Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.
– Jude 1:3-4a
These verses are the salutation found in Jude. The Holy Spirit turned Jude’s initial intent from a message on salvation to a warning for Christians to defend the faith entrusted to them as they ward against deception.
Lately, I’ve found myself disturbed by many articles, books, and blog posts I’ve read. Several popular Christian authors and speakers appear to be throwing their hats in the ring with progressive Christianity. And it has deeply unsettled me. I am saddened and troubled at the twisting of truth promoted from what once seemed to be solid platforms of the gospel.
So, I’m joining with Jude in issuing a warning to all who claim to be followers of Jesus:
I’m urging you to defend your faith.
Now is not the time for a tempered or moderate belief in Jesus. It is a day and age to know what you believe and why you believe it, or you just may find yourself duped by a different gospel meant to be appealing to our senses, but with no transformation power.
According to Jude, it seems things in the early church were much the same as in today’s church. There have been and still are folks determined to undermine the gospel of Jesus and use grace as a license to live immoral lives.
Instead of yielding to the authority of God’s Word, some infiltrate Christianity with false doctrines, giving sway to their own reasoning and feelings. More emphasis is placed on our experience and understanding than committing ourselves to truth and righteousness and the fruits of the Spirit that grow as we deny ourselves and take up the cross of Jesus and follow Him.
Self-denial has no room in the progressive call toward inclusiveness and social justice and a feel-good message that soothes the ears. The idea of sin is casually brushed aside and absolutes discarded as each pursues their own path to enlightenment and whatever satisfies.
No matter how ungodly.
In response to this deception, Jude 1:22-23 encourages followers of Jesus to “have mercy on those who doubt, and save others, snatching them from the fire; and to still others, show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (NLT, emphasis mine).
These verses portray a perfect balance of mercy and truth displayed in our concern for others. Too often, Christians tend to overcompensate from one extreme to the next. Sadly, I’ve swung from both ends of the pendulum more times than I care to admit.
We either condemn folks who are scorched from the flames, reprimanding them for playing with matches. Or we reason away error, smothering sin with grace without acknowledging that our wrong choices lead to lethal consequences.
Both extremes stand by while lives go up in smoke.
Jude issues a wake-up call to holiness amid this “woke” generation.
Tolerance is needed, and mercy is required, but not at the sacrifice of truth upon its altars.
We cannot allow the fear of calling out sin and being labeled a hater to sway us more than our concern for people to know and experience the transforming love of Jesus.
The fire of sinful actions burns bright, yet the present culture seems to deny its blaze. Sadly, that same denial has crept into much of our Christian culture, as well. While sounding pleasant to our ears and desirous to our pursuit of self-acceptance, denying sin comes at a steep price.
It costs us our souls.
Thankfully, Jesus supplies payment in full, and if you are willing to look for His truth, you will find it. Despite the attempts to deconstruct its relevancy, the Word of God stands secure. Passed down through thousands of years, the essentials of its message remain clear.
There is one true God.
Mankind is born into sin.
Grace is necessary to save men from their sins.
Jesus is God.
Jesus became man in the flesh.
Jesus died for our sins.
Jesus rose from the dead.
Faith is necessary to believe for ourselves that He is God.
This is the good news of our salvation! This is the Gospel that is unalterable, no matter how many try to redefine it. No matter the consensus of a culture attempting to persuade me that wrong is right. Or darkness is light. Or sin is not sinful.
We don’t get to do what is right in our own eyes and call it the Christian way.
The unchanging gospel of redemption and hope is simply that — unchanging.
A weak view of God’s Word will never bring hope or true reform.
Absolutes are set in place by a holy God, but those boundaries are for our welfare. There is a penalty for our sins, but it was absorbed and defeated on Calvary’s cross and Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.
Jesus has done what man cannot do on our own.
He has reconciled us to God and given us life and freedom. And He is determined to keep us safely in His care and present us to our Father in heaven with unspeakable joy.
I pray we cling to these truths while compelling others to come and see the One who transforms us from the inside out. That we build each other up in our faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of Jesus, who will bring us eternal life.
When we see Jesus in all of His glory, it will all make sense. In the meantime, may we live to bring honor to His name.
Looking.
Trusting.
Hoping.
And always, always inviting others to join us.
Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into His glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.
– Jude 1:24-25
A NOTE FROM BARBARA
I realize this post is more “preachy” than I usually write, but this topic is weighing heavy on my heart. Christians are being bombarded by opinions and beliefs attempting to deconstruct our faith, and it is imperative we know where we stand.
Like the wise man who built his house upon a solid foundation, our faith will only stand against the tides of a churning culture if it is secure on the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. Sadly, I’m watching the destruction of many whose foundations have proven to be unstable. Their crumbling faith is yielding a casualty rate that is far too high.
I encourage you to read and study and pray as you ask God to reveal Himself to you through the Scriptures. If you are sincerely seeking truth, I believe you will find it. May His Word settle deep into your heart and keep you established in grace and truth as you trust in Him.