, the one who rescued them. Jude then tells them “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.” Jude 1:14-15.

Then Jude encourages them to keep themselves in a manner that is pleasing to God. “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.” Jude 1:17-19. He is telling his readers that these activities described above were prophesied by Jesus’s apostles. It simply means they foretold it before it came to pass. In essence, it was inevitable. Paul was quoted by Luke in the Book of Acts, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves’ men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Acts 20:29-30. But he told them to keep themselves in God’s love. “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 1:20-21. Jude has finished what he had to say about the ungodly, and now turns to more positive teaching. For the second time he calls them dear friends, and on each occasion, it is in contrast to the false teachers. He encourages them to build up the faith they have in Christ, pray in the Holy Spirit, and wait anxiously for Christ’s mercy and the eternal life He has promised.

But he also reminds them of their mission here. “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 1:22-23. Having exhorted his readers on how to behave in general and encouraging them as to their hope, Jude now turns back to the issue of the false teachers and their followers. How should they treat these people? Are they to be hated, fought, feared, or simply shunned? Jude implicitly rejects all of these approaches toward teaching considered to be false and thus misleading many Christians. But also, as said so clearly in our focus verse, we are to rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives, but loving those trapped in those beliefs and practices. While the doubters may not have been sure who was right and thus may have held back from committing to either set of practices, some were already getting involved with the practices of the teachers Jude is opposing. Jude’s counsel is to “snatch” them ‘from the fire’ and ‘save them.’

This is what we are called to do, help the doubters understand the truth and accept it, and declare the reality of what they are doing to those who are purposefully practicing what is wrong, knowing that it is wrong, so they can stop their sinful practices. Chuck Smith wrote this regarding this idea. “You can’t witness the same way to everybody. People are different, people have different temperaments. Some you’ve got to scare the hell out of them. Others are drawn by love. Some with compassion, making a difference, others, by fear, pulling them out of the fire. I mean, what does that mean? Now, it means that we have got to be led by the Spirit as we deal with people, hating even the garment that has been spotted by the flesh, pull them out of the fire. But hate the garment spotted by the flesh.”

Our purpose is to bring people into the faith of God and help them to grow such that they can then do the same. We are not called to simply do the do’s and not do the don’ts. We are called to help people become believers, and believers that spread the truth of the Christian life, helping others to grow in the faith.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

Matthew 9:16

Verse of the Day Devotion Matthew 9:16 

“But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.” – Matthew 9:16

The parables we will look at today, the New Patch on Old Garment and of New Wine in old wine skins. These are posted together because their message is the same. Here are the two parables.

“But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.  Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16-17.  These are very powerful parables. They are short ones, only two verses, but they speak volumes about the belief structures then as well as today.

At the beginning of this chapter, Matthew records the healing of a Paralytic followed by Jesus’ calling of Matthew to become a disciple. After these events we read, “Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” Matthew 9:14. These are disciples of John the Baptist, and they ask Jesus why His disciples do not fast. Fasting was a common religious practice in the ancient world. The only fast prescribed in the Law was that on the Day of Atonement, but in New Testament times pious Jews fasted every Monday and Thursday, and they might employ the practice at other solemn times as well. Jesus responds with the following, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matthew 9:14-15. Jesus here is calling Himself the Bridegroom who is with them.  The attendants/guests refer to Jesus’ followers.  He is telling John’s disciples that while He is here, there is no reason to fast or mourn.  But when He, the bridegroom is removed, then there is reason to fast.

He then gives two illustrations to clarify this idea.  First, our focus verse.  “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.” Matthew 9:16.  The wrong patch, Jesus says, is one of unshrunk cloth which was considerably stronger than cloth that had been worn and used. When there was any strain the patch would not tear, but the garment would, and the patch would take some of the garment (its overlap) with it. And since at some point there would be some strain on the garment, this means that inevitably there would be a bigger split. Instead of mending a bad situation, such patching only makes things worse. 

The second involves new wine in old wineskins. Those storing new wine, which here means wine that is still fermenting, must take care how they store it. They do not put it into old wineskins. Old is the word used above in verse 16 which clearly points to something close to “worn out.” Wine was commonly stored in containers made from the skins of animals. But old skins lose their elasticity; if new wine is stored in such containers, the process of fermentation puts more pressure on the skins than they can sustain, with the result that the skins burst and both wine and skins are lost. Therefore, people put new wine into new wineskins, with the satisfactory result that both are preserved.

These two illustrations effectively make the point that Jesus was not simply bringing in a revised and updated Judaism, or even founding a new sect within Judaism. He was laying out the true concept of Judaism. What He was teaching could not be integrated within the accepted Jewish system. To attempt to confine his followers within the limits of the old religion was not possible based on the truth.  This did not mean that he was rejecting the Old Testament. To the contrary, He says,  “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17. What he repudiated was not Scripture, but the current religious practices allegedly based on Scripture. He did not even repudiate those practices all at once and call on his followers to forsake Judaism. But he did repudiate the suggestion that they should remain confined within the accepted understanding of the old system. His approach was not understood by the Jewish leadership, even though His coming was prophesized throughout their history.

And this is just as relevant today as it was in Jesus’ day.  Theologian Craig Blomberg wrote, “All Christians would do well to reflect on whether their demeanor, life-style, and words convey to others, especially the unsaved, this joy of salvation and the lively presence of Jesus or whether they communicate, even unwittingly, a dour, judgmental attitude that is quicker to point out the wrongs of others. We must also consider, even as the message of the gospel remains unchanged, whether the methods of evangelism, preaching, church growth, music, and worship, once effective in different circumstances, have turned counterproductive and need to be replaced by new methods that will more effectively win and minister to the current generation.” Craig is not saying to replace the old ways, but to include ways that will reach out to all generations. And I will also add that along with joy, we must maintain a reverence toward God that exhibits the love and respect we have for Him. These two ideas do not contradict but work together to show the fulness of our love toward the one who saved us.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.