—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
As we continue to parse Jude’s closing thoughts, we run into this interesting phrase, “ — hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” Whose clothing is Jude talking about? Yours? Mine? His?
The answer, it seems, is “all the above.” Peter references this idea in his second letter when he writes, “This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.” (2 Peter 2: 10)
From God’s perspective, all flesh is corrupted. In Romans 3: 10 Paul quotes Ecclesiastes 7: 20 when he writes, “There is no one righteous, not even one…” But the word “flesh” is not to be taken too literally. Paul also writes: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6: 12)
It is our spirits that were corrupted by turning away from God in Genesis 3. Since then our human nature has been corrupted by the ability to know both “good and evil.” Because our spiritual nature has been corrupted, the “flesh” has been used for our corrupt intent. There is no separating the two. Flesh and spirit are bound together until death when our spirits are released from the flesh and wait for God’s judgment or Christ’s mercy.
When we look at the world or the flesh from God’s perspective, they both look pretty rotten. There is no “good” there except what God can work in us through his Son, Jesus. Jude, in his polarized analysis of good and evil, godly and ungodly, sees the world as God does. He seems to say that everything flesh has touched is corrupt.
Application: Looking at ourselves through Jude’s words is like looking through God’s eyes.
Food for Thought: How do we love others as Jesus commanded (Matthew 22: 39) while hating the clothing they wear?
C S Lewis once said (I am paraphrasing his thought) that the idea of loving the sinner but hating the sin is something we are all pretty good at. I do it every time I look in the mirror.
Loving another as I love myself extends this same grace to others that I extend to myself all the time. A grace afforded through the misery of a cross by a Savior who is greater than my sin or my guilty conscience.
We are all in the same boat. We desperately need Jesus. We desperately need His mercy and grace. This, we can strive through the Spirit’s power to extend that grace and mercy to others.
Thank you, Rich.
Well said! I struggled writing this post and I think you have captured the essence of what I was trying to say better than I could! 🙂
Jude is not an easy book brother – as you know. You are doing a great job with these devotions.
Hate the sin not the sinner
Appreciate the post. Well said. There is a difference between soul and spirit though… isn’t our souls that are corrupted? Our spirits don’t sin, it is our soul. Original Hebrew and Greek make this distinction clear.
Hi Glenn,
Thanks for your comment. The distinction between spirit and soul is one that I am still learning about. You may well be right.