Err on the Side of Mercy

I am ready with Sunday's message, from Jude 20-23, entitled, "How to Guard Against the Wolf".  One of the lessons I learned in the preparation of it, is that Christians should always err on the side of mercy.

Jude harshly addresses churches about the dangers of the many false teachers and their teachings.  These 'wolves in sheep's clothing' are great at subliminally infiltration the thinking of Christians' to the point of causing many to even question the great doctrines of faith.  They teach a convincing message of self-improvement in the wholeness of self: body, mind, and spirit; that it is hard to distinguish what is truth and what is not.

Jude cautions churches to beware of these false teachers lest they be led astray.  There is only one absolute truth and it is in God through Jesus Christ.  He also states that these wolves will receive their due when Jesus comes again to judge the world of its sin.

How should the church deal with these false teachers?  The Bible says "to judge not lest you be judged".  Jude alludes to this when he states to "be merciful to those who doubt."

Christians have no right to judge these false teachers and the people they cause to doubt.  We can discern for ourselves if their teachings are false or not - but we cannot say to them or of them, you are condemned to hell.  Their is only one who is entrusted by God to sit in that judgment seat, and it is Jesus Christ.

Jude actually encourages churches, instead of judging, to guard themselves against such false teachings in three different ways.  I will be talking about these ways in my message on Sunday.  They are: 1. Build yourselves up (verse 20). 2. Remain in God's love (verse 21), and err on the side of mercy (verse 22-23).  Mercy is the unstoppable power of almighty God and will fulfill God's greater desire in the long run, that none should "perish".  There is nothing that will stop the great Commission cold than a group of judgmental Christians.

One other interesting note: Jude is speaking to churches as units.  His letter is addressed to local bodies of believers whom individually and collectively are united as one.  So when he talks about 'building yourselves up', he doesn't mean the individual person; he means as a body of believers.  In other words, stand firm on the sacred doctrines of the church.  Use God's word and the leading of the Holy Spirit to be your guide to all understanding.  If what is being taught does not agree with scriptures, and doctrines and the leading of the Holy Spirit - then reject it as false teaching.

Praise God for the Book of Jude.  I like his firm approach in addressing the churches on a very prominent problem that faces Christian Churches worldwide even today.  Hope you can make it to worship on Sunday.  Blessings.

-Leo

What is in a Word?

I simply love to explore the meaning of a word, especially when it relates to issues of faith.  There is a word I want to share with you today.  It is the word Gnosticism.  Perhaps you have heard of it before.  It refers to an early Christian movement that started in late 1st century to early 2nd century A.D.

Gnostics were seekers of truth, and they believed that only a select few every discovered it.  They held to the fact that salvation came by learning spiritual truths that frees humanity from the material world, which they believed to be inherently evil.  They also believed in the spiritual and the material (dualism), and that knowledge leads to spirituality; but anything fleshly or material leads to evil.

Salvation for gnosticism is in knowledge and truth.  Instead of the Triune God, they believed in the demiurge, which is an intermediary figure or the supreme being of the universe.

Gnosticism slowly died out during the middle ages, but a few movements still exist today under the name Mandaenism, which is a monotheistic (one god as supreme being) religion with a strongly dualistic worldview (Spiritual versus material).

Now why do I mention this to you today?  Well, as we study the Book of Jude we realize that Jude was addressing churches about bewaring of false teachers.  One Commentator that I read suggested that Jude was addressing elements of gnosticism, even though his letter predates the actual rise of the movement.

I think it is a good point to mention in terms of false teachings even today.  The very thought that knowledge can somehow make you more spiritual is a false sense of spirituality.  There is nothing spiritual about ourselves, especially in our minds.  Our spirituality has been permanently defected by sinful nature; and the mind is the only access that evil can have into your life.  There is only one way to become spiritual, and that is through a change of your heart.  When the heart becomes changed, the mind is brought into submission to that change.

I know this seems a bit heady, but I think it is important to mention because our minds can trick us into thinking that intelligence makes one more spiritual.  The apostle Paul warned against this when he rightly stated that "knowledge puffs up."  He also said, "The foolishness of God is far greater than all of the knowledge of mankind."

A great deal of the false teachings today teaches a subliminal influence from gnostic tenets.  You are taught to self-control your mind; depend upon no one; learn for yourself; and your personal truth through knowledge will set you free - as if self-knowledge itself can release you from everything that is bad or evil.

Christians: be careful what you read and what you watch, and who you listen to.  There is only one way to salvation unto God, and that is through Jesus Christ.  He is the way the (only) truth and the life.  There is no other way to God.  Do not trust in your own power of knowledge.  Instead, trust in God's Holy Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life - and you will experience freedom indeed.

Blessings,

-Leo