But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Beloved believers who are sanctified, preserved, and called are urged to remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. What they are to hold in mind is the common salvation and the faith once delivered to the saints, that they may stay consistent in profession and contend earnestly for it. The apostles warned through the Holy Spirit that in the last time mockers walking after their own ungodly lusts would come, as a lifted danger signal of the perils and ungodliness facing the close of earth's history. That warning is met in the present day in murmurers, complainers, and sensual separatists without the Spirit, a corrupt class now found among God's people and in every city who reject counsel, follow their own judgment, and refuse to repent. Against that danger believers are to build themselves up on their most holy faith, pray in the Holy Ghost, keep themselves in the love of God and look for Christ's mercy unto eternal life, while with compassion and fear they pull others from the fire, raise the delivered truth as the standard, and magnify God's trampled law by calling transgressors to repentance and readiness to meet God.
Remembered Apostolic Warning
The address is to the beloved, those who are sanctified, preserved and called, who are told to remember the words spoken before by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. That remembering is a warning about apostasy to be met in the present day, with conditions exactly as described. The warnings are not to be ignored, since they apply to people who support wrongdoing and fail to repent. Those words were given through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as a lifted danger signal to understand the perils of the time approaching the close of earth's history.
What is to be remembered includes the common salvation and the faith once delivered to the saints. It belongs to an appeal to remain consistent in profession of faith. Keeping it in mind means earnestly contending for that faith.
In particular, what the apostles said beforehand was that mockers walking after their own ungodly lusts would come in the last time. They would be murmurers and complainers walking after lusts and speaking great swelling words, who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. This warning guards against false teachers who separate themselves and lack the Spirit. It identifies a corrupt class found in every city. It applies to people in the church who reject the Lord's counsel and rely on their own judgment.
Those apostolic words describe the condition of the world as earth's history closes, written to lift a danger signal so believers understand the perils of that time. They describe a state of ungodliness that has been before and will be repeated in history.
Mockers Fulfilled Today
The apostolic warnings describe conditions exactly as Jude describes to be met in the present day, including apostasy and deception. The warned-of people are mockers who would arise in the last time, following their own ungodly desires and walking after their own ungodly lusts. They are murmurers and complainers walking after lusts and speaking great swelling words, who separate themselves, are sensual, and have not the Spirit, and the warning guards against false teachers of that character who lack the Spirit.
The warning is fulfilled by mockers now present among God's people from whom the Spirit of the Lord has departed. This corrupt class is found in every city. In the church the warning applies to people who reject the Lord's counsel and rely on their own judgment, and recognizing them as the warned-of people should lead to more earnest study of Scripture and faithfulness to God's word. The warnings belong to Jude's warnings, which are not to be ignored, and they apply to people who support wrongdoing and fail to repent.
In the last days the warning applies when false teachings and tolerated sin dull discernment and people reject calls to repentance, a condition resembling the world before the Flood that precedes divine judgment. It means apostolic warning protects against men who have a form of godliness but are not safe leaders. In that time false teachers arise and become actively zealous, presenting all kinds of theories to divert minds from the very truth that defines the position that can be occupied with safety. At the same time Satan works with power upon religionists to lead them to make a pretense of being righteous while failing to place themselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Holding Faith and Responding
Against that danger believers are to build themselves up on their most holy faith, pray in the Holy Ghost, keep themselves in the love of God, and look for the mercy of Jesus Christ unto eternal life. This building, praying, keeping, and looking is the divinely appointed response to the foretold apostasy to be met in the present day. It answers a repeated state of ungodliness in history, not merely an isolated outbreak. The danger is not to be met with boastful words and a masterful human spirit. Instead believers are to have compassion on some, making a difference, and to save others with fear, pulling them out of the fire while hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Compassion with discrimination and fearless rescue work, joined to hatred of defilement itself, is the manner of warfare required. Keeping the apostolic faith in mind means earnestly contending for it by bringing men back from breaking the commandments of God. That contending is done by proclaiming the gospel of Christ with earnestness and zeal as light to commandment-breakers to arouse them to get ready to meet God. It raises the truth once delivered to the saints as the standard, and magnifies the law and makes it honorable, because sin is the breaking of the law and that law is being trampled by the disloyal. Recognizing members in the church who reject the Lord's counsel and rely on their own judgment as the warned-of mockers of the last time should lead believers to study Scripture more earnestly. Such recognition should confirm them in remaining faithful to God's word rather than being moved aside.
