What Jesus' Brother Jude Wanted Us To Know | Verse 23, Part 1 | Save Others By Snatching Them Ou
“Save others by snatching them out of the fire.” -Jude 23
Earlier in Jude’s letter he reminded us that Sodom and Gomorrah were judged for their wicked and perverted sin by “undergoing a punishment of eternal fire” (vs. 7) in order to warn us that false teachers, ungodly people, and deniers of Christ would reap the same end. What Sodom and Gomorrah reaped was a precursor to what they soon discovered on the other side of eternity’s door.
Throughout history, Sodom and Gomorrah have continued to represent the epitome of wickedness and rebellion against God. Consequently, they have continued to serve as the epitome of what justice looks like in God’s eyes—quite literally. Hence, Jude’s remark that their fiery judgement “serve as an example” (vs. 7). This cannot be lost on us.
The gist is this: all forms of false religion and ungodliness are caught up in the conditioning fires of Hell as it is. In other words, they are already of Hell and thus they will end up in Hell as a natural outcome for what they have given their lives to, save for the gracious salvation offered through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for all who believe. To be caught in a false religious system is to be caught in Hell’s system. To be dedicated to atheism and ungodliness is to be dedicated to Hell’s agenda. It is true that we must not over-personify Hell as if it is something other than God’s own method of judgement, but we must identify the direct attachment of what is false to what will one day be judged in Hell.
James, Jude’s brother, actually makes this correlation of the fiery precursor of Hell in life to the final condemnation of Hell in eternity very clear when he says “the tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (3:6).
Those who are caught up in the errors of false religions and false teachers masquerading as orthodox Christians are seen as brands, or sticks, that are resting squarely in the fire and, consequently, in immediate danger of being finally consumed only to discover the very real fire on the other side of eternity. Thus, we ought to feel provoked in light of this truth to “save others by snatching them out of the fire” just as we would if a toddler were stumbling alongside one.
Jude’s use of this language is not the only instance in Scripture. As has already been said, these word pictures have been used all throughout Scripture, prior to the New Testament.
In prophesying against the hardened and unrepentant Israel, God said through Amos, “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning” (4:11). Were it not for God’s gracious saving of a remnant, they would have become a distinct nation like all of the rest.
Or in Isaiah’s words: “If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah” (1:9).
Similarly, Zechariah has a vision of God, Satan, and Joshua where Satan accuses Joshua (who represents Israel) of sin and his worthiness of condemnation, but God, in rebuke of Satan, says, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” (3:2).
Jude’s concern, then, in his letter is that there are people who have become not just doubters (see previous post), but those who are immersed in the false system that has been constructed by the false teachers. We must recognize the increased need for action, then, on our part to snatch them out of it.
When our sons and daughters waltz off from the church into Roman Catholicism, or Moromonism, or declare themselves homosexuals, or clamor after the various heresies of the charismatic movement that exalts experience with spirits over the written Word of the Holy Spirit, then we must take action and implore them with all the urgency and grace we can muster to be reconciled to God through His Word and take hold of the faith that has been delivered to the saints once and for all. We must call them to repentance and warn them of judgement.
To sit by idly and think that God will treat their unbelief and rebellion against the truth with indifference is to be grossly misinformed of what He has long warned us about.
One must remember that true love “rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor 13:6) and seeks to save souls from eternal destruction. Love does not seek to make sinners more comfortable on their path to Hell, it seeks to save them from it. We must think about the implications here.
The Apostle Peter told us to “keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8). Is it any wonder then that the most loving thing to do is seen when “whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (Js 5:20)?
Dear friends, let us not grow weary of patiently, yet urgently, imploring those we know who are in the pre-cursory fire of Hell to recognize their sinful condition and the unbiblical paradigm in which they live, so that they would be saved from their inevitable outcome and, rather, be given new life in Jesus Christ our Lord, who turns no repentant sinner away and who seals us with the Holy Spirit that then guarantees eternal life for us when we die—all to the praise of His glory and grace.
In Christ alone,
Ben
