Jude 1-7
Notes
Transcript
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Since the author of this epistle was the brother of James, this would make him the half brother of our Lord Jesus Christ (see Mark 6:3).
Our Lord’s brothers in the flesh did not believe in Him while He was ministering (John 7:5). But after the resurrection, James was converted (see 1 Cor. 15:7), and we have every reason to believe that Jude was also saved at that time.
Acts 1:14 informs us that “his brethren” were part of the praying group that was awaiting the Holy Spirit; 1 Corinthians 9:5 states that “the brethren of the Lord” were known in the early church.
Why did Jude write this letter? To warn his readers that the apostates were already on the scene! Peter had prophesied that they would come (2 Peter 2:1–3; 3:3ff.), and his prophecy had been fulfilled.
Apparently Jude wrote to the same believers who had received Peter’s letters, intending to stir them up and remind them to take Peter’s warnings to heart. You will discover a number of parallels between Jude and 2 Peter as you study this fascinating but neglected letter.
Called- Certainly salvation begins in the heart of God and not in the will of man
16 So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy.
The mysteries of God’s sovereign electing grace are beyond us in this life and will never be understood until we enter His glorious presence. For that reason, we are wise not to make them the basis for arguments and divisions. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God” (Deut. 29:29).
13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
14 He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
makes it clear that the same God who chose us also set us apart by the Spirit and then called us by the gospel to trust in Jesus Christ. God’s choosing and God’s calling go together, for the God who ordains the end (our salvation) also ordains the means to the end (someone calling us to Christ). We did not understand how God’s Spirit was working in our lives prior to our conversion, but He was working just the same to “set us apart” for Jesus Christ.
He also experiences God’s love (Rom. 5:5). The cross is God’s demonstration of love (Rom. 5:8), but His love is not experienced within until His Spirit comes into the believing heart. As the believer grows in his spiritual life, he enters into a deeper relationship of love (John 14:21–24).
Certainly those who know Christ as their Savior enjoy a unique position. They are called by God to be set apart for God that they might enjoy love with God. While their fellowship with the Father might change from day to day, their relationship as children cannot change. They are “preserved in Jesus Christ.” Because Jude would write a great deal in this letter about sin and judgment, he was careful at the very outset to define the special place that believers have in the heart and plan of God. The apostates would sin, fall, and suffer condemnation, but the true believers would be kept safe in Jesus Christ for all eternity.
Not only are God’s saints set apart, but they are also preserved. This means “carefully watched and guarded.” The believer is secure in Jesus Christ. This same word is used in Jude 6 and 13 (“reserved”) and also in Jude 21 (“keep yourselves”). God is preserving the fallen angels and the apostates for judgment, but He is preserving His own children for glory. Meanwhile, He is able to preserve us in our daily walk and keep us from stumbling.
Because they are set apart and preserved, God’s soldiers are the recipients of God’s choicest blessings: mercy, peace, and love. Like the apostle Peter, Jude wanted these special blessings to be multiplied in their lives (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:2). God in His mercy does not give us what we deserve. Instead, He gave our punishment to His own Son on the cross. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.… But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” (Isa. 53:4–5).
Because of Christ’s work on the cross, believers enjoy peace. The unsaved person is at war with God and cannot please Him (Rom. 8:7–8), but when he trusts the Savior, the war ends and he receives God’s peace (Rom. 5:1).
3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.
4 For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.
He wrote to “exhort” them (Jude 3). In the Greek language, this word was used to describe a general giving orders to the army; hence, the atmosphere of this letter is “military.” Jude had started to write a quiet devotional letter about salvation, but the Spirit led him to put down his harp and sound the trumpet! The epistle of Jude is a call to arms.
THE ARMY (1–2)
The Captain of the army is Jesus Christ, and the soldiers He commands are people who share a “common salvation” through faith in Him. Jude called them saints (Jude 3), which simply means “set-apart ones.” He addressed them as sanctified, which, again, means “set apart.” (Some manuscripts read “beloved in God the Father.”) Perhaps there is an echo here of 1 Peter 1:2 where all three persons of the Godhead are seen to be involved in our salvation.
Here, then, we have the “spiritual army” that Jude was addressing. If you have trusted Jesus Christ, you are in this army. God is not looking for volunteers; He has already enlisted you! The question is not “Shall I become a soldier?” Rather, it is “Will I be a loyal soldier?”
Isaac Watts once preached a sermon on 1 Corinthians 16:13: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you [act] like men, be strong.” When he published the sermon, he added a poem to it; we sing it today as one of our spiritual songs, “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?”
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His name?
Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease?
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed through bloody seas?
THE ENEMY (3–4)
Jude wasted no time in identifying the enemy.
