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. 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. 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. (17–23)

As Jude’s letter draws to its conclusion, one crucial question arises: How can we as believers practically contend for the truth so that we will be victorious in a day of rampant falsehood? In other words, how can we personally apply Jude’s cautions regarding apostasy to our own lives and ministries? To be sure, Jude’s warning is unmistakable, and it clearly demands a response. But what does that response look like? And where does it begin?

Jude, of course, recognized that his readers needed more than just a warning; they also needed a plan of attack. Instead of being merely defensive, they had to be proactive in their fight for the faith. And this meant taking action–not only in reinforcing their own spiritual armor (cf. Eph. 6:10–17), but also in coming to the aid of others in the church.

In order to do this, Jude’s readers desperately needed to develop discernment. They had to be able to recognize the difference between truth and error. Otherwise, they would not know what to embrace and what to shun. They could not “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (v. 3) unless they were able to discern true faith from its counterfeits. Thus if they were to heed Jude’s warnings, they had to begin by actively pursuing spiritual discernment.

The importance of discernment is underscored throughout the whole of Scripture (Prov. 2:3; 23:23; 1 Cor. 16:13; Phil. 1:9; Heb. 5:14; Rev. 2:2). The apostle Paul, for example, voiced his fear that the Corinthians would be led astray:

Concerned about their lack of discernment, Paul feared that the people would be deceived by false teachers. They were far too tolerant of error, and as a result they foolishly threw open the door to apostasy.

Along those same lines, Paul admonished the Thessalonians to prize sound teaching and exercise discernment. He instructed them, “Do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess. 5:20–22; cf. 1 John 4:1–3). The believers in Thessalonica were to respond carefully to the spiritual messages they heard—examining them thoroughly to see whether or not they accorded with apostolic teaching. The messages that passed the test were to be held fast and embraced. But those that did not were to be abstained from and rejected.

Even the Jewish religious leaders and elite scholars of Jesus’ day lacked spiritual perception. The Lord indicted them for being more discerning of the weather than spiritual matters:

Despite their fastidious attention to Scripture, their rigorous theological training, and their prominent status in the community, the Pharisees and Sadducees rejected the truth because they could not discern it.

Tragically, there are many in the contemporary church who also lack spiritual discernment. Such people are far better at staying in tune with cultural trends than they are at appreciating and understanding biblical doctrine. In some cases, whole churches have shifted their focus from the clear teachings of Scripture to the felt needs of sinners. They want to make the church service “comfortable” and “non confrontational.” As a result, the messages they champion are theologically weak, and the people they serve are doctrinally naïve. Those churches are defenseless against error.

There are at least six reasons for the disturbing lack of discernment that characterizes much of contemporary Christianity. Obviously, the first is the recent trend among many evangelicals to minimize the importance of doctrine. Those in this camp argue that biblical clarity is both divisive and unloving—to them it puts up walls, lacks humility, and hinders unity. The reality, however, is that the church has suffered severe consequences for abandoning its commitment to sound doctrine. Such repercussions include a false sense of humility and a false faith produced by “easy believism” and watered-down gospel presentations, a false unity based on inter-religious ecumenism and theological compromise, a false commission preoccupied with political activism and legislated morality, a false worship driven by man-centered services and experience-based Christianity, and a false ministry focused solely on temporal satisfaction and external success—it all makes people feel comfortable in this life but utterly fails to prepare them for the life to come.

A second reason is that the church has become less objective in its outlook, substituting unconditional truth for moral relativism and postmodern subjectivity. Instead of seeing truth in terms of black and white, many Christians treat it as a gray area. But the Bible is clearly antithetical; it makes absolute distinctions between right and wrong, truth and error, saving faith and false professions. The Lord Jesus’ teaching, for example, was black and white: He contrasted the broad way and the narrow way (Matt. 7:13–14), eternal damnation and eternal life (Matt. 24:46–51), the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God (Matt. 13:38), hate and love (Matt. 5:43–44), worldly wisdom and divine wisdom (cf. Matt. 11:16–19; Mark 6:2), and so forth. In contrast, the contemporary church shies away from theological absolutes, preferring instead to tolerantly embrace “every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14), as if that stance were a virtue.

