I had wanted to write about our shared salvation in Christ, but instead I need to warn you about something.

There are people in your life right now who don’t care about your salvation. They don’t care whether you’re saved or lost for eternity. These people may include your friends, teachers, pastors, and family members.

Being in Jesus’ family isn’t about blood; it’s about blood.

These people may say they care about you, but the only thing they really care about is how much fun they can have with you. If you fit into their plans—and their fun—then fine. But when they’re done with you, they will use you up and spit you out, because they couldn’t care less about you.

The thoughts I just shared are not my own. They belong to a man named Jude. You may have heard of his Brother: Jesus of Nazareth. In Mark 6:3 we learn that Jesus had four brothers—James, Joseph, Jude, and Simon—and at least two sisters.

Yet in his letter, Jude doesn’t identify himself as a brother of Jesus, but rather as “a brother of James” and “a slave of Jesus” (Jude 1, NLT).* Why would this be? Perhaps because Jude had come to understand more deeply what it meant to be a brother or sister of Christ—to be the family of Christ. Jude had once heard Jesus say that He loved His followers just as much as His own family (see Matt. 12:46-50). At some point Jude must have realized: being in Jesus’ family isn’t about blood; it’s about blood.

That’s why Jude is filled with such concern about Jesus’ wider family—including you and me. In his short but powerful letter, Jude reminds us:

1. People can be lost. Once you’re in the family of God, it’s very difficult to be lost—but it’s possible. There were, writes Jude, Israelites who walked through the Red Sea . . . who were lost. There were angels in heaven . . . who were lost. And there are believers today . . . who are wavering.
2. People can help other people to be lost. It should terrify us to think that people in our lives may be leading us down dark paths. (There’s an expression: Take your five closest friends, divide them by five—and that’s who you are. Think hard about who surrounds you.) It should terrify us further to think that we could be leading others down dark paths, our once-bright faith choked out by the worries and pleasures of this life.
3. People can help other people to be saved. “Be merciful,” wrote Jude, “to those who doubt, save others by snatching them from the fire” (verses 22, 23). Think of it: We have the capacity to help save others for eternal life. As believers, we’re called not only to love others; we’re called to speak truth into their lives. It’s not unloving to speak truth to someone; it’s unloving not to. We are in a real war at the close of time—as close as the book of Jude is to the book of Revelation.

*Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Andy Nash ([email protected]) is a professor and pastor who leads Adventist study tours to Israel and the seven churches of Revelation.