Jude 1:20-23

Context
1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit,¹ 1:21 maintain² yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating³ the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life.⁴ 1:22 And have mercy on those who waver; 1:23 save⁵ others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy⁶ on others, coupled with a fear of God,⁷ hating even the clothes stained⁸ by the flesh.⁹

[1:20] ¹tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21] ²tn Or “keep.”

[1:21] ³tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21] ⁴tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[1:23] ⁵tn Grk “and save.”

[1:23] ⁶tn Grk “and have mercy.”

[1:23] ⁷tn Grk “with fear.” But as this contrasts with ἀφόβως (afobw") in v. 12 (without reverence), the posture of the false teachers, it most likely refers to reverence for God.

[1:23] ⁸sn The imagery here suggests that the things close to the sinners are contaminated by them, presumably during the process of sinning.

[1:23] ⁹tn Grk “hating even the tunic spotted by the flesh.” The “flesh” in this instance could refer to the body or to the sin nature. It makes little difference in one sense: Jude is thinking primarily of sexual sins, which are borne of the sin nature and manifest themselves in inappropriate deeds done with the body. At the same time, he is not saying that the body is intrinsically bad, a view held by the opponents of Christianity. Hence, it is best to see “flesh” as referring to the sin nature here and the language as metaphorical.