I have to confess, I don't think I have ever read the Book of Jude. So, I had to study the words and read a number of times over. It is stunning how appropriate this book of the Bible is to the times in which we live.
Jude's letter focuses on apostasy— when people turn away from God's truth and embrace false teachings. The author of this book is begging the people to fight against these false teachers.
Dear friends, I've dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. Jude 1:3 (MSG)
Take a look around you. Consider the media for a moment -- we are inundated with false teaching. We are governed by empty promises of happiness and joy if we only follow the ways of the world.
What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license—which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master. Jude 1:4 (MSG)
Consider what many people think of our beliefs when we proclaim that Jesus is the only way to salvation. We are called narrow-minded fools. The very heart of Christian faith and practice is under attack every day. One study book on Jude says: Unless those who are grasped by the truth of the gospel do their best to maintain it, those who are heading in another direction are going to take a lot of people with them.
Something to ponder: If someone asked you, "What is the greatest danger facing the church today?"--referring to the church in your own area of the world--how would you respond?
Jude
1 comment:
I like your question, especially, "in your own area of the world". We are told elsewhere that Satan's minions have come, his minions are coming and his minions are going to come. It will not happen to us all at once, nor to everyone at the same time.
Nice article.
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