Beloved believers who are sanctified, preserved, and called are urged to remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. What they are to hold in mind is the common salvation and the faith once delivered to the saints, that they may stay consistent in profession and contend earnestly for it. The apostles warned through the Holy Spirit that in the last time mockers walking after their own ungodly lusts would come, as a lifted danger signal of the perils and ungodliness facing the close of earth's history. That warning is met in the present day in murmurers, complainers, and sensual separatists without the Spirit, a corrupt class now found among God's people and in every city who reject counsel, follow their own judgment, and refuse to repent. Against that danger believers are to build themselves up on their most holy faith, pray in the Holy Ghost, keep themselves in the love of God and look for Christ's mercy unto eternal life, while with compassion and fear they pull others from the fire, raise the delivered truth as the standard, and magnify God's trampled law by calling transgressors to repentance and readiness to meet God.
Remembered Apostolic Warning
The address is to the beloved, those who are sanctified, preserved and called, who are told to remember the words spoken before by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. That remembering is a warning about apostasy to be met in the present day, with conditions exactly as described. The warnings are not to be ignored, since they apply to people who support wrongdoing and fail to repent. Those words were given through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as a lifted danger signal to understand the perils of the time approaching the close of earth's history.
What is to be remembered includes the common salvation and the faith once delivered to the saints. It belongs to an appeal to remain consistent in profession of faith. Keeping it in mind means earnestly contending for that faith.
In particular, what the apostles said beforehand was that mockers walking after their own ungodly lusts would come in the last time. They would be murmurers and complainers walking after lusts and speaking great swelling words, who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. This warning guards against false teachers who separate themselves and lack the Spirit. It identifies a corrupt class found in every city. It applies to people in the church who reject the Lord's counsel and rely on their own judgment.
Those apostolic words describe the condition of the world as earth's history closes, written to lift a danger signal so believers understand the perils of that time. They describe a state of ungodliness that has been before and will be repeated in history.
Mockers Fulfilled Today
The apostolic warnings describe conditions exactly as Jude describes to be met in the present day, including apostasy and deception. The warned-of people are mockers who would arise in the last time, following their own ungodly desires and walking after their own ungodly lusts. They are murmurers and complainers walking after lusts and speaking great swelling words, who separate themselves, are sensual, and have not the Spirit, and the warning guards against false teachers of that character who lack the Spirit.
The warning is fulfilled by mockers now present among God's people from whom the Spirit of the Lord has departed. This corrupt class is found in every city. In the church the warning applies to people who reject the Lord's counsel and rely on their own judgment, and recognizing them as the warned-of people should lead to more earnest study of Scripture and faithfulness to God's word. The warnings belong to Jude's warnings, which are not to be ignored, and they apply to people who support wrongdoing and fail to repent.
In the last days the warning applies when false teachings and tolerated sin dull discernment and people reject calls to repentance, a condition resembling the world before the Flood that precedes divine judgment. It means apostolic warning protects against men who have a form of godliness but are not safe leaders. In that time false teachers arise and become actively zealous, presenting all kinds of theories to divert minds from the very truth that defines the position that can be occupied with safety. At the same time Satan works with power upon religionists to lead them to make a pretense of being righteous while failing to place themselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Holding Faith and Responding
Against that danger believers are to build themselves up on their most holy faith, pray in the Holy Ghost, keep themselves in the love of God, and look for the mercy of Jesus Christ unto eternal life. This building, praying, keeping, and looking is the divinely appointed response to the foretold apostasy to be met in the present day. It answers a repeated state of ungodliness in history, not merely an isolated outbreak.
The danger is not to be met with boastful words and a masterful human spirit. Instead believers are to have compassion on some, making a difference, and to save others with fear, pulling them out of the fire while hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Compassion with discrimination and fearless rescue work, joined to hatred of defilement itself, is the manner of warfare required.
Keeping the apostolic faith in mind means earnestly contending for it by bringing men back from breaking the commandments of God. That contending is done by proclaiming the gospel of Christ with earnestness and zeal as light to commandment-breakers to arouse them to get ready to meet God. It raises the truth once delivered to the saints as the standard, and magnifies the law and makes it honorable, because sin is the breaking of the law and that law is being trampled by the disloyal.
Recognizing members in the church who reject the Lord's counsel and rely on their own judgment as the warned-of mockers of the last time should lead believers to study Scripture more earnestly. Such recognition should confirm them in remaining faithful to God's word rather than being moved aside.