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Tag: apostasy

My HOT reaction to a 1st. c. Hot Topic
As I read my own contemporary REACTION to Paul’s epistle (letter) to the ‘foolish Galatians’ I realized that the Apostle had provoked PREACHING in my own commentary.

Which HOT Topic that matters to YOU will push your button of REACTION?

WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO PERVERSION?

OR YOUR REACTION TO HYPOCRISY?

HOW DO YOU REACT TO SIN?
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IF you even hold that SIN is identifiable in a man or woman.
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IS YOUR REACTION TO OPPONENTS OF GOD SIMILAR TO PAUL’S?
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IF YOU YOURSELF are not opposed to the ONE GOD and JESUS CHRIST?
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REACTION to Galatians
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Think of this an extended personal COMMENT and reaction to my own post 
AND then ADD your reaction to Paul's letter with YOUR comment.

Please forgive any overlap of content from Scripture. It is my hope that these exhortations may also convict 21st century christians in addition to the Galatians.
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HOT topics from Galatians – Perversion of the Gospel

Galatians 1:7b LSB – .. there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Apostasy appears throughout the Holy Bible when God’s people become unholy.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?

It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Paul’s epistle to the churches in Galatia 3:1 ESV

Foolish Reactions of milk-fed christians

(My REACTION to those led to ‘some other gospel,’ as Paul puts it.)

For the turning away^H4878 of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

See Paul’s reference to foolishness according to Proverbs

God’s reaction to worshipers turning from HIM!

Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine:

the soul who sins shall die.
the word of the LORD through His Prophet Ezekiel 18:4

It is NOT ONLY the flesh which will wither and die; but, SAYS THE LORD, ‘the soul who sins shall die.’

Galatians 4:

SON OF A SLAVE! (What’s your reaction to that?)

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

DOES THIS NOT CONTINUE TO BE THE CONDITION OF EVERY CHRISTIAN BEFORE WE TURN TO JESUS CHRIST?

So why then, O foolish 21st century sinner, do you speak of reparations for slavery when you continue to refuse release from the CHAINS of CULTURE?

We are ENSLAVED by CULTURE! – the PERVERSE cultures of media leavening every moment of our day; the PERVERSE claims of political leaders PAID FOR secretly by those evil ones of Satan to whom their parties are chained.

The list is endless in these last days of this 21st century since the ascension of the risen Christ until HE returns to judge the living and the dead.

What’s your REACTION to HELL?
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Now there's a HOT Topic to avoid for those who pervert justice and oppose the Gospel of Christ's return. Again Paul's concern for the Galatians ought to mirror our own concern for 21st century church.
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9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
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OR, foolish claimant of Christ, is your own perversion of the Gospel leading your own soul into inevitable darkness, death, Judgment and right punishment for preaching culture and not Christ?
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15 What then has become of your blessedness? .. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?
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DO YOU CHOOSE THE TRUE GOSPEL or have you foolishly followed the descending flow of their cultural gospel (which is false) into the very pit of perdition?
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17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.
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The Apostle Paul exhorts so-called christians of the churches of Galatia to return to the GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 

I, too, have cultural HOT buttons of REACTION.
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false – for it is intolerant of Christ and Scripture

Syncretism

You can’t be Orthodox AND Roman..

You’re no longer Catholic..

You can’t be righteous to Allah if you claim Christ..

Moroni and Smith hid in a secretive and false church of Jesus Christ in these latter days..

Our preaching is NOT Universal and CANNOT accept all religions..

GOD calls SELF-worship ‘SIN.’

Buddha can help you find your true SELF..

Our gods of the earth and nature bring you to the karma of this life..

We are ALL good..

The Bible is just another book.. )

DO YOU SEE THE DANGERS?

Evidence of Christ or Signs of Apostasy?

No Bible translation I know is so brash as to use this HEADING for Paul’s closing argument in his case against some members of the churches we call Galatians;

yet I’ll risk closing this HOT topic with such a summation for a jury of my Christian peers.

4 You are severed [cut away] from Christ, you who would be justified by the law;

you have fallen away from grace.

The GOSPEL of Christ’s grace IS good news not only to the redeemed but in its evidence to others.

17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit,

and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,

for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

CAN THE PERVERSITY OF HYPOCRISY BE ANY MORE OBVIOUS IN ITS WITNESS THOUGH THOSE WHO CLAIM CHRIST?

Perversion of the FLESH? vs. Fruit of the SPIRIT?

WHICH do YOU choose AND what evidence does every juror see, you who have been given the Gospel?

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident:

sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies,

and things like these.

