Jude 22-23 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
As believers, we need to develop wisdom in how to deal with people. Those who are in leadership, such as pastors, especially need to ask God for grace in dealing with people who are struggling in their faith. There are many reasons why people struggle in their faith, including more innocent ones of going through difficult trials, and more serious ones of running away from God. We must realize that there is always hope. God’s grace is bigger than our sins, any sins we have committed. There is nothing beyond the love and restoration of God. Jude urges his readers to “have mercy on those who doubt.” The best way to have this type of mercy is that we ourselves have experienced God’s mercy in Christ and our hearts are filled with the love of God. By our example of humility and submission in faith, we can encourage those who doubt not to give up but to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we will need to be aggressive in our intervention in the lives of others by “snatching them out of the fire.” Such people are in a dangerous place and we need to do something to get them out of it. Other people may be in a situation where we need to be more careful. Jude writes to “show mercy with fear.” We must be careful that we do not fall into sin ourselves and that we are able to gracefully help those who are struggling. The last phrase emphasizes this warning, that we must be careful not to let the flesh or anything that is earthbound bring a temptation to us. For example, if certain activities will bring a temptation to us, then we should not rescue someone from this but seek the help of another person who may not struggle with that. Don’t go into a bar to pull your friend out if you have struggled with alcoholism. Ask another believer to help you with this so that you do not fall into the temptations of the flesh. Basically, verses 22-23 tell us to help those who are struggling, but do this is a way that does not cause us to fall either.
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