The book of Jude

Jude was the brother of James, who was the pastor at Jerusalem.  James and Jude were the physical brothers of our Lord Jesus.  The book of Jude is very similar to the second chapter of 2 Peter, which we have covered previously.  In fact, some of the wording is almost exactly the same.  It only makes sense that their writings might be very similar.  James, Peter and Jude were all elders in the church at Jerusalem. 

Most of the epistles are amplifying or expounding upon the truths set forth in the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13 and Mark 4.  This is Jesus' core teaching about the kingdom of God, which is in us when we are born again.  It tells us how the kingdom of God works in us.  I wrote about this earlier.  The seed is the gospel or the word of grace, that all sins have been paid for by Jesus.  If we don't understand or reject this, Satan comes and steals the Word and we are not born again. God does not come to live within us.  The second soil Jesus speaks about is the person who receives the Word of grace, is born again, but stumbles back into a works mentality.  He is not rooted and grounded in the love of God.  The third soil is the person who receives the gospel and is born again, but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires or lusts of the flesh choke out the Word and he becomes unfruitful.  In other words, the cares and the pain from sinning choke out the fruit of love, joy and peace that we are meant to experience.

Jesus has just described the ditches on either side of the Christian walk.  The central truth of the gospel is that all sins have been forgiven, past, present and even future sins, or the sins of our entire lifetime.  When Jesus died 2000 years ago, any sin that you and I would ever commit were future sins.  Jesus died for all of us, and all of our sins, even future sins that we commit.  To go back to the law, or to try and add any of our good works to what Jesus has already accomplished for us becomes legalism.  That is one ditch.  The other ditch was that false teachers entered into the church and turned this grace of God into lewdness or into an excuse to sin and run wild and do whatever felt good to them.  In their twisted thinking, all sins are paid for, so sinning does not matter.  This is the error that the book of Jude is addressing.  Some of the language in Jude is strong and condemning, but it is directed toward these false teachers, not to Christians who are struggling with some sin or habit.  Jude tells us to reject the ideas of these false teachers and walk in holiness and love.

Jude 1-2   "Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ.  Mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you."  We are called to walk in holiness and sanctification by our Father God.  We are to be like Him.  This process begins through accepting what Jesus did for us in paying for our sins.  This is how we are born again.  Then God leads us to sanctify and cleanse our thoughts and actions so that we walk in holiness.  This is the mercy and grace of God for us.  When we understand His mercy, peace and love will be multiplied to us.

Jude 3-4  "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to all the saints.  For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."  These false teachers had entered into the church and turned the teaching of grace into an excuse to sin and fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  These false teachers also denied or rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and were not born again.  But their teaching had infiltrated the church and was leading immature believers astray.  It is imperative to understand this.  From verse 5 to verse 16, Jude is discussing this error and the ultimate end of these false teachers who had rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and were not born again.  He is not condemning believers who are struggling with sins or habits. 

Jude 5-9  "But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.  And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.  Likewise also these dreamers (the false teachers who are not born again) defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said "The Lord rebuke you!"

These verses contain Old Testament examples of where unbelievers and angels were judged and condemned. This can be confusing or condemning for Christians who are struggling with sin and are not established in the central truth of the gospel, that Jesus paid the penalty for all of our sins.  Christians should learn from these examples and stop sinning.  Jude says that these believers already understood these examples at one time.  They were taught to walk in holiness and not to fulfill the lust of the flesh.  But the false teachers had deceived them into error.  So these verses are directed toward these false teachers and the error that they are propogating in the church.  There are three Old Testament examples listed here.  They correspond to the three errors that these dreamers or false teachers are spreading within the church.  They are saying that we should defile the flesh or fulfill the lust of our flesh, that we should reject authority and do whatever our flesh leads us to do, and they are speaking evil of angels or the messengers of God.  We as believers should reject these ideas and follow our Lord in sanctification and walking in holiness and love.  If we have accepted the Lord, our sins are paid for and we will not face eternal judgment.  But we should learn that sin still hurts us and those around us.  We must learn to walk in holiness and love.  Just for reference, verse 9 about Michael the archangel may be referring to Zechariah 3:2 or it may be a reference from a book called The Assumption of Moses, which is not part of the Old Testament.  There are others things that we can bring out from these verses, but I want to stay focused on the context of what Jude is saying and not get sidetracked.

Jude 10-11  "But these (false teachers) speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves (by sinning).  Woe to them (false teachers)!  For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah."  These are three more Old Testament examples of people who sinned and rejected authority, and in the case of Balaam, tried to prophesy because of their greed and lust.  These examples are referring to these false teachers who have denied the Lord Jesus Christ and turn the grace of our Lord into lewdness.

Jude 12-13  "These (false teachers) are spots in your love feasts, while they (the false teachers) feast with you (believers) without fear, serving only themselves.  They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."  These false teachers were not born again.  They were twice dead.  That means they were spiritually dead and would eventually die physically.  They were fulfilling the lusts of their flesh, like raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame or sin. 

Jude 14-16  Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."  These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage." 

This passage may be a reference to Daniel 7:10 and also a reference to the Book of Enoch, which is not in the Old Testament.  Again, the subject of these verses is these false teachers who are not born again, who are rejecting God's authority and who are turning the grace of God into lewdness or an excuse to sin.  These false teachers are walking according to their own fleshly lusts.  They mouth great swelling words, trying to entice Christians into sinning under the guise that sinning does not matter.

Jude 17-19 "But you, beloved (Christian believers), remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you that there would be mockers (the false teachers) in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.  These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit."  Jude clearly says that these false teachers do not have the Spirit of God within them.  They are not born again.  Do not follow their teachings.

Jude 20-21 "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."  1 Corinthians 14:4 says that when we pray in tongues we are edified.  This is the same meaning as building yourselves up.  He is describing building a house or construction terms.  We become the house or temple of God when we receive the Lord.  Our faith in Christ is our foundation; that is how we are born again.  Upon that foundation, we build ourselves up by praying in tongues.  We keep ourselves walking in the love of God that way, as opposed to fulfilling the lusts of our flesh.  His eternal life flows through us when we are edified and focused on Him.  We are looking forward to the resurrection of our body but it has not happened yet.  Our bodies are not yet redeemed.

Jude 22-23  "And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."  Jude is refering to the immature believers who were deceived by this error which turned the grace of God into lewdness or an excuse to sin.  Some immature believers were just confused but did not a rebellious attitude.  These believers were to be treated with compassion, for they would respond through kindness when told of the error they had fallen for.  Others who had a rebellious attitude toward authority within the church were treated more sternly.  Saving them with fear doesn't refer to saving them from hell.  Sinning causes pain for us and those around us.  The leaders who corrected them were saving them from the pain and misery caused by sin.           

Jude 24-25  Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."  God can keep us from stumbling into sin in this life.  This is also a reference to stumbling or falling away from the gospel or word of righteousness back to an Old Testament mindset of condemnation.  We are faultless before Him by what Christ has done for us.

Keith Oliver