Jude “Contend for the Faith”

(1:1-2) 1 “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

The author state his name as Jude, and claims to be a willing servant of Christ, as well as the brother of James. It is reasonable to believe, the only James worth name dropping would be James, the head of the church of Jerusalem. This James is also believed to be the half-brother of Jesus, therefore making Jude, another half-brother of Jesus.

He names the recipients of the letter as “those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.” So generally speaking, it is worth studying by all believers, specifically, Jude probably had a group of believers he preached to frequently, that needed this exhortation.

We see his love for his brothers and sisters in verse 2, with his well wishes for mercy, peace and love to be in abundance to them.

(1:3-4) 3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Verses 3 and 4 describe clearly why he is writing this letter.

It seems he wished to write and send a letter regarding their “common salvation”, but an urgent matter arose that required his attention first, a matter dealing with false teachers.

In verse 3 he encourages the believers to “contend earnestly” or fight for, struggle for “the faith”. This phrase, “the faith” is a reference to a set group of truths that had been taught by the apostles, and agreed upon and taught by the rest of the church. Teach, defend, and hold fast to them.

Paul was described as a teacher of these truths or “the faith” in Galatians 1:23. “But only, they [the churches of Judea] kept hearing, “He [Paul] who once persecuted us is now preaching “the faith” which he once tried to destroy.”

Notice that Jude does not detail these truths out, this could show that the believers new well what he was stating.

Even today, this set of truths is what all Christians try to hold to, a common doctrine. And just like in those days, there are individuals who seek to distort those truths, add to them, take away from them and pervert them for their own personal gain here in this world.

In verse 4 James states these people had made there way to prominence in the local church, unnoticed. They are nothing new, but were “marked out” earlier on to see to this kind of work.

They are not godly individuals in any way, and their intentional teachings are meant to pervert the grace of God..

Paul writes in Romans 6:1,2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be!”

This was the truth the false teachers perverted. They taught that God’s grace was a license to freely commit evil.

In their lessons, no one would ever be held accountable. Christ was not Lord, and would have nothing to say to their evil ways.

Their very actions were a witness against the lordship of Christ.

(1:5-7) 5 “Now I desire to remind you though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”

After describing these lawless individuals, ungodly unbelievers, Jude reminds the readers what the end is for such individuals.

With Israel, once saved from Egypt out of bondage, those who did not believe in God were destroyed. Paul writes of those who fell in the wilderness in 1 Corinthians 10:5-10, they are discussed as well in Hebrews 3:16.

With the angels, when they were cast out of heaven for sin as Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2:4.

With Sodom and Gomorrah as recorded in Genesis 19:24

There is a judgement that awaits us, and the evil will be dealt with accordingly.

(1:8-11) 8 “Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. 9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgement, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”

Verses 8-11 describe the characteristics of these false teachers

They based their doctrine on their dreams, or visions which they believed to be from God. They preferred these visions, which defiled the flesh in some way over the authority of scripture, God’s chosen way to reveal Himself.

We read too that they were critical of the truthful teachings, scriptural teachings of angels.

In verse 9 Jude describes an occurrence not spoken of anywhere else, and argument that happened between Michael the archangel and the devil, about the body of Moses. He does this as a character comparison, Michael “did not dare pronounce a railing judgement” against the devil. He knew his position and stayed respectfully within his bounds. He was obedient, and simply told the devil, “The Lord rebuke you.”

Further in his character description he points out their hate for “the things which they do not understand.” and instead of understanding, they act out of instinct, like irrational animals.

He describes their character with the likes of Cain having contempt for Able in Genesis 4:3-8, Balaam in speaking against Israel in Numbers 31:16 and Korah in Numbers 16:1 when he rebelled against Moses.

Jude’s thought, these false teachers will meet the same fate.

(1:12-13) 12 “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

In verses 12-13 Jude continues to give character illustrations of the ungodly men.

Next in verses 14-19 Jude reminds the readers that these type individuals were prophesied by Enoch and the apostles.

(1:14-19) 14 “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgement upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. 17 But you, beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.”

No doubt these false teachers thought or think they are being very spiritual, but it was in the sense of chasing spiritual levels like the gnostics did.

Jude is sure to point out they are not of the Spirit.

While spending a large part of his letter describing the characteristics and eventual doom of the false teachers, Jude wraps up his letter with a concise and specific exhortation for those who truly believe.

(1:20-23) 20 “But you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”

Believers should spend their time building their faith, or trust in the Lord, specifically by praying.

We should always find ourselves in the love of God, seeking to live lives that honor and glorify Him, be obedient to His commands

Keep in mind Christ’s return, it will be a joyful time for us, we can anxiously await it, knowing He will deal with us in mercy, and usher us into eternal life

With that in mind, have mercy on those who may struggle with doubt of the truth

Save others from hell by teaching “the faith” those sound scriptural truths he urged them to contend for

Deal with those caught in sin with mercy, love the sinner, hate the sin if you will.

(1:24-25) 24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Jude wrote in the beginning he had hope to write them a letter regarding their common salvation, but he did not.

He does end his letter with statement we can gleam a little of his thoughts from.

Jude believes all glory, majesty, dominion and authority, from the very beginning, before time, to now, and from now until forever belong to the only God, who is our Savior through Christ.

It is in Christ, the believer can be kept from stumbling before God, and made to stand in His presence, blameless and with great joy! The righteousness of Christ’s life, imputed to our’s.

Many scholar’s dispute the authenticity and canonicity of Jude. There are several question marks about it’s history, yet it has always been apart of the bible since the beginning. They would also argue it’s message holds no benefit for the believer today. However, Jude’s encouragement to hold tight to the faith, fight for it, and teach it properly is greatly needed in today’s culture, which refuses to hold to any truth, and only desires to believe what feels good at the time. Decisions in today’s world are based on what’s popular in culture or what one might feel is right in their own understanding. Holding fast to a truth revealed from an ancient book, much less submitting to the authority of that book is losing ground. One might argue, the urgency with which Jude wished to share this message is just as relevant today as it was then.

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