Jude 3-4 | 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 3-4

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?

Examples of Apostasy and God’s Judgment

Jude 1:4. Jude is now going to explain and support his appeal to contend. In case you may already have considerations whether you will or will not participate in the fight for which he appeals you to, you will get convinced of the necessity of your effort by his explanation. In an impressive way he portrays the situation of professing Christianity as it already developed in those days. That development has not stopped since then, but it got worse more and more. That means that the necessity to contend has only been increasing more and more.

For “certain persons”, which means men with a certain character, “have crept in”, very secretly, with a deception, through a side door (cf. Gal 2:4). Those people are no believers. They are emphatically called “ungodly persons” by Jude. They are men “who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation”. That does not mean that their names are written, but it means that men who do such things will be struck by this judgment. The judgment was announced by Enoch already many centuries ago, even before the flood. Then God already made known what He was going to do with these ungodly men in the end time (Jude 1:14-15).

There are people, including sincere children of God, who from what Jude is saying here, conclude that God has predestined men to be perished. This conclusion is not in accordance with the teaching of the Scripture. God does not predestine anyone to be perished forever. The predetermined condemnation regards people who have prepared themselves for destruction (Rom 9:22; 2Pet 2:3). It can be compared with the fine I get if I park my car somewhere without buying a ticket, which results in the payment of a fine. If I park my car on that place without buying a ticket, I am condemned to get a fine. The condemnation is ready for everyone who commits this violation, but there is only mention of registering names if the violation is committed.

Jude is not cautious with his exposure of these people. He does not make gradual steps to come to that point, but he criticizes them immediately. He does that to make their character immediately clear and in that way open the eyes of gullible people in the church for these corrupt persons. Such people present themselves as Christians and have sweet talks, as you will see later. Jude is quite clear. They are “ungodly persons”, who destroy the faith. They have two main characteristics. The first characteristic is that they abuse grace by using it as a cover for fulfilling their own lusts. The second characteristic is that they reject the authority of the Lord Jesus.

That they are ‘ungodly’ – the word ‘ungodly’ appears seven times in this letter –, means that they are without any respect and fear for God. That attitude is expressed in the two mentioned characteristics. They dare to abuse grace to justify their lawlessness – see and compare Titus 2 where grace teaches the opposite (Tit 2:12). They abuse the Christian freedom to lead a life “in licentiousness”. They lack every sense of what is appropriate. They also “deny” and despise the absolute and Divine authority of the Lord Jesus.

You can recognize these persons, who “crept in unnoticed”, by their way of life. It is absolutely out of the question that they could be born again. They live just like man has lived apart from God since the fall. They follow the lusts of the flesh to which they succumb in debauchery and live their life in pride as they see fit. They also totally do not take into consideration the authority of the absolute Ruler, “our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ”. You especially notice that by the way they deal with God’s Word. They do not have any respect for it, they do not bow to it, it does not impress them in any way.

Jude 1:5. From that same Word that is denied by them Jude wants to remind you of three cases from the beginning of the Old Testament. In these three cases the apostasy he speaks about and God’s judgment on it are clearly shown.

You are addressed as someone who “knows all things once for all”. That is true for each believer, also for you, no matter how long you have been converted. For you have the “anointing of the Holy One” and you “know all things” (1Jn 2:20). After a course of time the awareness of it may sink away. Then it is good to be reminded of it.

The first case is that of the people of Israel when they were saved out of Egypt. God had saved the people and promised them the land of Canaan. This promise also included that He was going to help them to take the land into possession. But when the people listened to the evil rumor that the ten spies spread about the promised land, they rebelled against the Lord and did not believe Him. They flatly refused to take that land into possession (Num 14:1-28; 1Cor 10:5-10) and in that way they showed their unbelief. They pushed God aside.

After God had dealt with them by grace by saving them out of Egypt, He dealt “subsequently” with them on the ground of their unbelief. The result was that all died from twenty years old and upward when they left Egypt, except Caleb and Joshua (Num 14:29-30 ; 35; Heb 3:16-19).

