The Epistle of Jude
Jude’s letter in the New Testament is very short at only 25 verses and it may be one of the most under taught, under preached books in the Bible. The theologian Donald Guthrie once wrote this about this epistle…
“Its neglect reflects more the superficiality of the generation that neglects it than the irrelevance off its burning message.”
Meaning that we don’t turn to Jude much because Jude deals with topics that make us uncomfortable. And by uncomfortable, I mean Jude calls us out on engaging in the kind of sinful behavior that the modern day American evangelical church is bending over backwards to make acceptable. Jude puts it this way, “…some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.”
In other words, Jesus covered you in His eternal grace from the cross, so how you live your earthly life has no bearing on anything. No matter what, you are Heaven-bound. It’s a very dangerous lie, one that many people live under with total confidence.
Like James, Jude is also a half-brother to Jesus. Like James, he came to the faith through an encounter with the risen Jesus but where James then became a visible leader in the early church, except for this short writing Jude fades into obscurity.
Jude’s letter to us is short, sweet, encouraging and oh so very convicting. And with that I’m going to provide a 3-point overview for you but let me encourage you to take the time to get familiar with this epistle. Study it, meditate on it and be challenged by it!
The first thing to look at is Jude’s purpose in writing this letter. It’s addressed to “…all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.” Finding comfort in Christ is a driving force right out of the gate. Jude goes on to explain that when he first sat down to write this letter, he was going to focus on the topic of salvation. But verse 3, “Now I find I must write to you about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people.”
The reason why God steered Jude away from his original topic was because there was this influx of false teachers preaching this watered-down gospel relating to Jesus’ grace. They were attempting to strip away sin’s consequences while at the same time devaluing the importance of having an ongoing relationship with your Savior.
The purpose of this letter is to serve as a wakeup call. False teaching is presenting a tremendous risk to the one, true faith. And again this same phony doctrine is spreading at a rapid rate here in the U.S. As a result it’s up to those of us who know the real truth behind the Real Truth to head off false teaching at the pass.
The next thing Jude wants us to know is how to recognize these false teachers. He gives several Old Testament illustrations in verses 5 thru 16. Some off the examples are a little obscure, some are very clear and well known but the underlying point is that we must see deception for what it is. These “ungodly worms” will try and lead you to believe that they share your faithful views on following Jesus but in time they will show themselves to be all about self-glorification and personal gain. If you think about all the many megachurch pastors over the last few years who have been chased from their pulpits because they were in fact deceivers, you get a sense of the point Jude is making here.
Jude then closes his letter with two essential bits of information. The first has to do with how we defend against false teaching. He gives the short and sweet answer in verse 17. “But you my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said.” In other words, Know your Bible! Know the gospels! That’s the single best way to be aware, through an understanding of the Word, when someone is steering you wrong. As believers we are to be students of scripture. It’s non-negotiable!
Finally, what’s the proper way to praise God? Jude lays out several steps. First, we are to build each other up and encourage one another in the faith. We are to show grace and mercy to each other. We’re to love each other as Jesus loves us. We are to reach out to those who have surrendered to sin, but only to the point that we don’t run the risk of being led into sin ourselves. Jude says, verse 22, “Rescue others by snatching from them the flames of judgement. Show mercy to still others but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.”
And with that, be fearless in calling a sin a sin! The Bible is never indecisive when it comes to making clear what sin looks like. Stick to that and never buy into the idea that as centuries have passed and times have changed that Jesus would change His way of thinking about these things. Love the sinner, hate the sin as they say. And take very opportunity to let God make His appeal through you. If enough of us commit to that, fewer and fewer of God’s people will be left having to face an eternity apart from Him.