THE
EPISTLE OF JUDE
Greetings,
verses 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:
Jude
wrote around A.D. 69. That is scarcely 40 years after Christ's death. In that
short time many believers had become lax both in doctrine, that is, what they
believed, and practice, that is, how they behaved. To add to their problems
there were many false teachers, preying on them instead of praying for them.
these were encouraging their false beliefs and wrong behaviour. Jude wrote to
encourage Christians to remain true to what they had been taught and to what
they knew to be proper Christian behaviour. He also wanted to warn them about
the false teachers.
The
writer of this short but powerful letter calls himself a “bondservant of Jesus
Christ, and brother of James.” By common consent, the James here referred to
is the James who wrote the Epistle of James. James and Jude were sons of Alpheus
and Mary, and were the cousins of our Lord. Six other people named Jude are
mentioned in the NT, but the fact that the author of this letter did not need to
further identify either himself or James, who was a leader in the Jerusalem
church, supports the view that he was well known as James's brother and Christ's
cousin. Jude's being so closely related to our Saviour after the flesh adds
lustre to his designation of himself as the “bond-servant of Jesus Christ.”
Our Lord's human relatives eventually recognised His Divine nature and glory.
Although most of them had disbelieved at first they were now His loyal servants.
Jude
was writing to Christians everywhere, but reference to the OT and other Jewish
writings suggests the recipients were primarily Jewish Christians. He describes
the believers as called, consecrated and kept in a loving relationship with the
Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude
said that he had originally planned to write on the subject of their salvation
but felt the need instead to address the serious problem of religious apostasy
(1:3-4). The words used in verse 3 translated,
Jude
felt that God was literally pressuring him to write concerning the wholesale
turning away from the faith that was evident in the Early Church. Compare this
with 1 Corinthian 9:16-17 where the Apostle Paul suggests that he felt pressured
to preach the gospel. “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of
for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel”!
We are to “defend the truth of the Good News, which God gave once for all time
to his holy people (1:3)”. In post biblical times, the truth has been given to
us “once for all time” in the canon of Scripture. We are not to add to it or
take from it (see Rev 22:18-19).
Having
identified himself to his readers he then describes the people to whom he is
writing.
They
are the ‘Called’
To
those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ:
2
Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
This
means to “to call, invite or summon someone”.
Matt 20:8; 25:14; it is used particularly of the divine call to partake
of the blessings of redemption. It is always used in the NT of that
“calling” the origin, nature and destiny of which are heavenly. It is used
especially of God's invitation to man to accept the benefits of salvation.
Eph
1:18, identifies it as “His calling”.
Phil
3:14, names it the “high calling”.
2
Thess 1:11 and 2 Peter 1:10, make it personal, “your calling”.
2
Tim 1:9, says it is a “holy calling”.
Heb
3:1, a “heavenly calling”;
Eph
4:1, “the calling wherewith ye were called in one hope of your calling.”
It
is used of the call of the gospel, and is “an effectual call,” as in a
number of the Epistles including this reference in Jude 1. It is also found in
Rom 1:1,6-7; 8:28; 1 Cor 1:2,24;; Rev 17:14; in Rom 1:7 and 1 Cor 1:2 the
meaning is “saints by calling or Divine appointment”.
It was to a people called by God and set apart for His
purpose.
SANCTIFED
"sanctification," is used of (a) separation to God,
1 Cor 1:30; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2;
(b) the course of life befitting those so separated, 1
Thess 4:3,4,7; Rom 6:19,22; 1 Tim 2:15; Heb 12:14.
"Sanctification describeds that relationship with God
into which men enter by faith in Christ, Acts 26:18; 1 Cor 6:11, and to which
their sole title is the death of Christ, Eph 5:25,26; Col 1:22; Heb 10:10,29;
13:12.
Sanctification is also used in NT of the separation of the
believer from evil things and ways. This sanctification is God's will for the
believer and God’s purpose in calling him by the gospel. It must be learned
from God as He teaches it by His Word and it must be pursued by the believer,
earnestly and without deviating from God’s purpose. It refers to a holy
character which cannot be transferred or imputed. It is an individual
possession, built up, little by little, as the result of obedience to the Word
of God, and of following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is God’s agent in sanctification, The
sanctification of the Spirit is associated with the call of God.
"Since every believer is sanctified in Christ Jesus,
1 Cor 1:2, cf. Heb 10:10, a common NT designation of all believers is 'saints,'
i. e., 'sanctified' or 'holy ones.' Thus sainthood, or sanctification, is not an
attainment, it is the state into which God, in grace, calls sinful men, and in
which they begin their course as Christians, Col 3:12; Heb 3:1."
And we are ‘preserved’ or ‘kept’.
‘Tereo’
is the Greek word translated "to preserve" where the verb is in the
aorist tense which regards the continuous "preservation" of the
believer as a single, complete act, without reference to the time occupied in
its accomplishment in Jude 1,
Jude is
concerned about the dangers facing believers at that time. We will identify the
dangers they faced in coming weeks but today we want reassure ourselves that we
are building our lives on the solid foundation that God has provided for us,
called us to, separated us to and is keeping us safe in.