Third, as part of its contemporary evangelistic strategy, the church has abandoned its commitment to the power of Scripture and become preoccupied with its image. In order to reach the culture, it has become like the culture. But James wrote, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4; cf. 1 John 2:15–17). To be a friend of God makes us enemies of the world, and vice versa. We are kidding ourselves to think that the key to winning the lost is found in imitating them. By mimicking secular society, some believers are actually forfeiting their distinctiveness and the power of the Scripture. And if the distinct call of the gospel is lost, any hope of evangelizing the culture will also disappear (cf. Matt. 5:13).

Fourth, and in consequence of the previous point, the church’s current lack of discernment stems from a failure to properly study and interpret the Scriptures. Pastoral laziness, exegetical sloppiness, and a general attitude of indifference to God’s Word have plunged God’s people into error. Because he understood the deadly dangers of such spiritual apathy, the apostle Paul commanded Timothy to “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15; cf. 2 Cor. 4:2). The book of Acts also commended the brethren in Berea for being “more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (17:11; cf. 1 Thess. 2:13). As the Berean’s example demonstrates, discernment cannot develop apart from a desire to know the truth and a determination to discover it. Yet this deep concern for truth is scarcely found today.

A fifth reason is the general abandonment of church discipline in evangelical circles (cf. Matt. 18:15–18). When God’s people fail to confront sin and heresy, wickedness within the body goes unchecked. The congregation inevitably accumulates more and more unregenerate members—unbelievers who feel comfortable because their sin issues are never addressed. Even grievous immorality and major ethical lapses are sometimes overlooked, ignored under a false pretense of love. But a church cannot effectively promote discernment if it happily condones sin or primarily consists of unsaved sinners. After all, the congregation that thinks incorrectly about holiness shows that it also thinks incorrectly about truth.

A final reason for the church’s lack of discernment is the rampant void of spiritual maturity within its ranks. Those with a superficial understanding of Scripture (cf. Mark 12:24), a weak grasp of sound doctrine, and a deficient view of God cannot be discerning. Yet those are the very people who fill most pews each Sunday. Like the unbelieving Jews of the first century, many contemporary Christians would do well to heed the admonition given by the author of Hebrews:

(For much more on the subject of spiritual discernment and the church’s desperate need to recover this crucial ability, see John MacArthur, Reckless Faith [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway 1994], and MacArthur, gen. ed., Fool’s Gold? [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2005], especially chaps. 1 and 12.)

If those in today’s church are to honor the God of revelation and enjoy spiritual victory in their lives, despite the constant temptation to capitulate, they must begin by developing discernment. They must be able to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong, such that they will be able to pursue the one and flee the other. This calls for being serious and precise in interpreting Scripture. Otherwise, in their confusion, professing believers will fail to contend for the faith before they even enter the battle.

In this section, Jude addresses how to properly contend for the faith and prosper spiritually during increasingly more apostate times. The Lord’s brother presented his readers with three crucial truths that, if faithfully applied, will grant all believers discernment: They must remember, remain, and reach out.

REMEMBER

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. (17–19)

Jude’s words here echo verses 5–7 and 11–13, which reminded his readers that false teachers pose a constant threat. They were present during Old Testament times (Isa. 28:7; Jer. 23:14; Ezek. 13:4; Mic. 3:11; Zeph. 3:4), they afflicted the early church (1 John 2:18–19; 2 John 7–11; Rev. 2:2–3, 15–16; 3:9), they are active today, and they will continue to be a threat in the future (2 Thess. 2:1–4; Rev. 13; 19:19–20). Because they have always plagued God’s people, their presence should not surprise believers in any era.

Like Peter (2 Peter 1:12–13), Jude exhorted his readers to remember the truths they had already heard—the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ who predicted the coming of apostasy. The Lord Himself was the first one in the New Testament to warn against false teachers: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15; cf. 24:11). As he defended his apostleship to the Corinthians, Paul echoed these same concerns:

The apostle gave additional warnings about false teachers in several of his other epistles (Col. 2:16–19; 1 Thess. 2:14–16; 2 Thess. 2:3–12; 1 Tim. 4:1–3; 6:20–21; 2 Tim. 2:17–19; 3:1–9; 4:1–3). Similarly, Peter warned that “there will also be false teachers … who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1; see the commentary on 2 Peter 2 in chapters 5–7 of this volume). And the apostle John wrote, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1; cf. 2:18–19; 2 John 7; 3 John 9–11).