Jude 1:6. The second example of rebellion and apostasy is that of angels who had sinned horribly. They did not keep “their own domain”, which means their original and exalted state, “but abandoned their proper abode”, which God had given them. About this event we read in Genesis 6 (Gen 6:1-7). There is mention of “God’s sons” of whom we know from the book of Job that these are angels (Job 1:6 ; Job 2:1). These sons of God took human form and took daughters of men as wives for themselves.

This evil is that bad that God has deprived these angels of any freedom of movement. He now already has kept them in “eternal bonds”, that are bonds with which they are bound forever, and with which He keeps them “under darkness”, so that they will never see light again. They are “kept” there till the definite judgment on them will be executed on the great day of judgment.

Jude 1:7. The third example is directly connected to the previous one, which you can derive from the word “just as” with which this verse begins. What happened in “Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them” is of the same corruptness as what the angels did, and even worse. It causes the apostasy to reach a pinnacle. It is about the most outrageous shamelessness, a shamelessness which is directed against all that is natural, given by God. This particular perversion is that of homosexual relationship of men who “in their desire toward one another” commit “indecent acts” (Rom 1:26b-27). They have left their own nature. That is rebellion and apostasy. This is “gross immorality” and going “after strange flesh”, which means that it is completely against the natural order of God.

The uncommitted free life style, promoted by liberals, and the pressure to fully accept a homosexual life style as a ‘normal’ life style, are compared with the practices of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them’. What God has done with those cities shows His judgment on homosexual practice. This should be a warning to everyone who lives like that or who accepts that as normal and who probably even fights for general acceptance. The “punishment of eternal fire” shows that there is no end to God’s judgment on that. All apostates will be struck by this judgment.

In the three examples you do not find a chronological, but a spiritual order. The apostates will

1. like the Israelites who did not believe, die the physical death,

2. then like the angels who did not keep their proper domain, be kept under darkness for the judgment before the great white throne and

3. finally, like Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around it, undergo the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 1:8. After these examples of apostasy and God’s judgment on it, Jude returns to his theme of the apostates of his time. The whole thinking of those people is unclean. They are “dreaming”, they live in a fantasy world with filthy fantasies. They ultimately find the fulfillment of their dreams in disgusting sexual sins, just like the men of Sodom. They live in rebellion against God and reject every form of authority ordained by Him. They also speak in a reviling way about everything that God has given a certain honor, a certain glory in which something of Him is seen.

Jude 1:9. These people have the brutality to say things that even “Michael the archangel” did not dare to say “when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses”. Jude tells about this event which cannot be found in the Bible. He received this information through God’s Spirit. We know that God has buried Moses in the valley in the land of Moab and that nobody knows about his grave (Deu 34:6). It is not unlikely that the devil was looking for the place where Moses was buried, with the intention letting the people know that place in order to make it a place of pilgrimage, which is a place of idolatry, for the people. In that, Michael opposed him.

In the future Michael will appear to be stronger than the devil, for he will throw him out of heaven (Rev 12:7-9). Michael knows his time to act against the devil and does not anticipate it. That’s why he does not dare pronounce a “railing judgment” against this prince of angels in the kingdom of darkness. The archangel leaves the judgment on blasphemy by the devil, to the Lord. Look also at the attitude of David toward Saul for a moment when Saul was already rejected by God. As long as Saul is ruling David adopts a submissive attitude (1Sam 24:9-16 ; 1Sam 26:4-25).

There is a danger that we may want to exercise power over those who are doing the work of the devil. Therefore it is necessary that we bear in mind what is written in the Scripture: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Rom 12:19). We may also learn from the attitude of Michael that we should not mock the devil and think that we can make him ridiculous by giving him all kinds of contemptible names, as it happens sometimes.

Now read Jude 1:4-9 again.

Reflection: How can you recognize people who have crept in unnoticed?