And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. — Jude 1:23
I don't know about you, but I believe the word "hate" is a very strong word that should only rarely be used. When our children were young, Dick and I told our children not to use this word. Even if we strongly disliked something or someone, we never allowed ourselves or our children to use the word "hate" to describe our feeling. It was simply too harsh of an expression to describe how we felt about something or someone. Besides, we talked about maybe the action or words of someone are wrong; yet the person is good.
But there is a proper time and place for hate! Jude 1:23 gives us an example of one of those times. It says, "Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh."
Hatred can turn to violence. So when Jude tells us to "hate" the garments spotted by the flesh, he isn't talking about a mere dislike of something; he is talking about a radical, violent aversion to something. He did not say hate the person.
In Revelation 2:6 and 2:15, Jesus declares that He "hates" the deeds of the Nicolaitans. In Jesus' opinion, their deeds and teachings were repugnant, disgusting, revolting, repulsive, and nauseating. The Lord Jesus possessed a deep-seated aversion to their activities and found their deeds abhorrent.
"Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." As I understand it, flesh is meaning our sinful nature. There is no doubt about it. Jude is letting us know that we should have a strong aversion to sin — so strong that it allows absolutely no tolerance for sin in our lives or in the lives of other believers.
When we are in relationship with people we love dearly, it is our responsibility to approach them in love even when there is sin keeping them, and possibility us, away from the Lord Himself. Hate the sin and love the sinner. Thank God for that statement. For where would I be if God hated me because of my sin? We too are to cover each other in love and love others back to the cross.
Our aversion to sin should be so fierce that Jude says we are to hate "...even the garment spotted by the flesh."
Remember, we can look good and smell good yet underneath it all there could be sin lurking. So we can wear a mask of righteousness and that is not reality. A new, clean robe (or happy face) may hide the truth that a person's undergarment is filthy — but this disguise doesn't alter the fact that he has a deeper problem to deal with!
Sin isn't just a superficial, outward problem. If we allow wrong attitudes and behavior to continue in our lives, this moral decay will eventually permeate deeper than the surface and penetrate even to the deepest, most hidden parts of our souls keeping us from the lover of our soul, Jesus.
The defilement may begin as an outward problem, the same way loose dirt can soil a man's outer garment. But if this filth is never dealt with, it will begin to work its way through every area of a person's life until he is completely defiled.
Don't let neglect be allowed. That filth can contaminate our entire life. Therefore, don't just deal with superficial issues either, by hiding them, allow the Holy Spirit in so the deeper part of our lives can be infiltrated with the mercy, grace and love of the Father.
It is imperative we understand the consequences of sin and learn to hate even the smallest hint of its presence in our lives. If we don't deal with sin while it's still a small, superficial problem, it will become a much deeper problem — and much more difficult to deal with!
So before we do anything else today, ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to those areas of our lives needing attention and correction. He will lovingly point them out and either show us how to change or miraculously allow change to happen within us today!
Holy Spirit Love us all back to the Cross! nailing our ugly sin, (hatred, jelously,violent nature...) Setting us free in your love and grace!
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