Guidelines For Apostasy (Jude 20-23)
| 1 | "Build yourselves up on your most holy faith" | What is the foundation of our faith? The Word
of God. "Build" on the truths of God’s Word. It is "your" most holy faith. God has entrusted the care of His Word to us. The apostates deny the truths of God’s Word. Our faith needs to be built upon. |
| 2 | "Praying in the Holy Spirit" | We need to pray by means of the Holy Spirit.
That is, we are dependent on the Holy Spirit to intercede for us. The Spirit suggests the
matter of prayer. Prayer must be:
Without prayer a man shows himself to be destitute of the Spirit. Romans 8:26 "And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words" |
| 3 | "Keep yourselves in the love of God" | Jude addresses us as "beloved" (Jude
1, 17, 20). The NT often will give us Positional Truth, then give us an exhortation to do it. This is to stir up the believer to do what is a natural inclination (desire to obey) as a child of God. |
| 4 | "Waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life" | Notice it says, "waiting". It refers to the return of Christ at the rapture of the church. There is no mercy apart from Christ. |
How to Deal With These Men |
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| 5 | "Have mercy on some who are doubting" | This is a weaker brother who we need to be patient with. He may be confused whether they should follow
the apostate’s or not.
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| 6 | "Save others, snatching them out of the fire" | This is an unbeliever who we might consider hopeless, and will never be saved. Believers can, in a sense, "save" unbelievers as we share our faith with them. |
| 7 | "And on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh" | This is our apostate. He is following the dictates of his Adam-nature. We should show mercy with an attitude of "fear." That is, be cautious, lest we become contaminated by their ungodliness (no regard for God). |
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