Monday after the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 10, 2022 by under
Scripture: Jude 20-25 (NKJV)
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Devotion
“And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.”
What are we to do while we await that day when Christ returns and, in mercy, receives us to Himself in heaven? Like Enoch, we continue to warn the impenitent and unbelieving of God’s coming judgment upon all who continue in rebellion against Him. We warn those who use the grace of God as a license to indulge in their sinful longings and desires. But we also show mercy. We have compassion on those misled and overcome by sin. We warn them of the consequences and offer them the comfort of God’s pardon and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Patiently and compassionately, we reach out to the lost and erring, that they too might come to repentance and be saved through faith in Christ Jesus and His cross.
Some we “save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” We use the utmost care so that we too are not drawn into sin and error through the weakness of our own flesh. We recognize the danger and consequences of sin. But, through the right application of God’s Word, we pull them from the impending fires of hell. We hate their sinful deeds, and show them the right way–a life lived by faith in the Son of God.
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee, grant Thy people grace, to withstand the temptations of the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow Thee, the only God; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
