Jude The writer here divides the church into 2 groups; there are numerous ways to view/divide the church and this is one of them. Understand this is NOT a division of whole world - ONLY the church; And Jude divides it into Believers - True and False; The church is a microcosm of the world having both believers and unbelievers in it, only HERE BOTH groups claim to BE Christians. This begs the question for us as Church goers: Just because we GO to Church does NOT guarantee we ARE in fact SAVED; So what are the criteria by which we can/should assess ourselves? Jude lays it out for us! Apart from salvation issue, this could also be viewed as a way to view ALL believers in a church (ie, assume that Jude was NOT saying some were NOT in fact saved); OR more importantly, although some of these are obviously apostate and therefore unsaved, OTHERS described there could ALSO be DECIEVED BELIEVERS - SAVED but mislead - their behavior indistinguishable from that of the apostates - perhaps those described in vs 22 and even in vs 23b; REALIZE THIS - some of them built UP, others tore down the church - all based on their behavior with in the church; HOW did they tear down? Murmuring grumbling fault-finding (without any sense of a desire to correct or restore those "faults" they found); they put down others, bragged and only pointed to themselves, NEVER pointing others towards the Lord; they sneered and scoffed at ALL who disagreed with them, NEVER considering the feelings of others; they are oblivious to ALL but themselves - how they feel, what they want, what they need - and their ONLY activity IN the Church involves their single-minded selfish pursuit OF THEIR own desires/goals/needs/wants, etc, Unwilling and uninterested in the lives of the other church members, they seek only to impose their will, their agenda upon the Church to satisfy their own desires etc as noted above; if you were to ask them what the circumstances/condition of another in the church was (either spiritual or physical) they would be unable to answer and disinclined to care to know; Their activities even HURT others in the CHurch ("hidden reefs")! SO, we must be willing to think otherwise, to view our/my activites with in the church from the perspective of WHO ELSE can I help, how can I/We reach out to THEM ("them" being everyone ELSE in the church and then further out into the world) SO, even the church isn't a flawless safe haven away from the world, a plac to run and hide from the problems the world throws at us - as we are people , and in the world, we therefore tend to bring all that in with us ans even if WE don't , there ARE others who WILL and DO; SO we must be prepared to face the threats of the world even INSIDE the church... Jude is an opportunity for us to examine ourselves and ask - WHICH GROUP are WE IN? There is NO middle ground - we are EITHER building UP the body or by our very INaction, we are helping to tear it down, even if we don't activeloy pursue some destructive policy or behavior, our SHEER weight of inertia acts to drag OTHERS down; we FAIL to meet THEIR needs and so they go on, still hurting, still wounded, confused, struggling, doubting, drowing under the weight of their need while we stand there, leaning against the life preserver, wondering why "SOMEONE" doesn't throw them a line...if we even notice them at all... Some doctors, out of fear of lawsuits, have refused to stop and give medical care - they "did no harm", it's true; BUT by withholding that which they COULD have given, OTHERS suffered and died... Each Christian has a gift from the Holy Spirit; it's NOT optional, it's guaranteed! To withhold that which you CAN give is ALSO destructive to a church - selfishness can hurt a church; SO, what DO we DO? What CAN we do? There is only ONE thing EACH of us can ALWAYS do: EXERCISE OUR SPIRITUAL GIFT! Regardless of what else we think we can or can't do, no matter what the limitations we believe we labor under, EACH of us DOES have a God-given Spirit driven/Installed GIFT that is designed SPECIFICALLY for building up the Church - Note this: NO discussion in scripture ever indicated or even implied that the Spiritual gifts listed were for PRIVATE use, designed for the Beilievers PERSONAL benefit - they are, BY DESIGN, OUTWARD operating; The fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Gal 5:22 CAN be seen as a "personal" experience, an INNER event. although even THESE have an obvious external focus; SO, what NOW? IF you are saved, YOU have a Spiritual gift; NO EXCEPTIONS. The only questions are: 1st - Are you, in fact saved? 2nd - If so, what is (are) your gift(s)? 3rd - Don't know? FIND OUT. Jude described what he knew those Christians needed to be and to DO - to be Builders and NOT destroyers; Read what he CALLS out for them to do in vs17, 20, 21-23 1st: REMEMBER! What? The latest sermon, my latest SS lesson? NO! THE WORDS SPOKEN BEFOREHAND - GOD'S WORD! 2nd: BUILD yourSELVES (PLURAL) up! - "on your Faith", NOT faith as in their confidence/dependence upon the Lord, but rather THE Faith - God's revealed truth 3rd: PRAY in the Spirit 4th: Keep yourSELVES (PLURAL again) in the Love of God 5th: Wait anxiously for Jesus - Live in a vivid realtime hope centered in HIM The above are GROUP activities!! This is an encapsulated list of what a CHURCH is to do CORPORATELY!