… to others show mercy, mixed with fear …
Mercy and fear. What an odd combination! What could Jude mean?
The meaning of the word “mercy” seems self-evident to me. To be merciful to others is to accept them as they are, warts and all. If they have offended me I show forgiveness in return. If they are offensive to me, I ignore the offense and treat them as I would want to be treated myself. But what about fear?
Are we to be afraid ourselves, or are we to instill fear in others?
It is not clear to me from the Greek what Jude’s intent was, so we are left to explore the context of his words and see if we can glean some insights.
Jude’s letter begins by describing two kinds of people; “those who have been called,” and the “ungodly people.” His theme of extremes continues throughout his letter. Yet as we have seen in our meditations on Jude’s words, it is possible to discern more colors here than black and white.
In verse 21 Jude encourages us to keep ourselves in God’s love. In verse 22 he wants us to be merciful to the doubter. In verse 23 we go beyond mercy. We are called to action, saving people from the fire of hell. Then we show them something rather incredible. We show them the colors of love.
Mercy has no real value without an awareness of the danger we are saved from. If I were walking in a field and someone hidden behind a rock far away pointed a rifle at me, I would not know the danger I was in. If they lowered their weapon and chose to have mercy on me, that too would mean nothing. If they later came up to me and said, “I had mercy on you,” I would laugh in their face. But if I were surrounded by rifles pointed at me and I could clearly see that I was doomed, I would be very grateful for mercy.
For someone to understand mercy, don’t they first have to understand the very real danger of the fires of hell? For them to understand love, do they not have to understand the wrath reserved for the consequences of their sin?
Application: Sharing the Gospel is more than just Good News, it is also teaching about the dangers of hell.
Food for Thought: How do you explain the dangers of hell to someone who doesn’t yet believe?
Jesus talked about hell quite a bit. More than He talked about heaven. He warned us. I think we also need to warn others. How? With love. We tell the truth in love. I think we explain that it was a place prepared for Satan and his fallen angels (Matthew 25: 41). I think we lovingly explain it is a dark place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is a place without God. It is a place we really do not want to see anyone in, especially them. This is a tough topic to broach with anyone. We do this in the context of relationship. My dad and I talked about hell quite a bit before he was a believer. Those were intense conversations. We don’t like to talk about the subject. The spell check on my phone does not even acknowledge hell as a real word. But we must warn people about what Jesus warned others about. To not do so could be an unloving act.
Rich,
Thank you for sharing your story on this topic. The idea of discussing this with your dad when he was a non-believer is a powerful story. The underlying truth here is that we are created beings, not just an accident of nature. Satan has been very effective at convincing our fellow travelers that we are nothing but a cosmic joke and there is no life after this one. We need to help people see that there is more to life than just what we see.
I had a brother-in-law who went motor bike riding in the Oregon Dunes with his friends. He was riding toward a cliff that he did not see. He friends desperately and fearfully tried to warn him to no avail. That was a destructive day for him and a sorrowful day for my extended family. As Ezekiel, while many will not be saved, ours is to sound the warning to those who do not see the approaching destruction.
JEC,
What a terrifying visual image! How very appropriate to this discussion, too. Thank you for sharing!
Great stuff from Rich and JEC, I have another possibility that entered my mind regarding fear. When I accepted Christ I was deep in drugs, drinking and sins of the flesh that go with this lifestyle. During the 5 years I spent in isolation, studying the Bible, the Lord took all these away from me. I led a lady to the Lord, we later started dating, we married, became members of a very bible based church. Her family was worldly, into all Christ had taken from me.
I did not have a healthy, Fear of sin and felt I could make small compromises to show them being a Christian did not mean we had lost our freedom to enjoy life. I justified compromising.
Of course I was wrong, and it took time to understand, if we are to serve in Christ, we must totally abstain from feeding our flesh. The old must die so the new can grow.
Bottom line, be aware of the power of our enemy, we must have a deep Godly love for the sinner, but also a deep fear and hatred for the sins they bring. I trust the Holy Spirit to convict them
John 16:8-12, and wear the full armor of God when dealing with them. Ephesians 6:10-18.
Ron,
A “healthy fear of sin” is a great turn of phrase. A “healthy fear” keeps us safe and keeps us healthy. It keeps us away from that which causes us harm. To fear sin is to fear the consequences of sin. Well said.
Right on Jeff, in time we learn sin will separates us from our Holy God, and we can feel the break. I much prefer walking with God, enjoying fellowship with my Lord over separation. So once again it is not due to our power that we walk with God, its because of the peace and contentment HE BRINGS into our lives that keeps us close to Him.
👍🏻