Grace Classics: Escape to Reality Greatest Hits, Volume 2 Read Online Free PDF

warning to the saints. But Jude’s message is “woe to them ”
(v.11), not “woe to you.” Jude’s medicine of rebuke is specifically for the godless
Christ-denier who remains under condemnation, not the saint who is justified by
Jesus.
    The
punch-line of Jude’s letter is one of the clearest assurances a Christian can
have that they are righteous, sanctified and kept safe by Jesus:
     
    To him
who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious
presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory,
majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages,
now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24–25)
     
    A word after
     
    “Paul, are you saying we should
give the law to sinners? I thought we were supposed to tell them the good
news!” I totally agree. We are to proclaim the good news of God’s love and
grace to the nations. But not everyone will receive it. Those who are smug in
their self-righteousness or hardened by sin may not be receptive to the good news
of God’s grace. In such cases, the law may serve a purpose, as Paul explains in
1 Timothy 1:8–11. The law is good for breaking the hard heart of the proud so
that it may become receptive to grace.
    We are
not in the business of dividing people into camps, yet Peter seems to do
exactly this in the second chapter of his letter. So do the other apostles when
they distinguish us (e.g., dear friends, saints, beloved) from them (the unrighteous, slaves of depravity, etc.). Surely God loves the whole world
and Jesus died for everyone, but not everyone loves Jesus, hence these
distinctions. People divide themselves by their response to grace. Peter is
just telling it like it is.
    But what
does it mean to “leave the straight way and wander off” as these false prophets
did (2 Peter 2:15). In what sense did they “know about the way of righteousness?”
Is Peter saying they were once saved but fell from their secure position? Not
at all. He is simply saying that they had heard about Jesus (v.20) but rejected
him. They remained unrepentant and unchanged by grace.
    Note the
strong language that Peter uses to describe these false prophets. He says they are
still living in the dog-eat-dog world of ungrace (v.22). They are “brute
beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed” (v.12).
Peter is not describing saints but unrighteous men (v.9) who deny Jesus (v.1),
follow Balaam (v.15), remain slaves to depravity (v.19) and who never stop
sinning (v.14). I don’t believe Peter hates these guys, but he surely hates
their antichrist message and damaging influence.
    Peter’s
words for them should not scare you. You don’t follow Balaam and you have not
denied Jesus. Indeed, you are his living, shining testimony of grace.
     

6. Does God Give and Take Away?
     
    The entire Bible is good for you,
but you won’t get much out of it unless you know Jesus Christ. To understand
the written word, you need to know the Living Word. Try to read the Bible
without an appreciation of Jesus—who he is and what he has done—and you may end
up taking someone else’s medicine. Some verses will appear to contradict others
and you will get confused.
    Today I
want to look at a man who believed that God gives us good gifts only to take
them away again. You can probably guess that I’m talking about Job. Job had
this one really bad week when his livestock were stolen, his servants were
slain, and his kids were killed when a house fell on them. For some reason, Job
thought God was behind his loss for he said:
     
    The Lord
gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. (Job
1:21)
     
    If there was ever a scripture that
has led to some screwy notions about God’s character, it’s this one. Anyone who
has suffered loss has probably heard this verse. It’s often quoted at funerals.
We even sing songs about it. For some strange reason people seem to find
comfort in