Repeatedly, Christ and the apostles were saying that false teachers would infiltrate the church and oppose the truth. In light of that, Jude quoted Peter’s warning, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts” (see 2 Peter 3:3). (That the word translated mockers appears in the New Testament only here and in 2 Peter 3:3 suggests that Jude quoted Peter; see the discussion of Jude’s relationship to Peter in the Introduction to Jude.) The technical phrase the last time refers to the period between Christ’s first and second comings (cf. Acts 2:17; Gal. 4:4; 2 Tim. 3:1; Heb. 1:2; 1 Peter 1:5, 20; 1 John 2:18–19; James 5:3).

Peter said the mockers scoffed at the truth of Christ’s return (2 Peter 3:4), and here Jude implied that they mocked the law of God (cf. the discussion of “grumblers” in chapter 13 of this volume). Both ideas, of course, are parallel since those who mock the law of God will also mock Christ’s return; they do not want to be accountable to the divine Judge for their sins, either in the present or the future.

Such mockers will be following after their own ungodly lusts, a fact Jude already established in verses 4, 15, and 16. They will give free reign to their passions and dissipations because they have no capacity for holiness. Since their hearts are not transformed, all they can do is pursue their own ungodly desires.

Jude further described the false teachers as the ones who cause divisions. The word apodiorizō (divisions) refers to the motivation behind the false teachers’ behavior, as well as its divisive effect. The term means “to make a distinction” and, in the case of the apostates, meant that they portrayed themselves as superior to those who taught the truth. Like the Pharisees, they were arrogant (Luke 16:15; 18:9, 11) and condescending (Matt. 23:4–5), adhering to their self-styled set of standards (cf. Mark 7:5–8)—their own elite understanding of “the truth” (cf. Matt. 16:6, 11–12). Instead of putting others before themselves (which is the key to true spiritual unity—cf. Phil. 2:1–4), they exalted themselves and their own agendas. Naturally, the end result was division and strife in the body.

Worldly-minded (psuchikos, lit. “soulish”) is more accurately translated “sensual persons” (NKJV). With a certain deference to Greek philosophy, Jude depicted the false teachers in strictly physical terms. His materialistic description exposed them for who they really were—religious terrorists who lacked such internal qualities as a proper self-perception, the ability to reason, and a true knowledge of God. Even though the false teachers claimed a transcendental understanding of God, they did not know Him at all—they were devoid of the Spirit (cf. John 3:5; Rom. 8:9; 1 John 3:24; 4:13). The truth is that they were physically alive but, because they had never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, they were spiritually dead. They were religious frauds who paid lip service to faith and spiritual life but denied such claims by their actions. As Paul told Titus, “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:16).

REMAIN

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. (20–21)

For those of us who are Christians to exercise discernment and protect ourselves from being led astray, we must remain on the path of sanctification. Doing so involves first building ourselves up on our most holy faith. We must become doctrinally strong if we would recognize error and effectively fight the battle for truth. The present, active participle translated building yourselves up has an imperatival sense—meaning it is not optional. Metaphorically the idea of building up refers to personal edification and spiritual growth, and it implies the establishment of the firm foundation of sound doctrine. As in verse 3, the most holy faith is the objective body of biblical truth.

Practically speaking, edification centers on studying the Word of God and learning to apply it. In Acts 20:32 Paul tells the Ephesian elders, “I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” All the ministries of the church should result in edification (Rom. 14:19; 1 Cor. 14:12, 26; Eph. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:11; cf. 1 Cor. 8:1). God gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers to proclaim His Word, which results in “the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11–12; cf. Col. 2:6–7). Peter wrote that believers should desire the Word for spiritual growth, just as babies desire milk for their physical nourishment (1 Peter 2:2). Along those same lines, the apostle John wrote that the spiritually strong believers, those capable of successfully waging effective warfare for the truth, are those in whom the Word of God abides (1 John 2:14).

