“To The Convinced” (Jude 23a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/28/2025 9:08 PM

My Worship Time                                                                               Focus:  “To The Convinced”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                               Reference: Jude 23a

            Message of the verse: “save others, snatching them out of the fire”

            You may remember that in an earlier SD I told the story of our former Pastor who used this partial verse to witness to an older gentleman, and that older man, if I remember correctly became a believer, and in today’s evening SD we will look at some more and different commentary on this partial verse as I will use what John MacArthur has to say about it.

            John MacArthur talked about having mercy on these people who were not really telling the truth, and the word apostate was used to help describe them as it has throughout most of this entire letter that Jude wrote.  

            MacArthur writes “In this aspect of outreach, the challenge for believers increases.  It is no longer merely a matter of showing mercy; it becomes the difficult task of rescuing those who are already convinced of false teaching.  But in humility and faith we who would be faithful must be willing to be used by God to save others.”  Now this is what I was trying to do with this lawyer but he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with it, he did not want to be snatched out of the fires.  There are some people that make this clear when you talk to them and then the best thing to do is to pray that the Lord will open up their hearts, as there are those who have very hard hearts.  MacArthur goes on, “God remains the ultimate source of salvation (Ps. 3:8; Jonah 2:9; John 1:12-13; 3:6-8; Eph. 2:8), but we are the secondary means He uses to reach sinners (cf. Acts 2:37-41; 4:1-4; 8:26-38; 13:46-48; 16:13-14),  James wrote, ‘My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins’ (James 5:19-20).

            “Snatching translates Harpazo, and presents the strong image of seizing something, or taking something or somebody by force.  Jude undoubtedly borrowed this imagery from the prophets, specifically Amos’s statement about Israel, ‘You were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze’ (Amos 4:11; cf. Zech 3:2).  Even as he penned his letter, Jude apparently knew of some who had already been drawn into the damning doctrines of the apostates.  He pictured them as having been singed by the very fire of hell, a foreshadowing of the eternal inferno that would one day engulf them if they continued to embrace false teaching (cf. Isa. 33:14; Matt. 13:42).

            “The one way to rescue such people is to crush their false ideologies before it is too late.  And this can be done only by the power of God’s truth (2 Cor. 10:3-5).  Jesus modeled this principle during His earthly ministry.  To those who were confused, unsure, and filled with doubts, He patiently and gently presented the gospel (John 4:10-26; 6: 26-59).  But to those committed to false teaching, such as the scribes and Pharisees and their devotees, He bluntly warned of the gravity of their lost condition (Matt. 12:1-37; 15:1-14; Luke 11:37-54; John 8:12-59.)” 

            I realize that Jesus who is God incarnate knew who was going to be saved and who was not and there was another time in His ministry when some Pharisees accused Him of doing miracles in the power of Satan, and after that He said “31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:31-32).  I am sure that many will recognize this as being the unpardonable sin, and it is my belief that this sin could only happen during this time of Jesus’ ministry while He was on earth.  Now I believe that the sin that will cause people to end up in hell is the sin of not accepting Jesus Christ into their lives after they confess that they are sinners and so they will be saved.  If people don’t do that then there is no second chance.

 

            These are difficult things to write about, but if someone reads this and then believes in the Lord Jesus Christ to save them then it will be worth it, even though it is difficult to write.

 

8/28/2025 9:42 PM