Jude 1-4
1. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.4. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Aubrey Johnson, in his book, “Spiritual Patriots,” Jude’s Call To Arms, writes the following:
“The book of Jude is God’s field manual for spiritual engagement and His call to arms. It reminds us that our adversary is real and determined. It tells us how to respond to the world’s hostility and aggression. There is no room for pacifism or appeasement when eternity is at stake! It is a life and death struggle for the souls of men and women. Christians must not lose their will to fight the good fight! May God bless you with courage of steel and a heart of peace as you prepare for the battle ahead.”
Chuck Swindoll writes:
“The theme of this letter is found in the admonition to ‘contend earnestly for
the faith.’ The Greek word for ‘contend’ is epagonizesthai. It means to ‘fight’ or ‘to struggle intensely We get our English word ‘agonize’ from it.”
The Author: Jude, the brother of James and half-brother of the Lord Jesus. He and his brothers did not believe in and accept Jesus as the Messiah until after His resurrection.
In Verse 1 He refers to himself as:
ESV: “A Servant of Jesus Christ.” The notes in the ESV Study Bible: “Although he is the brother (half) of Jesus, Jude identifies himself as His servant (Gk. Doulos), acknowledging Jesus as Lord.” James uses the same word ing in his epistle.
NKJV: “ bond-servant.
The Salutation (Jude 1:1-2)
“Mercy” is God’s kindness and compassion toward His people. ‘Peace” is the
well-being that results from this relationship. ‘Love” is (Gk ) agape, a godly love
which has the best interests of other persons in mind whether or not they love in return. The word may refer to God’s love for man and to man’s love for God and other people. (HCSB Notes)
The Situation of the Exhortation by Jude– The Alarm
- The Message For Which We Must Contend – The Faith Once For All Delivered(Jude 1:3).
- The Manner In Which We Must Contend – Earnestly (Jude 1:3).
- The Men Against Whom We Must Contend – Certain Men Crept In Unawares (Jude 1:4).
- Verse 3: The Servant’s Intention – Write About The Common Salvation.
Aubrey Johnson writes the following:
“Jude’s desire was to write about the wonderful salvation Christians have in
Jesus. Circumstances demanded that he alter is well-intentioned plan and exhort his readers to defend the gospel rather than merely appreciate it.”
John MacArthur writes,
“This verse implies that Jude had intended to write a letter on salvation as the
common blessing enjoyed by all believers, …But he was compelled, instead, to write a call to battle for the truth in light of the arrival of these apostate teachers.”
Contending for the faith. There were men with hidden agendas who were
creeping into the church, slyly pushing for their own unique, weird twists on the Scriptures. This is till happening today. There are those who want to lead people off on their own tangents, stealing sheep from the church and establishing their own following.
What does it mean “the faith once delivered to all the saints?”
The notes in the ESV Study Bible tell us this:
“The ‘faith’ (i.e., the known and received body of truth about Jesus and
salvation through Him) had been once for all delivered to the saints (i.e.
Christians). In other words, by the time that Jude wrote his letter ‘the faith” had already been fixed and established in apostolic teaching of the early church, and therefore could not be changed, but was under attack and in need of defense.”
Chuck Swindoll writes:
“The faith’ Jude admonishes us to contend for is the body of truth contained in
the Scriptures…The core of the Christian faith is a solid nucleus of truth. …It can’t be modeled around each new generation’s lifestyles.”
Aubrey Johnson writes:
“The ‘faith’ Jude mentions doers not refer to an individual’s subjective belief
in Jesus or the gospel. This is made clear by Jude’s reference to its being
‘delivered.’ Instead, it is an objective body of teaching of which Jesus is both source and subject.”
The letters of John and Revelation were written after this. The gist of the
passage is that once the written NT is completed that there is no more need for any more things written, no new revelation such as The Book of Mormon, teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the like. Also if anyone tells you that God had revealed to him or her some new truth that is false also. Inspiration and illumination are 2 different things. Illustration: we may have read through passages many times and never saw a certain application, but while going through a trial or the like, God, through His Holy Spirit illuminates it for us. It is not a new truth or revelation, it was always there.
The Importance of God’s Word
Here are some passages to study about the importance of God’s Word.
II Timothy 3:14-17 – Timothy had been taught the Old Testament by his
grandmother and mother. He is told “to continue in it…” (v. 14)
Verse 15 He learned from the OT about Jesus. Jesus and the apostles preached
from the OT, the Sep tuagint translation. It was translated in Alexandria, Egypt out of the Hebrew into the Greek 3 centuries before Christ.
“ALL” Scripture is inspired by God — It is Profitable for:
- Teaching For Correction
- For Reproof For Training in Righteousness.
- Why? (2 Tim. 2:15) “that the man/woman of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Tim 2:15 This passage tells us how to approach the Word of God— It compares Christians to “workers.” All of us would want to make sure we had the best person to do work on our home; we would want them trained properly; we would want them to be proud of their work ethic. It is same way with the Christian.
Turn to Acts 20:28-30 (NLT) “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders. 29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some
men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.”
Creepy Men (Crept In Unnoticed): (Slipped in by side door) These were
prophesied (see above verse).
John MacArthur writes,
“These were infiltrating, false teachers pretending to be true, who on the
surface looked like the real thing, but whose intentions were to lead God’s people astray (cf. Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:29; Gal. 2:4,5; I Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Pet. 2:1,20; I John 2:18- 23). These apostates are Satan’s counterfeits…They were/are characterized by 3 features:
- 1. They were ungodly
2. They perverted grace.
3. They denied Christ.
Condemned Men (Were predicted, will be punished) ESV “designated for this
condemnation.” The false teachers did not take God by surprise, for he predicted their coming and condemnation long before they existed. Corrupt Men “Pervert the grace of our God into sensuality.” Pervert: that is to
“twist and distort.”