A second essential element of sanctification involves praying in the Holy Spirit. That expression does not refer to speaking in tongues, but to praying for that which is consistent with the Spirit’s will—His desires, directives, and decrees. Although His will is revealed through the plain commands of Scripture (Deut. 17:19–20; Pss. 19:7, 11; 119:11, 105, 130; Prov. 6:23; Matt. 4:4; Luke 11:28; John 5:39; Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16–17; James 1:25), we as believers do not always know how to practically apply it to the various issues of life. Therefore the Holy Spirit intercedes for us before the Father with genuine sympathy and inexpressible fervor (Rom. 8:26–27). Of course, the Spirit’s will and the Father’s will—and even praying in Jesus’ name—are one and the same. When we pray in the Holy Spirit we submit ourselves to Him, rest on His wisdom, seek His will, and trust in His power (cf. John 14:14–17; 1 John 5:14–15).

As we who believe pursue sanctification, we must also keep ourselves in the love of God. This is a vitally important principle, and it means to remain in the sphere of God’s love, or the place of His blessing (Rom. 5:5; 8:39; 1 John 4:16). On a practical level, it means that we must stay obedient to God, since divine blessing is promised only within the sphere of obedience. As Jesus told the apostles:

On the other hand, if we become disobedient, we move from a position of blessing to a position of chastisement (Heb. 12:3–11).

Finally, as we pursue sanctification, we Christians must be waiting anxiously for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. The verb translated waiting anxiously (prosdechomai) means “to wait for,” or “to welcome,” and connotes doing so with great expectancy. Thus we are to live with eternity in view as we eagerly anticipate the Lord’s return (1 Cor. 1:7; Phil. 3:20; 1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Titus 2:12–13; cf. 1 Peter 4:7; 2 Peter 3:11–13 and the commentary on these three verses in chapter 9 of this volume). On that great future day, all of us who have trusted in Him will experience Christ’s final mercy and enjoy the fullness of eternal life (cf. Rom. 2:7; 1 Tim. 6:12; 1 John 5:13) as we experience the resurrection and glorification of our bodies (John 5:24; 17:3; Rom. 5:17; 2 Tim. 1:10; 1 John 5:20; cf. Dan. 7:18).

REACH OUT

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. (22–23)

Those who pose the greatest threat to the church also constitute part of its mission field. Not only are believers responsible to identify and oppose the enemy and his error; they are also commanded to reach out and evangelize the enemy with the truth. That is precisely what Jesus sought to do when He had meals with the Pharisees (Luke 7:36; 11:37–38; 14:1); while He denounced them as heretics, He also proclaimed to them the way of salvation (Luke 7:40–50; cf. 14:3–6). Nicodemus, for example, was a Pharisee who sincerely sought the truth (John 3:1–21). His honest investigation into Jesus’ teachings was met with compassion and kindness from the Savior.

In these two verses Jude identifies three categories of unbelieving people who, from the church’s perspective, are both a menace and a mission field. They are the confused, the convinced, and the committed.

TO THE CONFUSED

And have mercy on some, who are doubting; (22)

The heretical and deceptive statements made by false teachers, along with their licentious lifestyles, can easily confuse some people within the church. In fact, that was exactly what happened at both Corinth (2 Cor. 11:3) and Galatia (Gal. 3:1–5; cf. 1:6–9). And it still happens today. Caught in the web of deception, some find themselves thoroughly confused—unsure of what is true and what isn’t. In reaching out to such people, Jude called the church to have mercy on them, showing kindness, compassion, and sympathy to those who are doubting.

Like wolves stalking sheep, false teachers prey on weak people (cf. 2 Tim. 3:6), individuals who are vacillating, unsure, and mired in doubt (James 1:6–8; cf. Pss. 73:13–16; 77:7–9). Those who are strong must show mercy to such souls as they are torn between truth and error (cf. Eph. 4:14), commitment and noncommitment (Heb. 3:7–4:13; 6:1–12). Showing mercy does not mean ignoring the seriousness of false teaching or commending the weak for their vacillation. But it does mean exhorting such people with the truth, in meekness and patience, being diligent to present the gospel to them before they are permanently caught in heresy.