It bears repeating that an apostate is not a true believer who has abandoned his salvation. He is a person who has professed to accept the truth and trust the Savior, and then turns from “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). Jude would not contradict what Peter wrote, and Peter made it clear that the apostates were not God’s sheep, rather they were pigs and dogs (2 Peter 2:21–22). The sow had been cleaned on the outside, and the dog on the inside, but neither had been given that new nature that is characteristic of God’s true children (2 Peter 1:3–4).
They were ungodly (v. 4b). This is one of Jude’s favorite words. While these men claimed to belong to God, they were, in fact, ungodly in their thinking and their living. They might have “a form of godliness,” but they lacked the force of godliness that lives in the true Christian (2 Tim. 3:5).
They were deceitful (v. 4c). They “crept in unawares.” The Greek word means “to slip in secretly, to steal in undercover.” Sometimes Satan’s undercover agents are “secretly brought in” by those already on the inside (Gal. 2:4 NASB), but these men came in on their own. Peter warned that these men were coming (2 Peter 2:1), and now they had arrived on the scene.
How could false brethren get into true assemblies of the saints? The soldiers had gone to sleep at the post! The spiritual leaders in the churches had grown complacent and careless. This explains why Jude had to blow the trumpet to wake them up. Our Lord and His apostles all warned that false teachers would arise, yet the churches did not heed the warnings. Sad to say, some churches are not heeding the warnings today.
They were enemies of God’s grace (v. 4d). Why did they enter the churches? To attempt to change the doctrine and “turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness” (Jude 4). The word lasciviousness simply means “wantonness, absence of moral restraint, indecency.” A person who is lascivious thinks only of satisfying his lusts, and whatever he touches is stained by his base appetites. Lasciviousness is one of the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19) that proceeds from the evil heart of man (Mark 7:21–22).
They promised the people freedom, but it was the kind of freedom that led to terrible bondage (2 Peter 2:13–14, 19). The readers both Peter and Jude addressed knew what Paul had written (2 Peter 3:15–16), so they should have been fortified with Romans 6 and 1 Corinthians 5–6.
The apostates, like the cultists today, use the Word of God to promote and defend their false doctrines. They seduce young, immature Christians who have not yet been grounded in the Scriptures. Every soldier of the cross needs to go through “basic training” in a local church so that he knows how to use the weapons of spiritual warfare (2 Cor. 10:4–5).
They denied God’s truth (v. 4e). “Even denying the Lord that bought them,” Peter had warned (2 Peter 2:1). Jude was not writing about two different persons when he wrote “the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ,” for the Greek construction demands that these two names refer to one person. In other words, Jude was affirming strongly the deity of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is God!
But the apostates would deny this. They would agree that Jesus Christ was a good man and a great teacher, but not that He was eternal God come in human flesh. The first test of any religious teacher, as we have seen, is “What do you think of Jesus Christ? Is He God come in the flesh?” Anyone who denies this cardinal doctrine is a false teacher no matter how correct he may be in other matters. If he denies the deity of Christ, something will always be missing in whatever he affirms.
They were ordained to judgment (v. 4a). Jude did not write that these men were ordained to become apostates, as though God were responsible for their sin. They became apostates because they willfully turned away from the truth. But God did ordain that such people would be judged and condemned. The Old Testament prophets denounced the false prophets of their day, and both Jesus Christ and His apostles pronounced judgment on them.
Why should these men be judged by God? To begin with, they had denied His Son! That is reason enough for their condemnation! But they had also defiled God’s people by teaching them that God’s grace permitted them to practice sin. Furthermore, they derided the doctrine of Christ’s coming (2 Peter 3): “Where is the promise of His coming?” They mocked the very promise of Christ’s coming and the judgment He would bring against the ungodly.
Of course, they did all these things under the guise of religion, and this made their sin even greater. They deceived innocent people so that they might take their money and enjoy it in godless living. Jesus compared them to wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15).
How, then, should the church respond to the presence of this insidious enemy? By earnestly contending for the faith.
What does it mean to “contend for the faith”? The Greek word is an athletic term that gives us our English word agonize. It is the picture of a devoted athlete, competing in the Greek games and stretching his nerves and muscles to do his very best to win. You never fight the Lord’s battles from a rocking chair or a soft bed! Both the soldier and the athlete must concentrate on doing their best and giving their all. There must also be teamwork, believers working together to attack and defeat the enemy.
Sometimes you hear well-meaning people say, “Well, it’s fine to contend for the faith, but don’t be so contentious!” While it is true that some of God’s soldiers have been the cause of quarrels and divisions, it is also true that some of them have paid a great price to defend the faith. As Christian soldiers, we must not fight one another or go around looking for trouble. But when the banner of Christ is in danger of being taken by the enemy, we cannot sit idly by, nor can we ever hope to win the victory by wearing kid gloves.
