See Through The Subterfuge, Seek & Speak The Truth!
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(17) But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. (18) They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” (19) These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. (20) But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, (21) keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. (22) Be merciful to those who doubt; (23) save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.’ (Jude 1:17-23)
The Book of Jude is the next-to-last book of the New Testament (just before Revelation), and it is written by ‘Jude’, who is considered to be the 2nd son of Joseph and Mary, the brother of James and ‘half-brother’ of Jesus. The Book of Jude is 25 verses and in context is a warning by Jude to the early Christian churches and communities about those in their midst who are unbelievers. These unbelievers scoff and ridicule the Gospel and the precepts of Jesus, and try to tear those Faithful away from Jesus and back into secular pursuits, often by diversions and deflections of the Truth.
In modern terms, we see this in many of the ‘progressive’ churches, who claim to be Christian but have either watered down the Bible’s message or have altered it so it is more palatable to the secular world. We also see this in our news and our government, bringing us the flashy and shiny headlines to redirect our attention from a more alarming headline that may be more critical but may not fit the desired narrative. In either case, the truth as presented is not the ‘truth’; it is either a partial truth or an outright lie in order to garner favor with an unknowing audience. But to see through the subterfuge, we don’t need special glasses like Roddy Piper did in ‘They Live’, we have something much better, the Holy Spirit!
As Believers, who have the Holy Spirit, we have the discernment through our prayers, our study of Scriptures, and our fellowship with each other to understand what the Truth is. It is perhaps easy to see the outright lie, but in some cases, it takes the Spirit to discern between Truth and partial truth. For example, there are churches who have a ‘Jesus Loves All’ theology, and thus there would be no punishment for sin as the Lord would never condemn all that He loves to an eternal punishment in Hell (actually the Lake of Fire). While it is true that Jesus does love all people (John 3:16-17), these churches leave out that He also only provides Salvation from the punishment of sin to those who believe (John 3:18a) but allows for the condemnation and punishment of those who do not believe (John 3:18b).
We who are Believers with the discernment and discretion provided by the Holy Spirit are told by Jude in verses 22 and 23 not to condemn those who are ‘scoffers’ or those who fall for the falsehoods, but to tell them the Truth, which we know through our triad of prayer, study and fellowship with Jesus, the Bible, and fellow Believers. We are not to be fear-mongers but we should not hide the consequences of the lies, or the subterfuge of the Truth, when we provide it. It’s OK to say what is wrong is wrong; what is right and what is wrong in partial Truth, and the consequences of if ‘wrong’ is followed.
Expect those who are ‘scoffers’ and those who follow them will not like hearing the Truth at first; people do not like being ‘wrong’, or being told ‘no’. But if those who need the Truth are not told it, how can we expect them to change, and how can they avoid condemnation without the opportunity to change? Jesus is not a Lord of fear, but one who says, ‘Fear not – be courageous!’ Go speak the Truth!
