Without Apology

At Merriam-Webster definition #2.a. for "apology" reads, "something that is said or written to defend something that other people criticize," the idea behind the use of the word, "Apologetics." One of the clearest texts for the concept of Apologetics -- the defense of the faith -- is found in Jude.

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:3-4)

Here we read Jude's appeal that we "contend earnestly" for something. What? "The faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." Not something new. Something, for us, quite old, in fact. We're not defending new ideas and new notions; we're contending for something handed down "once for all" -- the faith.

Jude explains where the threat comes from. It comes from false teachers among us ("crept in unnoticed"). What marks them? They "turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Now, that word, "licentiousness," doesn't really work in today's vernacular, so newer translations use words like "sensuality" or "unbridled lust." The idea is that they make God's grace into justification for "my personal pleasure" which, obviously, requires that they deny Jesus as Master and Lord. They make grace "all about me" -- my plaything. They use God's grace as license. "God doesn't mind at all if I sin; He's okay with it." They don't merely ignore God's view; they use God to indulge in and defend their own sinful passions. "Only God can judge me." They minimize the Son and maximize their own personal pleasures.

Jude goes on to point to Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of this kind of thinking and God's opinion of it. They "indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh" and suffered "the punishment of eternal fire" for it (Jude 1:7). "Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties." (Jude 1:8) A clear marker of these false teachers is their rejection of existing authority (such as God's Word) and their abuse of authority. Remember, it's "the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints," not their new version, whatever it might be. They cause divisions, "worldly people, devoid of the Spirit." (Jude 1:19)

The "problem" is clear. What, then, are we to do?

But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 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. (Jude 1:20-23)

It isn't "nothing." Nor is it "go to war." It is immersing yourself in the faith and praying. It is keeping yourself in the love of God and trusting in Christ. It is showing mercy to some, snatching some from the fire, and avoiding their sin. It is, ultimately, a reliance on "Him who is able to keep you from stumbling" (Jude 1:24).

Jude has been very clear about who it is that has "crept in." They are disguised as one of us. They use God's grace as license. They deny Christ as Master and, ultimately, as God and instead revile authority and pursue self-interests. If you see them, be aware of them. Jude, under the inspiration of God, told us what to do. Oh, and Peter asks us to do it "with gentleness and respect." (1 Peter 3:15) You have your marching orders. Go and apologize without apology.