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
Paul’s epistle [instructive letter to the churches] to the Galatians 5:22-23a ESV

against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

ARE YOU a christian wearing the Cross of Christ while living in the flesh just as Paul calls out to the Galatians to return to the GOSPEL of CHRIST?
- Does REACTION to your christian claim lead to further apostasy from God?
Does Paul’s HOT Topic #2 for the saints of the churches in Galatia CONVICT YOU?

WHAT FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT do you lack?

OR

Is your witness as a christian saint somewhat steeped in the unholiness of the fruit of the flesh?

COMMENTS? or Questions?
June 20, 2023
Hot Topics from Galatians #2 – Apostasy
Apostasy appears throughout the Holy Bible when God’s people become unholy.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

HOT topic #2 – apostasy

Although Paul does not specifically name apostasy for the Galatians he will when writing to the Thessalonians.
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[Circumcision may be a HOT Topic of the flesh of 2023 CE,
but this physical SIGN from a broken covenant was just one sign of apostasy,

SINCE MANY OPPOSE and deny Almighty God 
and the Lamb of the NEW COVENANT Christ Jesus!
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Galatians HOT topic #1: Perversion of the Gospel

In our first look at Paul’s letter to the Galatians (possibly sent from ACHAIA) we quickly discovered that the Apostle’s #1 HOT topic and concern for these new churches is perversion of the gospel of Christ.

WE easily get pulled off-topic. CIRCUMCISION is NOT the issue.

Even for the Jews circumcision is NOT the issue, but an excuse to JUDEIZE Greek and Roman converts by forcing a sign of a broken covenant on the flesh of men.

So apostasy is an unnamed HOT topic in his letter to the Galatian churches. Apostasy is a HOT topic result of false teaching by others which the Apostle to the Gentiles addresses.

What is it?

To oversimplify, apostasy is akin to adultery against God.

And as we see the cultural custom of wedding bands, so too the Jews viewed circumcision of a man as a visual sign of their covenant with God.

Apostasy defined:

מְשׁוּבָה

The KJV translates Strong’s H4878 in the following manner: backsliding (11x), turning away (1x).

Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Jeremiah 2:19 KJV 2:19 תְּיַסְּרֵךְ רָעָתֵךְ וּמְשֻֽׁבוֹתַיִךְ תּוֹכִחֻךְ וּדְעִי וּרְאִי כִּי־ רַע וָמָר עָזְבֵךְ אֶת־יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיִךְ וְלֹא פַחְדָּתִי אֵלַיִךְ נְאֻם־אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה צְבָאֽוֹת׃

When the Jews broke their covenant with the LORD,

a NEW Covenant was needed

– NOT a cultural covenant ONLY for the Jews, but a lasting covenant

— a NEW testament of God’s love for men and women made in His Image — mortals from every culture of the world HE created.

we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law
Epistle from Paul to the Galatians 2:15 excerpt ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Galatians 3:

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?

It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Paul’s epistle to the churches in Galatia 3:1 ESV

Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
- all who rely on works of the law are under a curse 10a
- “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” – 10b
  - Deuteronomy 27:26 אָרוּר אֲשֶׁר לֹא־ יָקִים אֶת־דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָֽה־הַזֹּאת לַעֲשׂוֹת אוֹתָם וְאָמַר כָּל־הָעָם אָמֵֽן׃ פ
IT’S A BIG DEAL TO THE JEWS who knew AND tried to practice ALL THE LAWS OF SCRIPTURE.

19 Why then the law?

It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made.
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The ONLY sinless offspring (son of man) IS Christ: descendent AND predecessor of Abraham (to whom the covenant was given with its sign) AND of Moses (to whom was given the LAW of perfection by which ALL are transgressors (sinners) come under its curse.
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24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
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Certainly this was Paul's GOSPEL PREACHED to the GALATIANS at first.
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Galatians 4:

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

15 What then has become of your blessedness? .. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

Galatians 5:

4 You are severed [cut away] from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
- Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
- This persuasion is not from him who calls you.
- 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
- do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,
- but through love serve one another.
The GOSPEL of Christ’s grace IS good news not only to the redeemed but by its evidence to others.

17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit,

and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,

for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Perversion of the FLESH? vs. Fruit of the SPIRIT?

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident:

sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies,

and things like these.

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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THE PERVERSITY OF HYPOCRISY BECOMES OBVIOUS IN ITS WITNESS THROUGH THOSE WHO CLAIM CHRIST?
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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
Paul’s epistle [instructive letter to the churches] to the Galatians 5:22-23a ESV

against such things there is no law.

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Let’s just leave it there.

a side note on Circumcision

Technically the HOT topic of Apostasy is circumcision which Paul mentions seven [7] times in his epistle to the men of the churches of Galatia and frequently in his other epistles to the churches.