“The faith” refers to that body of doctrine that was given by God through the apostles to the church. The word doctrine is found at least sixteen times in the Pastoral Epistles alone. Paul admonished both Timothy and Titus to make sure the believers were being taught “sound doctrine,” which means “healthy doctrine,” doctrine that promotes the spiritual health of the local church. While individual teachers and preachers may disagree on the fine points of theology, there is a basic body of truth to which all true Christians are committed.
The church is always one generation short of extinction. If our generation fails to guard the truth and entrust it to our children, then that will be the end! When you think of the saints and martyrs who suffered and died so that we might have God’s truth, it makes you want to take your place in God’s army and be faithful unto death.
Charles Spurgeon once said that “the new views are not the old truth in a better dress, but deadly errors with which we can have no fellowship.” False doctrine is a deadly poison that must be identified, labeled, and avoided. Spurgeon also said, “I cannot endure false doctrine, however neatly it may be put before me. Would you have me eat poisoned meat because the dish is of the choicest ware?”
We must always speak the truth in love, and the weapons we use must be spiritual. At the same time, we must dare to take our stand for “the faith” even if our stand offends some and upsets others. We are not fighting personal enemies, but the enemies of the Lord. It is the honor and glory of Jesus Christ that is at stake. “Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12).
5 Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe;
6 and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day.
7 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
THE VICTORY (5–7)
Like the apostle Peter, Jude reached back into Old Testament history and gave three examples of God’s victory over those who had resisted his authority and turned from the truth. Peter referred to the fallen angels, Noah, and Lot (2 Peter 2:4–9) and followed the historical order. He also emphasized God’s deliverance of the righteous as well as His judgment of the ungodly. Jude, however, did not mention Noah and the flood, but instead used the nation Israel as his example.
The point Jude was making is that God judges apostates. Therefore, the false teachers who had crept into the church would also one day be judged. Their seeming success would not last; God would have the last word.
Israel (v. 5). Both Paul (1 Cor. 10) and the author of Hebrews (Heb. 3—4) used the experiences of Israel to illustrate important spiritual truths. The nation was delivered from Egypt by the power of God and brought to the border of the Promised Land. But the people were afraid and did not have the faith to enter in and possess the land (see Num. 13—14). Moses, Joshua, and Caleb tried to encourage the people to obey God by faith, but the people refused. In fact, the leaders of the tribes even wanted to organize and go back to Egypt, the place of bondage!
This was rebellion against the will and the Word of God, and God cannot tolerate rebellion. As a result, everybody in the camp twenty years and older was destined to die at some time in the next forty years. Their unbelief led to their extermination.
Keep in mind that Jude was using a historical event as an illustration, and we must not press every detail. The entire nation was delivered from Egypt, but that does not mean that each individual was personally saved through faith in the Lord. The main point of the account is that privileges bring responsibilities, and God cannot lightly pass over the sins of His people. If any of Jude’s readers dared to follow the false teachers, they too would face the discipline of God. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
The fallen angels (v. 6). We studied this illustration in 2 Peter 2:4, but Jude seems to add a new dimension to it by associating the fall of the angels with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Jude 7, “even as … in like manner”). Some Bible students believe that Jude was teaching not only a revolt of the angels against God, but also an invasion of earth by these fallen angels. They point to Genesis 6:1–4 and claim that “the sons of God” were fallen angels who assumed human bodies, cohabited with the daughters of men, and produced a race of giants on the earth. This was one reason that God sent the flood.
As attractive and popular as this view is, I must confess that I have a difficult time accepting it. It is true that “the sons of God” is a title for angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7), but always for unfallen angels. Would the Holy Spirit, writing through Moses, call rebellious angels “the sons of God”? I doubt it.
My second problem is that angels are spirits and do not have bodies. In the Old Testament record, we do read of angels who appeared in human form, but this was not incarnation. How could a spirit being have a physical relationship with a woman, even if that being assumed a temporary body of some kind? Our Lord taught that the angels were sexless (Matt. 22:30).
Third, it appears that God sent the flood because of what man did, not what angels did. “My Spirit shall not always strive with man … And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth … And it repented [grieved] the LORD that he had made man on the earth” (Gen. 6:3, 5–6, italics mine). If this “fallen angel” view is correct. God should have repented that He created the angels!
Fourth, the phrases “even as” and “in like manner” in Jude 7 need not be interpreted to say that the angels did what the Sodomites did, namely, “going after strange flesh.” Notice the grammatical connections in the verse and you will get the message: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah … in like manner… are set forth for an example.” The angels are an example of God’s judgment and so are Sodom and Gomorrah.
