“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith…” Jude 20
Up until verse twenty in the book of Jude, we have been walking through the darkness. We have witnessed the beliefs and behaviors of apostates. But in verse twenty, we turn the spiritual corner and the Lord says, “But ye.” He speaks to His children.
When we read the expression, “But ye,” we realize that God is trying to get our attention! He turns from these apostates and speaks to genuine Christians.
We are called upon to live right in a wrong world. There is a difference between the way a Christian lives and the way an unbeliever lives. Unbelievers think differently than believers think. The world should be able to look at someone who is a Christian and know from the way that person lives and speaks that he is a Christian.
THE CALL TO LIVE RIGHT
In a wrong world, God’s children must live right. Notice Isaiah 5:20-21. God said that His people were living in darkness and calling it light. Christ instructed His disciples in Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?” The chemical makeup of salt cannot be destroyed, but salt becomes ineffective when it is contaminated with other things. If we are contaminated with the world, we have no power or influence for Christ. Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. We must love the lost, and we should win the lost; but this cannot be done by living like the lost. God says we should be separated. This is two-fold — separated to the Lord and from the world.
THE COST OF LIVING RIGHT
It costs something to live right. It costs the loss of personal freedom. If we belong to the Lord, we are to yield our personal freedom and say, “Lord, I am not seeking my own will; I want Thy will to be done.” Living right will also cost us our social standing. When we identify strongly with the Lord on the job or in public places, the world does not respond kindly. Do you know why? It is because we are living in a world that calls darkness light and light darkness.
THE COURSE FOR LIVING RIGHT
The Lord tells us how to live right. He has a course for us to follow. Put these things from Jude 20-21 to work in your life.
• Build Yourself Up – Acts 20:32 says that “the word of his grace” is able to build us up. In order to live right in a wrong world, we must build ourselves up with God’s Word.
• Pray in the Holy Ghost – When we are walking with the Lord, walking in the Holy Spirit, praying in the Spirit in the name of the Lord, we are doing what God has called us to do. Read John 14:13.
• Keep Yourself in the Love of God – This does not mean to try to get God to love you. God already loves you. This means to obey the Lord and stay in the place of blessing. Keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus.
• Look for the Lord’s Return – Jude 21 also says, “Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” If we truly believe that Christ could come today, we will choose to live right in a wrong world.
–Clarence Sexton
SHARING
