Jude 1.5-7 – The Long Haul

Today we see that past status is no guarantee of anything for the future.

⁵ Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— ⁷ just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

What a wonderful thing to start this passage with, Jesus saved a people out of the land of Egypt…We see that when God’s people were saved out of Egyptian slavery and bondage, the Lord Jesus was at the heart of the Exodus (Exodus 3.14, 13.21-22).

But, as is sadly common with lots of people, the miraculous, heroic, life-saving acts of God that bring many to the inescapable conclusion that He is real, He is present, and He loves us faded into memories past and we read that these same people were then destroyed because of unbelief. Jude gives more examples of unbelief and turning away from a God who has given us so much (vv.6-7), and names angels, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities.

The point is that coming to Jesus for salvation is not a short term thing.

It is not a bandaid to put over a deep wound. 

Ours is a common salvation that brings us into community, that we must wrestle for, fight for, and contend for, for the long haul.

Ours is not a one-and-done salvation, where we simply sit around and wait to either die or see Jesus’ triumphant return. The work needed to guarantee our salvation is done, but our lives here on earth are not. 

Ours is a faith that acts (James 2.14-26), ours is a faith that contends, and ours is a faith that equips us for the long haul. 

The dangers of forgetting who we are and in Whom we are are serious (v.7b), so we must day by day take our faith seriously and seek to contend for it, and strengthen it, at every opportunity. 

Point to ponder – Am I prepared for the long haul of a life lived by faith?

Prayer – Father, we thank you that everything we need is found in Jesus, we know your Word tells us that in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and we pray today by the power of your indwelling Holy Spirit that we can access this wisdom and knowledge in order to equip ourselves for a life lived by faith. Help us to avoid the pitfalls and traps of forgetting who we are in you. Amen.