Jude 1-3 | KingComments | STEP | The letter of Jude is a brief and powerful letter. If you read the letter, you notice the drive of a prophet. God’s Spirit has used Jude to describe in the dynamic, energetic language of the prophets the evil in professing Christianity and the judgment on it at the coming of the Lord Jesus. The picture presented to you here of professing Christianity is not a picture that makes you cheerful, but it is reality. If that reality were withheld from you, you would miss the necessary warnings that should help you recognize the attacks made on God’s truth. At the same time Jude encourages you. He points at the unfaltering faithfulness and omnipotence of God and the Lord Jesus for those who are willing to hold on to the truth which was once for all handed down to them and to defend it against the attacks. If you read this letter and compare it with chapter 2 of the second letter of Peter, you will see that certain topics are mentioned in both letters. These same topics, however, are presented from a different point of view. Peter addresses Jewish Christians and speaks about sin and unrighteousness. Jude addresses all Christians and speaks about the apostasy of the Christian truth, the abandonment of the most holy faith. . Jude presents himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James”. At the explanation of the letter of James we saw that James is a brother of the Lord Jesus ( ; ). Besides a James we also come across a Jude among the brothers of the Lord after the flesh ( ). It is obvious that he is the author of this letter. Like James, Jude does not call himself ‘a brother’ of Jesus Christ, but joyfully calls himself ‘a bond-servant’. He neither speaks about ‘Jesus’, but about ‘Jesus Christ’. Any familiarity is missing, although he and James grew up together with the Lord in the same parental home. That undoubtedly has got to do with the fact that they have learnt to know Him as the Risen One ( ). It is more important to be spiritually related to Him and to show that by listening to His Word than to be with Him in a natural family relationship ( ). As it already has been noticed, in his letter Jude address all believers without distinction. He calls them “those who are the called”. He has the interest of all believers in mind, all who belong to the worldwide church. At the same time, the letter is also very personal, for a calling is a personal matter of every believer. Those who are called – and by God’s grace you are one of them – he introduces right at the beginning of his letter in two relationships: first to “God the Father” and then to “Jesus Christ”. The relationship to God the Father is connected with love and the relationship to Jesus Christ with preservation. What Jude does here is the same as what the Lord Jesus does in His prayer to His Father when He asks Him to keep those who are His own ( ). What Jude is saying and what the Lord Jesus has prayed is, with a view to the content of the letter, very encouraging. You may know that you are an object of Divine love, no matter how much evil has infiltrated professing Christianity. You may know that you will be preserved till the end by Jesus Christ, while the infiltrated evil will be judged by Him. What an encouragement! That gives assurance and power to your faith that is tested severely in the time of apostasy in which you live. . After addressing his readers Jude has a threefold wish for his readers: “mercy and peace and love”. In addition he also wishes that it may be “multiplied”. We always find in the greeting of the letters of Paul ‘grace and peace’ as a wish. Only in the two letters to Timothy he adds the wish of ‘mercy’. That shows that ‘mercy’ is especially meant for individuals, which emphasizes the personal character of the letter of Jude. The combination of the three wishes that Jude speaks out here, only occurs with him: 1. He begins with “mercy”. In this word you find the aspect of need and compassion. Jude knows that the believers especially need that, with a view to the time that he will describe right away. 2. Also “peace” is important in such a time. All evil that has entered the church, may be a reason to get filled with discontent. If everything seems hopeless and there seems to be no way out, discontent can easily creep in. 3. Finally “love” is needed. How evil the times may be, the believer may always be aware of the love of God. Jude mentions these things in general terms. Of course he wishes them to you from God. At the same time it is the purpose that these characteristics in a time of decay will also be expressions that from you go to others. After all, you have the new life, you are born of God and you have His nature. If the apostasy is manifested more and more clearly, it is more urgently desirable that these expressions of God’s care are present toward one another among the believers. And Jude does not only wish that they will increase, but that they will be in abundance by multiplication, that is, that they may increase more and more. . Jude calls his readers “beloved” and in this way connects to God the Father of Whom he has said that the believers are loved in Him ( ). He has the same feelings for them as God the Father has. It is important to see your brothers and sisters the way God the Father sees them and to feel for them what He feels for them. Jude tells that he was making every effort to write them a letter. He indeed wrote that latter. He also tells them about what he had in mind to write to them, but that something has changed. He would have loved to share with them what he and they possess in common in the salvation that they have received (cf. ). However, the wish to write about the “common salvation” had been replaced by a burden that God’s Spirit placed on his heart. He has been obedient to that and has acknowledged the necessity to write an exhortation instead of about enjoyable truths. He tells about this change in his plan because this makes you feel the seriousness of the content of his letter even more. It shows that sometimes plans need to be changed and that instead of enjoying the truths of faith these truths of faith are to contend for. The faith – this refers to the truth of faith and not so much to your personal faith – is extremely precious. It is everything that you know of God in Christ, as you have it in the inspired, infallible, authoritative and complete Word of God. It also has to be maintained and defended as such. Everything that comes from God will always be attacked and must therefore be defended. You are to hold on to it that only to the apostles it has been given to determine the touch stones of the faith in the inspired Scriptures. To explain and teach the faith is not the task of all, but of the gifts who are given by the Lord Jesus ( ). But it is certainly the task of each believer, therefore also of you, to defend the faith and to contend for it. That is not a matter of only a few. It is after all the faith which was “once for all handed down to the saints”, which includes all saints and not only a small group of privileged people. The result is that all saints are to defend it. The expression ‘saints’ also emphasizes the contrast with the ungodliness of the ungodly men about whom Jude writes in the following verses. What you have to defend is “the faith which was once for all handed down”. It is not about a new discovered faith or a faith that is developing and to which new things are continually added. It is once for all and fully revealed by God. Men contributed anything to it, although they are the instruments through which it has been passed on. There will be no more new revelations. It has been stated this way: If it is new, it cannot be true and if it is true, it is not new. Now read again. Reflection: What encouragements do you find in these verses?

