The Book of Jude

I just finished reading the book of Jude. This book for remarkable for its conciseness; in one chapter it teaches us almost everything we need to know about false teachers. Jude begins by greeting "those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ." He then speaks of people who have "crept in unnoticed." He gives three examples of groups of sinners being punished: the unbelieving Israelites who fled Egypt with Moses, the fallen angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah. In all three cases, God destroyed or eternally bound them. Next, Jude denounces false teachers as being blasphemers of the same degree as the three previously mentioned groups of sinners. He then compares the false teachers to three infamous sinners. Jude writes, "Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion." However, the greatest part of Jude is not for another eight verses, when Jude writes, "And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh." This is our commission from Jude. As Christians, our job is showing mercy and spreading the good news to the lost and blasphemous world.