WHY?
- Jewish men apostate from the LORD could make false claim to this covenant long-ago broken between the Hebrews and God
  - (much like a christian wearing the Cross of Christ while living in the flesh as Paul calls out to the Galatians).
- Such claims certainly lead to further apostasy from God by the witness of such hypocrisy justifying further sin forbidden by the LAW and perversion of the flesh!
Does Paul’s HOT Topic #2 for the saints of the churches in Galatia CONVICT YOU?

WHAT FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT do you lack?

OR

Is your witness as a christian saint somewhat steeped in the unholiness of the fruit of the flesh?

COMMENTS? or Questions?
June 19, 2023
Jude -3- Apostates
Why did Jude write to the churches about apostasy? What is apostasy and how do we recognize apostates?

As we learned previously in the study of Jude’s reason for exhortation, certain intruders have joined the churches to which he writes. Jude describes them as ungodly people who pervert God’s grace. He accuses these apostates of denying our Master and Lord Jesus Christ.

Jude

5 [NASB] Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.

Why a reminder from the Old Testament?

The approach of the church is different in Christ than that of the Jewish culture from which they have been redeemed by the Lord.

A first century view of the church

Donald Guthrie in The New Testament Approach to Social Responsibility writes:

The New Testament assumes the validity of the Old Testament view that man was made in the image of God.1 The whole conception of sin requires that there must have been a state from which man has deviated.

Guthrie continues with reminders of the social nature of the church of the first century to which Jude writes:

The New Testament doctrines of redemption and reconciliation are central to the whole Christian message and involve a disarming of man’s natural enmity against God and of his self-centredness.7 …

The consequence of this is that redeemed man finds himself with an entirely new set of values and yet remaining in his former alien environment. A tension must at once develop between his former way of looking at social responsibility and his new principles in Christ.

The New Testament concentrates on the privileges and responsibilities of the Christian life, because this was the aspect which was new. The Christian faith demands new attitudes and actions which are of prior importance for those who have just turned away from a pagan background. This will explain the relative paucity of specific exhortations towards social responsibility.

Examples from the Old Testament

Jesus, nevertheless, teaches the validity of the Old Testament from where Jude takes examples of exhortations as contemporary reminders for our faith.

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Matthew 5:18 KJV – the words of Jesus about the Old Testament

Jesus told numerous stories from the Old Testament as well. For an excellent of His view of Scripture you can read this article by Don Stewart.

Apostasy

Before we continue with the examples of Hebrew history, let’s define what Jude does not specifically name. (You already know the challenges of Hebrew, Greek and Latin translations into today’s English.)

Apostasy – definition

from the OXFORD dictionary

The abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief or principle.

‘the execution of their leader for apostasy brought widespread criticism’

Origin

Middle English from ecclesiastical Latin apostasia, from a late Greek alteration of Greek apostasis ‘defection’.

ἀποστασία – apostasia

Definition from the Greek: defection from truth (properly, the state) (“apostasy”):—falling away, forsake.

מְשׁוּבָה

Definition from the Hebrew mĕshuwbah : turning away, turning back, apostasy, backsliding

The Bible warns of the apostasy of the Lord’s chosen people more times than the New Testament church specifically warns believers against it.

“Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your apostasies will reprove you;
Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter
For you to forsake the LORD your God,
And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
Jeremiah 2:19 NASB

Jude’s Old Testament Exhortations

Various Biblical headings for the verses to follow from Jude’s letter read:
- Apostates: Past and Present -CSB
- False Teachers – NTE
- Old and New Apostates & Apostates Depraved and Doomed – KJV
- Judgment on False Teachers – NSRV
- Past history warns us that the unfaithful have mingled with the faithful & Be on your guard against these wicked men – PHILLIPS
So as not to extend exposition of this twenty-five verse letter into another post, I will link the important cross-references for these Old Testament verses for your further study. I suspect the the first century readers of Jude’s exhortations warning against apostasy knew these examples much better than I can remember.
1. Jude 1:5 – Egypt
2. v. 6 – Angels – a multitude of examples throughout both Testaments
3. vs. 7-8 – Sodom and Gomorrah
4. v. 9 – Michael the Archangel, concerning Moses
5. v. 11 – Cain, Balaam & Korah
6. vs. 14-15 Enoch
Egypt

For I should like to remind you, my brothers, that our ancestors all had the experience of being guided by the cloud in the desert and of crossing the sea dry-shod. … many of them failed to please God, and left their bones in the desert. Now in these events our ancestors stand as examples to us, warning us not to crave after evil things as they did.
1 Corinthians 10 excerpt – J.B. PHILLIPS

Angels and Archangels

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12 NASB

Michael, from the vision of Daniel 10 [audio]

Sodom and Gomorrah

“I destroyed some of your cities,
as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
Those of you who survived
were like charred sticks pulled from a fire.
But still you would not return to me,”
says the LORD.
Amos 4:11 NLT

Cain, Balaam & Korah

All apostates! And for the most part we know their sins. Yet do we recall their warnings from the Lord?