‏ Jude 1-3

Introduction

The letter of Jude is a brief and powerful letter. If you read the letter, you notice the drive of a prophet. God’s Spirit has used Jude to describe in the dynamic, energetic language of the prophets the evil in professing Christianity and the judgment on it at the coming of the Lord Jesus.

The picture presented to you here of professing Christianity is not a picture that makes you cheerful, but it is reality. If that reality were withheld from you, you would miss the necessary warnings that should help you recognize the attacks made on God’s truth. At the same time Jude encourages you. He points at the unfaltering faithfulness and omnipotence of God and the Lord Jesus for those who are willing to hold on to the truth which was once for all handed down to them and to defend it against the attacks.

If you read this letter and compare it with chapter 2 of the second letter of Peter, you will see that certain topics are mentioned in both letters. These same topics, however, are presented from a different point of view. Peter addresses Jewish Christians and speaks about sin and unrighteousness. Jude addresses all Christians and speaks about the apostasy of the Christian truth, the abandonment of the most holy faith.

Sender, Recipients, Purpose of the Letter

Jude 1:1. Jude presents himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James”. At the explanation of the letter of James we saw that James is a brother of the Lord Jesus (Jam 1:1; Gal 1:19). Besides a James we also come across a Jude among the brothers of the Lord after the flesh (Mt 13:55). It is obvious that he is the author of this letter.

Like James, Jude does not call himself ‘a brother’ of Jesus Christ, but joyfully calls himself ‘a bond-servant’. He neither speaks about ‘Jesus’, but about ‘Jesus Christ’. Any familiarity is missing, although he and James grew up together with the Lord in the same parental home. That undoubtedly has got to do with the fact that they have learnt to know Him as the Risen One (1Cor 15:7). It is more important to be spiritually related to Him and to show that by listening to His Word than to be with Him in a natural family relationship (Lk 11:27-28).

As it already has been noticed, in his letter Jude address all believers without distinction. He calls them “those who are the called”. He has the interest of all believers in mind, all who belong to the worldwide church. At the same time, the letter is also very personal, for a calling is a personal matter of every believer. Those who are called – and by God’s grace you are one of them – he introduces right at the beginning of his letter in two relationships: first to “God the Father” and then to “Jesus Christ”. The relationship to God the Father is connected with love and the relationship to Jesus Christ with preservation.

