"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
And of some have compassion, making a difference
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."
Jude 1:21-25
This is a really interesting scripture, and I am not sure that I understand it fully, so if anyone has any ideas or comments, feel free to send them on. Before these verses it is talking about the last days and how some people (verse 19) separate themselves, having not the spirit... and that we through faith and prayer should do the following things... and it is really talking to us when it says "you" and "yourselves" because it is warning us about our time... the last days. So... it tells us to keep ourselves in the love of God... seek mercy. Good advice, since we all are imperfect and need some mercy... probably a lot of it. Then (and I find this part so fascinating), it talks about things that we should do for other people... says we should have compassion, and make a difference. :) isn't that cool? you guys are going to think I am psycho, but it makes me think of kind of a superhero analogy... there are tons of cartoons about superheroes around, and they have bad guys in them who also have great powers, but they use them for evil. And so here is the choice that we have too... in terms of our earth lives, because of the knowledge that we have of God, and the fact that we have all of that power to draw upon... we *are* superheroes... and we need to use that power for good, and make a difference in the world. if the scriptures teach us anything, they teach us the power that one person has, for good or evil... Moses, Noah, King Benjamin... or king Noah, or Gadianton, or Cain. Make a difference, for good... have compassion... that is a great power right there. Then, along the superhero analogy... others you can pull out of fires. :) I'm not sure if the fear here is your fear for their safety, or their fear of destruction or separation (continuing the theme of verse 19) from God... perhaps it is both. and I don't understand the part about hating the garments... maybe, since it is talking about fire... that you need to save them from everything that is burning, or (in a spiritual sense) that has been corrupted, and is therefore going to be cast into the fire... :) and, hopefully, if we happen to be the one in the burning building this time and not the superhero flying overhead, the superhero will remember to bring us some new clothes. :) speaking of flying too... the next verse talks about God as the person that can keep us from falling. Good point. :) He is the one that gives us the power to fly... to escape the fire, and to save other people from it... he gives us the power to have compassion, and to make a difference in this world. He won't let us fall. Even more powerful than that though... he has the power to present us faultless at the judgment day... and which of us is faultless? we have all been in the fire, and lost our burning clothes. and whether it was God or one of his superhero servants that flew to our rescue... we still have scars. it's part of life. But God has power to heal the scars, give us a bulletproof / sinproof suit, and help us to fly... before the presence of his glory, with *exceeding* joy. So, yes... to the only wise God, our Savior... be glory and majesty, dominion and power... forever. He is pretty awesome to us, after all...
And of some have compassion, making a difference
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."
Jude 1:21-25
This is a really interesting scripture, and I am not sure that I understand it fully, so if anyone has any ideas or comments, feel free to send them on. Before these verses it is talking about the last days and how some people (verse 19) separate themselves, having not the spirit... and that we through faith and prayer should do the following things... and it is really talking to us when it says "you" and "yourselves" because it is warning us about our time... the last days. So... it tells us to keep ourselves in the love of God... seek mercy. Good advice, since we all are imperfect and need some mercy... probably a lot of it. Then (and I find this part so fascinating), it talks about things that we should do for other people... says we should have compassion, and make a difference. :) isn't that cool? you guys are going to think I am psycho, but it makes me think of kind of a superhero analogy... there are tons of cartoons about superheroes around, and they have bad guys in them who also have great powers, but they use them for evil. And so here is the choice that we have too... in terms of our earth lives, because of the knowledge that we have of God, and the fact that we have all of that power to draw upon... we *are* superheroes... and we need to use that power for good, and make a difference in the world. if the scriptures teach us anything, they teach us the power that one person has, for good or evil... Moses, Noah, King Benjamin... or king Noah, or Gadianton, or Cain. Make a difference, for good... have compassion... that is a great power right there. Then, along the superhero analogy... others you can pull out of fires. :) I'm not sure if the fear here is your fear for their safety, or their fear of destruction or separation (continuing the theme of verse 19) from God... perhaps it is both. and I don't understand the part about hating the garments... maybe, since it is talking about fire... that you need to save them from everything that is burning, or (in a spiritual sense) that has been corrupted, and is therefore going to be cast into the fire... :) and, hopefully, if we happen to be the one in the burning building this time and not the superhero flying overhead, the superhero will remember to bring us some new clothes. :) speaking of flying too... the next verse talks about God as the person that can keep us from falling. Good point. :) He is the one that gives us the power to fly... to escape the fire, and to save other people from it... he gives us the power to have compassion, and to make a difference in this world. He won't let us fall. Even more powerful than that though... he has the power to present us faultless at the judgment day... and which of us is faultless? we have all been in the fire, and lost our burning clothes. and whether it was God or one of his superhero servants that flew to our rescue... we still have scars. it's part of life. But God has power to heal the scars, give us a bulletproof / sinproof suit, and help us to fly... before the presence of his glory, with *exceeding* joy. So, yes... to the only wise God, our Savior... be glory and majesty, dominion and power... forever. He is pretty awesome to us, after all...
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