I might be making this too simple but it seems like to me, when working with people, we have to approach them like traffic lights. There are some that are Green Lights. We know they love God and love others. They have confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior over their lives and it's clearly evident in their lives. Then you have the Red Lights. They clearly deny God and do not acknowledge Jesus nor care about about Him. These people don't want to have anything to do with God or His people. The last group is the Yellow light and they are the hardest to figure out. They are in the church or around Christians. They even seem to act like Christians, but there's a unsettling feeling whenever they are around. We know they live a compromise life. They end up dividing Christians because as it states in vs. 19, they do not have God's Spirit living in them. They end up enjoying the evils of this world without remorse. We are warned to be very careful and wise towards these people. We need to keep building a strong foundation of holy faith (vs.20), pray according to the Holy Spirit (vs.20), help other with weak faith (vs.22), and cautiously help this Yellow Light People (vs.25).
"The people" Jude is talking about are the false teachers (vs.8). When you read these things about them, Jude is giving us several short clips of what these false teachers are like. He is giving these pictures to tell all of us how dangerous they really are. Jude points out that if we allow one of them to join us for a meal, they will only talk about themselves or worldly things. A mead that was suppose to be dedicated to God suddenly is infected with self. Those individuals may seem very impressive but we later find out how empty and broke they are. Jude concludes they are not just dead but doubly dead. They will not changes unless a miracle happens. They will need to realize who they really are and see clearly their need for God. No one else can do anything for them except them and God. the good news is God can bring back someone back from the dead - physical or spiritual. Nothing is impossible for God. For us we need to keep our eyes on God and He will lead us to correctly.
Jude is calling all Christians then and now to defend the truth of the Good news. What is truth? This may seem subjective but there is only God's Truth and that is only found in God. God is our maker and He is righteous and just. This same God is the only author of the entire bible since He is the one that inspired individuals to write exactly His words. This is important because some people will tell us there are many different interpretations in the Holy scriptures, but that is not correct. When we read God's words, we must interpret them correctly in the right context, but our application may be different for different circumstances. For instance, when Jude says to "defend the truth of the Good news", we understand that is the good news of the salvation God has given to all of us through Jesus Christ. We can apply it different ways, for instance, by our occupation. If we are an engineer, we can defend this good news by doing exceptional work as if they are doing for Jesus. They will in turn be a great example of a person saved by the grace of Jesus. They are showing by their excellent work and high integrity that there is no compromising when doing it for our Master and Lord, Jesus. They are also ready to give an answer to anyone curious why they do such work. They will quickly say that Jesus has impacted their lives to do a high quality job, but not as a complaining servant but one that rejoices that Jesus has saved them. These people might go beyond this engineer to be led to go to a church and ask deeper questions to a pastor. A pastor will take this and apply a deeper study of apologetic to defend the gospel. They will think of all the arguments against Christianity, in this case salvation, and study to refute everyone of them. They are now equipped to lovingly answer these tough questions. A skeptic, now having solid answers but not enough to give their lives to Jesus, might be looking to real life examples outside of a pastor, such as a Christian engineer to see the good news in action. Isn't that awesome? That's the body of Christ in action. The old testament is just as relevant as the new testament. I like that fact Jude mentioned several examples in this letter that is in the old testament to show the God in the old testament is also the God of the new testament. We need to read the old testament and understand just how holy God is and what he desire us to be. Then as we read the new testament, we value the sacrifice God made for us and the significance of it. We need to start to think of God correctly and that can mean changing some of the things we thought about Him and what we think we can do. We should study the bible to truly understand His wonderful plan for our lives. God is Love, but He is also holy and just. Let's not bend God to what we believe and want, but see the truth found in the bible and follow God the correct way. We have to remember God is the same yesterday, today,and even tomorrow.