What Jude does here is the same as what the Lord Jesus does in His prayer to His Father when He asks Him to keep those who are His own (Jn 17:11). What Jude is saying and what the Lord Jesus has prayed is, with a view to the content of the letter, very encouraging. You may know that you are an object of Divine love, no matter how much evil has infiltrated professing Christianity. You may know that you will be preserved till the end by Jesus Christ, while the infiltrated evil will be judged by Him. What an encouragement! That gives assurance and power to your faith that is tested severely in the time of apostasy in which you live.

Jude 1:2. After addressing his readers Jude has a threefold wish for his readers: “mercy and peace and love”. In addition he also wishes that it may be “multiplied”. We always find in the greeting of the letters of Paul ‘grace and peace’ as a wish. Only in the two letters to Timothy he adds the wish of ‘mercy’. That shows that ‘mercy’ is especially meant for individuals, which emphasizes the personal character of the letter of Jude.

The combination of the three wishes that Jude speaks out here, only occurs with him:

1. He begins with “mercy”. In this word you find the aspect of need and compassion. Jude knows that the believers especially need that, with a view to the time that he will describe right away.

2. Also “peace” is important in such a time. All evil that has entered the church, may be a reason to get filled with discontent. If everything seems hopeless and there seems to be no way out, discontent can easily creep in.

3. Finally “love” is needed. How evil the times may be, the believer may always be aware of the love of God.

Jude mentions these things in general terms. Of course he wishes them to you from God. At the same time it is the purpose that these characteristics in a time of decay will also be expressions that from you go to others. After all, you have the new life, you are born of God and you have His nature. If the apostasy is manifested more and more clearly, it is more urgently desirable that these expressions of God’s care are present toward one another among the believers. And Jude does not only wish that they will increase, but that they will be in abundance by multiplication, that is, that they may increase more and more.

Jude 1:3. Jude calls his readers “beloved” and in this way connects to God the Father of Whom he has said that the believers are loved in Him (Jude 1:1). He has the same feelings for them as God the Father has. It is important to see your brothers and sisters the way God the Father sees them and to feel for them what He feels for them.

Jude tells that he was making every effort to write them a letter. He indeed wrote that latter. He also tells them about what he had in mind to write to them, but that something has changed. He would have loved to share with them what he and they possess in common in the salvation that they have received (cf. 2Pet 1:1). However, the wish to write about the “common salvation” had been replaced by a burden that God’s Spirit placed on his heart. He has been obedient to that and has acknowledged the necessity to write an exhortation instead of about enjoyable truths.

He tells about this change in his plan because this makes you feel the seriousness of the content of his letter even more. It shows that sometimes plans need to be changed and that instead of enjoying the truths of faith these truths of faith are to contend for.

The faith – this refers to the truth of faith and not so much to your personal faith – is extremely precious. It is everything that you know of God in Christ, as you have it in the inspired, infallible, authoritative and complete Word of God. It also has to be maintained and defended as such. Everything that comes from God will always be attacked and must therefore be defended. You are to hold on to it that only to the apostles it has been given to determine the touch stones of the faith in the inspired Scriptures.

To explain and teach the faith is not the task of all, but of the gifts who are given by the Lord Jesus (Eph 4:11). But it is certainly the task of each believer, therefore also of you, to defend the faith and to contend for it. That is not a matter of only a few. It is after all the faith which was “once for all handed down to the saints”, which includes all saints and not only a small group of privileged people. The result is that all saints are to defend it. The expression ‘saints’ also emphasizes the contrast with the ungodliness of the ungodly men about whom Jude writes in the following verses.

What you have to defend is “the faith which was once for all handed down”. It is not about a new discovered faith or a faith that is developing and to which new things are continually added. It is once for all and fully revealed by God. Men contributed anything to it, although they are the instruments through which it has been passed on. There will be no more new revelations. It has been stated this way: If it is new, it cannot be true and if it is true, it is not new.

Now read Jude 1:1-3 again.

Reflection: What encouragements do you find in these verses?