KEEP YOUR "HOPE OF SALVATION" BRIGHT!

"Put Up A Hard Fight for the Faith"

The disciple Jude wanted to write to early Christians about "the salvation [they held] in common." However, the prevailing bad moral climate obliged him to counsel his brothers to "put up a hard fight for the faith." Yes, to gain salvation it is not enough to have faith, to stick to the true Christian faith, and to obey when everything is going along smoothly. Our devotion to Jehovah must be strong enough to help us resist temptations and immoral influences. Yet, sexual excesses and perversions, disrespect for authority, divisions, and doubts were taking a toll on the spirit of the first-century congregation. To help them combat such tendencies, Jude urged fellow Christians to keep clearly in mind their objective: "Beloved ones, by building up yourselves on your most holy faith, and praying with holy spirit, keep yourselves in God's love, while you are waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ with everlasting life in view." (Jude 3, 4, 8, 19-21) The hope of gaining salvation could strengthen them in their fight to remain morally clean.

Jehovah God expects exemplary moral conduct on the part of those to whom he will grant salvation. (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10) Holding to God's moral standards, however, does not mean becoming judgmental of others. We are not the ones to decide the eternal destiny of our fellow humans. Rather, God will do so, as Paul told the Greeks in Athens: "He has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man who he has appointed" - Jesus Christ. (Acts 17:31; John 5:22) If we are living by faith in Jesus' ransom we have no need to fear a coming day of judgment. (Hebrews 10:38, 39) The important thing is that we must never "accept the undeserved kindness of God [our reconcilliation to him through the ransom] and miss its purpose" by allowing ourselves to be tempted into wrong thinking and conduct. ( 2 Corinthians 6:1) Additionally, by helping others to gain salvation, we show that we have not missed the purpose of God's mercy. How can we help them?

Next time: Sharing the Hope of Salvation

Watchtower, 2000