make such judgments. In this sense Christian conduct is not characterized by the attempt to achieve justice, but rather by the ethos of having mercy and refraining from final condemnation. Thus Christians are advised to live under the new rule of the gospel and leave the final judgment to God. Jude’s criticism of his opponents is counteracted by his simultaneous need to show mercy on them. Thus a complex balance of the old and the new rule of our Lord emerges. In Jude 3 Jude explains