Jude

Earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints, and be kept by the One who is able to keep you from falling.

Jude intended to write about the common salvation, but the situation required a different letter: certain men had crept in unawares, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and the Lord Jesus Christ (3–4). Jude calls believers to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Jude’s letter is a gallery of apostasy. He reminds his readers of Israel destroyed in the wilderness after being saved out of Egypt, the angels which kept not their first estate, and Sodom and Gomorrah. He compares the false teachers to Cain, Balaam, and Korah, and describes them in vivid images: spots in your feasts, clouds without water, trees whose fruit withereth, raging waves foaming out their own shame, wandering stars reserved for the blackness of darkness forever. He quotes Enoch’s prophecy of the Lord coming with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment.

Yet Jude closes with hope. Believers are to build themselves up on their most holy faith, pray in the Holy Ghost, keep themselves in the love of God, and look for the mercy of Christ. The letter ends with one of the greatest doxologies in Scripture: “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (24).

Writer: Jude, brother of James
Written: About AD 68–70, near the time of 2 Peter.
Name: Jude is a form of Judah, associated with praise.

Title and authorship

The general epistle of Jude. Judas (Ioudas) is the Greek form of Judah, “praise.” The King James uses “Jude” here, distinguishing the author from Judas Iscariot.

Jude, “the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (1), wrote the letter. Two candidates are most likely: Judas the half-brother of the Lord and brother of James (Matthew 13:55), or the apostle Judas, “the brother of James,” also called Thaddaeus (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). The author speaks of the apostles as a group he remembers (17).

Historical background

The date is uncertain, probably between AD 66 and 90, around the time of 2 Peter, which it closely resembles.

“Them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called” (1), probably Jewish believers familiar with Old Testament history and Jewish tradition.

Michael and Moses’ body

Jude says Michael the archangel, contending with the devil about the body of Moses, durst not bring a railing accusation but said, “The Lord rebuke thee” (9). Scripture records that God buried Moses and no man knows his sepulchre (Deuteronomy 34:6). Jude reveals an unseen conflict over it.

Enoch’s prophecy

Jude quotes Enoch, “the seventh from Adam,” prophesying the Lord’s coming with ten thousands of His saints (14–15). A similar statement appears in the pseudepigraphal Book of Enoch; Jude’s inspired quotation certifies that Enoch said this, not that the later book is Scripture.

Jude and 2 Peter

Jude and 2 Peter 2 describe the same kind of false teachers with similar examples. Peter speaks of false teachers who “shall be” (2 Peter 2:1); Jude of men already “crept in” (4).

Key passages

Jude 3

Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Jude 14–15

Enoch prophesied: the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment.

Jude 24–25

Unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless.

Jude 20–21

Building, prayer, abiding in God’s love, and hope form the positive response.

Outline

1–4 · The reason for the appeal

The danger of ungodly intruders prompts the call to contend.

5–16 · The character and judgment of error

Old Testament examples and vivid pictures expose the deceivers.

17–23 · The response of the faithful

Remember apostolic warnings, build up faith, pray, and exercise discerning mercy.

24–25 · The God who keeps

The letter closes in praise of divine power and glory.

Original language

ἐπαγωνίζομαι (epagonizomai, G1864) — “earnestly contend”

To struggle or fight for something, as an athlete in an agony of effort. Used only here. The faith is worth a fight.

ἅπαξ (hapax, G530) — “once”

Once for all. The faith was “once delivered unto the saints” (3): complete and final, not open to new revelation or revision.

ἀσέλγεια (aselgeia, G766) — “lasciviousness”

Unrestrained sensuality and shameless excess. The false teachers turned grace into a license for it (4).

τηρέω (tereo, G5083) — “keep, preserve, reserve”

A key word: believers are preserved in Christ (1), must keep themselves in God’s love (21), while fallen angels are reserved in chains (6) and apostates reserved for darkness (13). God is able to keep (phulasso) from falling (24).

Doctrinal study

The angels which kept not their first estate

Angels which left their own habitation are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment (6), and Jude links their sin “in like manner” with the going after strange flesh of Sodom (7). Many understand this as the sons of God of Genesis 6 who cohabited with the daughters of men.

The way of Cain, error of Balaam, gainsaying of Korah

Cain represents religion without blood; Balaam, ministry for money and compromise with the world; Korah, rebellion against God-given authority. Apostates walk in all three (11).

Kept by God

Jude begins with believers “preserved in Jesus Christ” (1) and ends with God “able to keep you from falling” (24). In between, believers are to keep themselves in the love of God (21). God’s keeping and the believer’s responsibility stand side by side.

Commentary notes

Enoch’s message is ours

Enoch, the most obvious type of the raptured church in the Old Testament, walked with God and preached the coming of the Lord in judgment before being taken. Believers today should do the same.

Praying in the Holy Ghost

“Praying in the Holy Ghost” (20) is not speaking in unknown tongues. The Holy Spirit is the Author of Scripture (2 Peter 1:21), so praying in the Holy Ghost is praying according to what the Bible says, with the Spirit’s help (Romans 8:26–27).

Save some with fear

Jude distinguishes those who need compassion from those who must be pulled out of the fire with fear, “hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (22–23). Contending for the faith includes rescuing people from error.

Christ in the book

  • The only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (4)
  • The Lord coming with ten thousands of His saints (14)
  • The only wise God our Saviour, able to keep (24–25)

Applications

Historical

  • Jude alerts early Jewish Christians to the danger of false teachers, gives examples from Israel’s history, and calls them to defend their faith.
  • The apostolic identification associates Jude with Thaddaeus, one of the Twelve. The alternative identification with the Lord’s earthly family also accounts for the relationship to James; the opening identifies that relationship without naming Jude’s father.

Doctrinal

  • The Lord’s eighth letter to the Jewish remnant of the Tribulation period, instructing them to contend for the faith once delivered in the face of the Antichrist’s false teachers, and pointing to the Lord’s coming with His saints to judge.
  • Grace cannot be used as permission for ungodliness, and the faith already delivered is not subject to replacement by novelty.
  • The Lord’s future coming in judgment gives urgency to present faithfulness and provides the setting for the letter’s further tribulation application.

Devotional

  • We must contend for the faith and faithfully preach the imminent return of Christ, as Enoch did before the Flood. God is able to keep us from falling.
  • The defense of the faith requires continued growth in its teaching, prayer, and conduct consistent with the truth being defended.
  • Combine firmness with mercy toward those in danger, remembering that different situations require different forms of help.
  • Prayer in the Holy Ghost seeks God’s will in dependence on the Spirit and in accordance with the truth he has revealed.

Answering the critics

Critics have debated Jude’s canonicity, pointing to its quotation of Enoch and its reference to the dispute over Moses’ body, and some regard it as poorly preserved.

Inspired writers may quote true statements from any source without endorsing the whole source—Paul quoted pagan poets (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12). No serious debate by textual scholars has overturned the epistle’s place. Critics of the Bible are, by definition, not Bible believers.