I might add that Genesis 6:4 presents a strong argument against the view that fallen angels cohabited with women and produced a race of giants. “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that” (italics mine). This would mean that a second invasion of fallen angels had to take place! We have no record of this in Scripture.
Finally, both Peter and Jude state clearly that these rebellious angels are chained in darkness and reserved for judgment. They would have to have invaded the earth prior to being arrested and chained by God. We wonder why God would have permitted them to run loose long enough to get the women into sin and help to cause the great flood. The whole explanation, though held by teachers whom I respect, to me seems a bit fantastic. The simplest explanation of
Genesis 6 is that the godly line of Seth (“the sons of God”) began to mingle with the ungodly line of Cain, and this broke down the walls of separation, resulting in compromise and eventually degrading sin. But regardless of which interpretation you accept, keep the main lesson in mind: The angels rebelled and were punished for their rebellion.
Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 7). Both Peter and Jude state that God made these cities an example to warn the ungodly that God does indeed judge sin (see 2 Peter 2:6). When you combine their descriptions, you discover that the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah (and the other cities involved) were ungodly, filthy, wicked, unlawful, unjust, and given over to fornication. They did not occasionally commit unnatural sexual sins; they indulged in them and gave themselves over to the pursuit of lust. The Greek verb is intensive: “to indulge in excessive immorality.” This was their way of life—and death!
Strange flesh means “different flesh.” The bent of their life was constantly downward, indulging in unnatural acts (see Rom. 1:24–27). Those who hold the “fallen angel” interpretation of Genesis 6 make the “strange flesh” refer to angels in human form, but when did the angels invade Sodom and Gomorrah? And, if fallen angels are meant, how can their sin and the sin of the Sodomites apply to us today, for we have no fallen angels to tempt or seduce us? Indeed, the men at Lot’s door did want to engage in homosexual activity with his angelic guests, but the Sodomites did not know they were angels. Another possibility is that the Sodomites were guilty not only of unnatural sex with one another, but also with animals, which would be “strange flesh.” Both homosexuality and bestiality are condemned by God (Lev. 18:22–25).
These cities were set forth by God as an example and warning to ungodly people today. The verb set forth means “to expose openly to public view.” (Interestingly enough, the word was used to describe a corpse lying in state!) But the cities of the plain are not today in public view. It is generally agreed among archeologists that Sodom and Gomorrah are buried under the southern end of the Dead Sea. How, then, do they serve as an example? In the pages of the Word of God. No one can read Genesis 18—19 without clearly seeing God’s hatred for sin and, at the same time, His patience and willingness to postpone judgment. This certainly ties in with Peter’s explanation for God’s seeming delay in fulfilling the promise of Christ’s return (2 Peter 3:8ff.).
The sin of Israel was rebellious unbelief (Heb. 3:12). The sin of the angels was rebellion against the throne of God. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was indulging in unnatural lust.
Unbelief, rebellion against authority, and sensual indulgence were sins characteristic of the false teachers. The conclusion is obvious: The apostates will be judged. But, meanwhile, God’s soldiers must stay on duty and see to it that these false teachers do not creep into the ranks and start to lead people astray. “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:16).
What can we do practically to oppose the enemy and maintain the purity and unity of the church?
What can we do practically to oppose the enemy and maintain the purity and unity of the church?
We must know the Word of God and have the courage to defend it.
We must know the Word of God and have the courage to defend it.
Every local church ought to be a Bible institute, and every Christian ought to be a Bible student. The pulpit needs to declare positive truth as well as denounce error.
We must “watch and pray.”
We must “watch and pray.”
What do you think it means to “watch and pray”? Where does this fit into your life?
The enemy is already here and we dare not go to sleep! Spiritual leaders in local congregations need to be alert as they interview candidates for baptism and church membership. Committees need to seek the mind of Christ as they appoint Sunday school teachers, youth sponsors, and other church leaders. Congregations must exercise discernment as they select officers.
Congregations and members must be careful where they send their money.
Congregations and members must be careful where they send their money.
“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?” (2 Chron. 19:2 NIV).
We must have the courage to maintain a position of biblical separation from those who deny Christ and the fundamental doctrines of the Word (Rom. 16:17–20; 2 Tim. 2:15ff.; 2 John 6–11).
We must have the courage to maintain a position of biblical separation from those who deny Christ and the fundamental doctrines of the Word (Rom. 16:17–20; 2 Tim. 2:15ff.; 2 John 6–11).
This does not mean that we separate from fellow believers over minor doctrinal differences, or that we practice guilt by association. God’s true army needs to stand together in the battle for truth.
Why can’t we just ignore false teachers?
Next Week Jude 8-16
Next Week Jude 8-16