¹⁷But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.”

Here we see the great contrast that separates believers from all others: “But you, beloved. . . .” We are consoled and encouraged to know that Jude’s extreme denunciation does not apply to true believers. Similarly, the writer of Hebrews—after a passage that many wrongly interpret as fallen-away believers losing their salvation—issues the following clarification:

But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. (Heb. 6:9)

In the same way, Jude knows the church contains a mixed audience. Doubts often plague genuine Christians who read such dark judgments against false believers. But he reminds them that they are genuinely “beloved” and should not be surprised by those who are not true believers.

But how does a reader of this letter know for sure whether he or she is one of the “beloved” and not an imposter? The appeal is to the inner witness of the Spirit. Ironically, imposters, whom we have been calling pseudo-believers, will mock the apostles’ warnings about mockers coming. Blinded by their ungodly lusts, they cannot see nor accept the apostolic warnings because they do not respect spiritual authority. They merely want the freedom to sin freely without any accountability and to cloak it with a false notion of grace.

True believers are not mockers, and Jude’s teaching resonates within our spirits. We respect the apostolic teaching, which was characteristic of the founding of the church in Jerusalem following Pentecost: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). As believers, we need to remind ourselves frequently and take seriously the many warnings the apostles taught. In our day, the quest for unity among all Christians of all persuasions can easily be reduced to a common, generic doctrinal statement that would fit with most denominations. Many churches de-emphasize doctrine as divisive or, at best, secondary to reaching people with a comfortable message—”things go better when you love Jesus”—without any need to understand sin, repentance, confession, judgment against sin, grace, mercy, redemption, or regeneration.

God has something better for believers: to know the truth of God, guard the truth, and teach the truth—because the truth matters.

Lord, help me not only to know the truth of grace but to live Your grace in truth.