Jude was a leader of the Jerusalem church which began after Christ’s resurrection and the Holy Spirit was given (Acts 2:1-4). Many of the new Christians in Jerusalem were former Jews and Jude writes them a letter of warning and uses references and imagery that would resonate with their religious upbringing. It’s helpful to be aware that Jude was a half brother of Jesus. We believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to Mary and raised by Mary and Joseph. They went on to have other children including James and Jude (Mark 6:3). The family of Jesus had believed strongly that Jesus was the Son of God because of the miracle of his birth but at some point during his earthly ministry, which began when he was about 30, they struggled with his teachings and seemed to develop doubts (Mark 3:21, John 7:3-5). After his resurrection, that all changed. Jude and James became strong leaders in Jerusalem and each of them authored a New Testament letter (James 1:1, Jude 1:1). The Book of Jude is the last of the New Testament letters and is placed just before the Book of Revelation.
In his short letter, Jude sounds the alarm that false teachers have infiltrated the ranks of the early church. He condemns them for what they are and predicts their eternal judgment. But more importantly, he urges the true believers to contend for the faith! To be a worthy contender in a battle, you must possess awareness of your opponent and their tactics. Ultimately the opponent of believers is Satan but his power is evident through his army of demons and the false teachers who sneak into the lives of unsuspecting Christians. Their mission is to subtly destroy true doctrines and water down Christian standards to match worldly standards. This has been going on since the time of Jude and continues to be a major problem in the Church today.
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.”
They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Jude 1:3-4
The core effort of these false teachers of Jude’s day was centered on a perversion of God’s grace (Jude 1:4). This is a tricky doctrine and fairly easy to pervert into a false doctrine that sounds plausible to those not indoctrinated with true doctrine. So the truth is that the grace of God is greater than all our sin. No matter how many sins we’ve accumulated, or the duration of any sinful behavior, or the severity of any sin(s), God is willing and able to justly forgive us because all that sin was imputed to Christ when he died on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). So when we believe the Gospel and put our faith in God’s holy sacrificial offering of his one and only son, we are forgiven, saved and safe for eternity. He makes us into a new creation and we become the righteousness of God! That is the Gospel. The perversion of the Gospel is what Jude calls a license for immorality. The false teachers would present a teaching that goes something like this: If all sin is forgiven for someone who believes, then we don’t have to worry about being good and in fact, we can sin all we want. Therefore, it’s okay to live an immoral lifestyle because our sin is taken care of. And this salvation is provided by God as a gift, so we can’t do anything to earn it. So don’t worry about sin- go ahead and sin all you want. Don’t worry about this so-called Christ, because Jesus died and is gone proving he never was Lord. He was just a man who taught a bunch of stuff that isn’t even relevant. These false teachers probably tailored their message to their audience but the result was a perversion of a true doctrine. Jude condemns their teaching and gives several examples of how they are ungodly and will suffer eternal condemnation for doing the devil’s work.
It’s important to note that he starts his letter speaking about the “salvation we share” so it is clear that he is directing this message to believers. He urges them to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. To fight false doctrine, we must be immersed in truth and righteousness. We must be empowered by the Holy Spirit and aware of the history and future regarding those who oppose God. They haven’t won in the past and they won’t win in the future. God saves those who trust in Him and in Jesus Christ whom he sent. While believers must contend, we need not fear. The victory belongs to the Lord! At the same time, we have our task to share the Gospel with the world and make disciples of all nations (Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:18-20). To accomplish this mission, we must be united in our faith, in our actions, and in the Holy Spirit who will guide and empower us. The Holy Spirit will lead us into a life of righteous acts motivated by a love for others and will teach us to glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the polar opposite of the teachings of any false teacher.
“But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”
Jude 1:17-19
These scoffers, as he calls them, do not have the Spirit. They are not believers. We can identify them by the words, their actions, and the evidence of what type of fruit they bear. True believers will worship Christ, obey his Word and show love for one another. Scoffers will divide, follow false teachings which may distort Biblical passages or may be foreign to the Bible altogether. Ultimately, it will be obvious that they do not have the Spirit. True believers share in salvation from sin and possess the Holy Spirit. While there may be plenty of counterfeits in the world, it should not be too hard for a discerning believer to identify those who truly are born again. When that is accomplished, we must shut down the false teachers and their followers. The Apostle Paul echoed this same sentiment in his last letter to Timothy.
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Jude does not leave these believers without hope. He assures them that Jesus will bring them to his glorious presence and reminds them of the glory, majesty, power and authority that has been bestowed to Christ our Savior from eternity to eternity. While many of the references Jude uses as examples in his letter may not resonate with us to the same degree it did with his original audience, we can rest assured that our faith in Christ will be rewarded. We have no fear. The scoffers will be condemned and true believers will be saved.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Jude 1:14-15, 24-25
Jude’s use of triads is unmatched by any other author of the Bible. In literature, a triad is used to emphasize a point for dramatic effect. There is no shortage of drama in this short, one-chapter letter.
| Reference | First point | Second point | Third point |
| 1:1 Self-description | Jude | Servant of Christ | Brother of James |
| 1:1 Addressed to those… | Who have been called | Who are loved in God the Father | Are kept for Jesus Christ |
| 1:2 Blessing extended | Mercy | Peace | Love |
| 1:4 Description of the scoffers | Ungodly | Pervert the grace of God | Deny Jesus Christ |
| 1:5-7 Example of God’s ultimate punishment for those of past times | Destroyed unbelieving Israelites prior to entering the Promised Land | Everlasting chains reserved for fallen angels | Immoral perverts of Sodom and Gomrrah were eventually destroyed |
| 1:8 Identifying characteristics of the scoffers | Pollute their own bodies | Reject authority | Abuse celestial beings |
| 1:11 Comparison of the scoffers behavior with well known condemnations of the past which all ended in death. | Way of Cain, see separate blog post: https://woody-brohm.online/the-way-of-cain/ | Balaam’s error, see separate blog post: https://woody-brohm.online/balaam/ | Korah’s rebellion, see separate blog post: https://woody-brohm.online/korahs-rebellion/ |
| 1:12-13 Description of the scoffers | Blemishes at holy religious gatherings | Shepherds who don’t care | Clouds without rain |
| 1:12-13 Continuation of their description for clarification and emphasis. | Autumn trees without fruit, twice dead | Wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame | wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever |
| 1:16 Characteristics of the scoffers | they follow their own evil desires | They boast about themselves | They flatter others for their own advantage |
| 1:19 More characteristics of the scoffers | They divide you | They follow mere natural instincts | They do not have the Spirit |
| 1:20-21 Instructions for the believers while contending | Pray in the Holy Spirit | Keep yourselves in God’s love | Patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ |
| 1:22-23 Actions believers should take | Be merciful to those who doubt | Save those in danger | show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. |
| 1:24-25 The Hope that believers have in Christ, he will… | Keep you from stumbling | Present you before his glorious presence | Remove all fault |
| 1:25 Description of traits God and his attributes (available for our battle) | God our Savior | All Glory, Majesty, Power and Authority | Jesus our Lord |
| Duration of God’s greatness | Before all ages | Now | And forevermore. |
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
