Final Instructions and a Soaring Doxology
2/9/20261 hr 9 min
The Letter of Jude E6 — In the final nine verses of his letter, Jude transitions from warning about corrupt members to instructing the faithful. In so many words, he encourages them to keep pressing on as the living temple of God’s Spirit and love. Jude also guides them in how to care for the doubting and deceived in their community, while taking necessary caution for their own holiness. And he concludes with confidence in God’s ability to protect the Church and make them stand as blameless priests, all to the praise, honor, and majesty of God. In this e...
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First 90 secondsJon Collins· Host0:00
[upbeat music] The letter of Judah. It's a short letter at the end of the New Testament written by a brother of Jesus, a man named Judah. It's an emergency letter warning his community about certain people who are causing serious problems.
Tim Mackie· Host0:18
And what's so fascinating, he never highlights their teaching as such, like false teaching or false doctrine, bad theology as such. What he highlights is the way they see the world.
Jon Collins· Host0:30
Judah shows us the way they see the world by comparing them to stories, characters in the Hebrew Bible. They're like the wilderness generation. They're like the rebellious angels. They're like the men of Sodom and Gomorrah. They think like Cain, they're motivated like Balaam, and they rebel like Korah. Now Judah just assumes you understand these stories and how they're all connected.
Tim Mackie· Host0:53
All of those are really about one thing, that divine justice that holds humans accountable for destructive behavior.
Jon Collins· Host1:00
Judah references all these stories from the Hebrew Bible. He also quotes other Second Temple literature, but he ends with a quote from the apostles of Jesus, people who knew Jesus personally, and they say, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Watch out for people who are motivated by serving themselves rather than being motivated by the Spirit of God."
Tim Mackie· Host1:22
The genuine message about Jesus is so surprising to, like, basic human instinct and desire, and it's