The Lord warns Cain

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? 7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:6-7 CSB

The Lord & an Angel warn Balaam

And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.
Numbers 22:12,32 NKJV

Moses warns Korah & The Lord warns Moses & Aaron

Moses also told Korah, “Now listen, Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the Israelite community to bring you near to himself, to perform the work at the Lord’s tabernacle, and to stand before the community to minister to them?
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this community so I may consume them instantly.”
Numbers 16:8-9, 20-21

Have we recognized the apostates opposed to the Lord and separated them from His church?

The Lord requires both our faith and our loyalty. He cautions us concerning those who would turn against the faithful, loyal congregation of believers.

Jude warns:

These people are dangerous. They share communion of Christ with you, but only care about themselves. These men (and presumably women) are a menace to good fellowship. They are shepherds (pastors and priests) who care not for their sheep. These opinionated apostates are clouds without water, trees without fruit, twice-dead, and uprooted. Do not listen to them.

Jude makes other comparisons of these apostates to raging waves splashing up their own shame and wandering stars ‘for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever,’ a clear reference to the eternal punishment of Satan’s apostate angels.

Enoch Predicted an Apostasy of Israel

The study of Jude’s source material [linked above] is complex. See Jude 1:14. Yet to simplify the apostasy of Israel which the Lord spoke to Moses at the time of his death, here is an excerpt from its scriptural background.

Deuteronomy 31 & Intro from the Song of Moses

The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them…
“They have acted corruptly toward Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.
“Do you thus repay the Lord,
O foolish and unwise people?
Deuteronomy 31:16-17a,32:5:6a NASB

A Reminder of Scoffers

Jude reminds the church that the Apostles also warn of those who deny the power and judgment of Almighty God and turn from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.” It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions.
Jude 1:18b-19 NRSV

But you, beloved…

Jude addresses the church agapētos, beloved ones, just as James in his letter had cautioned: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”

Jude and also James knew the familial love of Jesus. Both letter writers love those saints of the church faithful to Christ, their brother, the risen Lord.

But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.
Jude 1:21-22 CSB

How shall we view the apostate?

Have mercy on some who are doubting.

Is this unexpected as our attitude toward some who temporarily turn against Christ?

Jude shares the same teaching as Christ.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
The words of Christ, Matthew 5:7

By our mercy and Christ’s grace some may be built up in the true faith.

Save others

‘Snatching them out of the fire,’ Jude pleads, a clear reference to saving their souls from hell.

σῴζω – sōzō – Save – to rescue from danger or destruction

It is the same Greek word for save familiar to all from John 3:16. Jude urges the church to save those of the world who come to us.

Have mercy with fear

“And on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh,” Jude cautions.

But what fear?

φόβος – Most know the word phobos and its meaning: dread or that which strikes terror.

What strikes terror in your heart?

Your own death?

Judgement? Eternal damnation?

Or do you fear for the souls of others more than you fear them? For these are loved ones, friends and those who you know as a part of the church. Some apostate ‘christians’ have turned against the Lord Jesus Christ!

Do you fear man or the Lord God?

Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles,

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
Acts 9:31 NASB

Jude’s reference to ‘hating even the garment polluted by the flesh’ clearly calls the church to hating the sin, yet not the sinner. Let us clearly identify the spotted speech of apostates among us, urging those with such worldly coverings to purify their sins in the blood of Christ.

And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
James 3:6 NASB

Let us watch that we condemn the sins of the apostates among us, while not judging their souls which the Lord may choose to snatch from the fire.

Benediction

Jude wants to encourage the church, giving those saints faithful to the Lord praise. Yet he has chosen to exhort the church against apostates, warn us against the sins which defile us and turn our witness against Christ.

He briefly makes his strong warning and now closes with praise to the Lord. You may have heard such comforting benedictions from a pastor of your own church congregation.

Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:24-25 CSB Benediction

Christ Jesus can keep you from stumbling so that you may stand in His holy presence. You will know His glory, because of His mercy and grace of covering our sins by His shed blood.

God IS our Savior, through the sacrificial love of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Anyone who does not believe in the only One who can save us is an apostate, turned against the Lord our God!

To Him be all glory, majesty, power and authority. As it was in the beginning, it will be now and forever. AMEN.
July 25, 2019