TO THE CONVINCED

save others, snatching them out of the fire; (23a)

In this aspect of outreach, the challenge for believers increases. It is no longer merely a matter of showing mercy; it becomes the difficult task of rescuing those who are already convinced of false teaching. But in humility and faith we who would be faithful must be willing to be used by God to save others. God remains the ultimate source of salvation (Ps. 3:8; Jonah 2:9; John 1:12–13; 3:6–8; Eph. 2:8), but we are the secondary means He uses to reach sinners (cf. Acts 2:37–41; 4:1–4; 8:26–38; 13:46–48; 16:13–14). James wrote, “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19–20).

Snatching translates harpazō, and presents the strong image of seizing something, or taking something or somebody by force. Jude undoubtedly borrowed this imagery from the prophets, specifically Amos’s statement about Israel, “You were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze” (Amos 4:11; cf. Zech 3:2). Even as he penned his letter, Jude apparently knew of some who had already been drawn into the damning doctrines of the apostates. He pictured them as having been singed by the very fire of hell, a foreshadowing of the eternal inferno that would one day engulf them if they continued to embrace false teaching (cf. Isa. 33:14; Matt. 13:42).

The only way to rescue such people is to crush their false ideologies before it is too late. And this can be done only by the power of God’s truth (2 Cor. 10:3–5). Jesus modeled this principle during His earthly ministry. To those who were confused, unsure, and filled with doubts, He patiently and gently presented the gospel (John 4:10–26; 6:26–59). But to those committed to false teaching, such as the scribes and Pharisees and their devotees, He bluntly warned of the gravity of their lost condition (Matt. 12:1–37; 15:1–14; Luke 11:37–54; John 8:12–59).

TO THE COMMITTED

and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. (23b)

Sometimes Christians may have the opportunity to reach out to the most committed apostates. Such heretics are profoundly deceived individuals who are deeply committed to their own deceptions. In some cases, they are even the articulators of heretical doctrine and the leaders within a false system. When reaching out to such people, we who know the truth must proceed with utmost caution and clearheadedness. The admonition on some have mercy with fear indicates the sobering, frightening nature that outreach to such people entails. Fear stems from an awareness that getting too close to corrupt, apostate error could result in somehow being tainted by those lies (cf. Matt. 16:6, 12; 1 Cor. 5:6–7; 15:33; Gal. 5:7–9).

Jude used extremely graphic, coarse language to highlight the degree of danger involved in this type of outreach. Garment translates chitōn and refers to the clothing that the people of that day wore under their outer tunics—it was their underwear. The word translated polluted is a participial form of the verb spiloō, meaning “to stain,” or “to spot.” To be polluted by the flesh means “to be stained by bodily function.” Just as no one wants to handle someone else’s dirty underwear and be defiled physically so we should be extremely wary of getting too close to the spiritual defilement of those corrupted by false teachers. Even in bringing the gospel to committed apostates, saints must exercise great caution and wisdom (cf. Matt. 10:16).

When the church does not deal properly with the spiritual contamination that false teachers can spread, the results can be disastrous. For example, the Lord told the church at Sardis, “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). That was because only a few in Sardis had not “soiled their garments” (v. 4). The rest had indiscriminately embraced apostasy, which damned their souls and killed the church. Sardis, along with some of the other seven churches in Revelation (especially Pergamum, Thyatira, and Laodicea), failed to heed the apostle Paul’s warning:

The spiritual survival and prosperity of us who love Christ, especially in times of growing apostasy, requires the utmost perseverance and care. We must be defensive—remembering what Scripture teaches about the presence of false teachers. And we must also be proactive—diligently practicing the disciplines of Bible study, prayer, and obedience as we eagerly anticipate Christ’s return. Finally, we must exercise bold discernment in taking the offensive and reaching out to apostates and those influenced by their heresies. The Christian life has always been a pilgrimage (Heb. 11) and a spiritual battle (Eph. 6:10–18), but its end will be triumphant (Rev. 18–22). With that truth in mind, we can take great solace and encouragement in the words of the well-known hymn “Onward, Christian Soldiers”: