September Four Wonderful Things God Does for Us (Jude 1–2)

We are studying Jude along with 2 Peterbecause they both have the same theme, “authentic Christianity.”

Jude is one of the most neglected books in the Bible, probably because of its brevity.

It is so short it has no chapters, only verses.

It is the last of the general epistles, which were not written to a particular church, but to churches at large and, therefore, simply bear the name of the author.

Jude was probably written around a. d. 69.

In the first verse, the writer of this epistle identifies himself: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.

To properly identify the author of this epistle, we must determine which Jude he was and to which James he was a brother.

Remember: Jude was the brother of our Lord.

At first, he did not believe in Jesus Christ.

But some time after the resurrection of Christ, he gave his heart to the Lord and surrendered his life to preach the gospel.

Here we see him sitting down and writing to the believers of the first century.

And in writing, he wastes no time: right from the start he describes himself as a true minister of Jesus Christ and his readers as true believers of Christ.

Consequently, in his opening remark we have a picture by which we can measure ourselves, the picture of a true minister and of a true believer.

1. The picture of the true minister (v. 1).

2. The picture of the true believer (vv. 1–2).

1 (v. 1) Minister—Servant—Humility: the picture of the true minister. Who is he? Jude says two simple things about himself.

1. He says that he is “the servant of Jesus Christ.”

This is amazing, for as stated above, Jude was the brother of Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth (Mt. 13:55; Mk. 6:3; see Jn. 7:1–5, esp. v. 5).

At first he did not believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Anointed One of God, the Son of God who was to come to earth as the Savior of the world.

But note what Jude says here: he says that he is “the servant of Jesus Christ.”

He now believes that his brother Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God.

He believes that his brother Jesus is the Son of God who came into the world to save man.

He believes that his brother Jesus can save him from sin, death, and judgment; he believes that his brother Jesus can make him acceptable to God.

What an enormous turnaround! What a testimony for our Lord Jesus Christ!

2. Jude says that he is the brother of James.

Who is James? What James would be so famous and well known that all the believers of the first century would know him by his first name?

There was only one such James, the James who was the Lord’s brother, the James who was the pastor of the great Jerusalem church, the mother church of Christianity.

Note this fact: Jude identifies himself by referring to James.

Believers all over the world knew James, but few knew Jude.

Therefore, he must identify himself so that his audience will receive his exhortation.

He is simply Jude “the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.”

Note the humility of this man! The only claim he has is that he is a slave to Jesus Christ and the brother of a famous man.

He could have easily been jealous of his famous brother, resentful of the fact that he had to live under the shadow of his brother, resentful that he had to use his brother’s name to get a hearing from believers.

But Jude was not jealous or resentful.

He was a true minister of God: he walked humbly among the believers of the world, humbly before God, ever so thankful that God had called him to serve His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, thankful for whatever call God gave him.

Thought 1. The true minister of God has two very basic traits.

(1) The trait of being the servant and slave of Jesus Christ. And remember: Christ means Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the Son of God whom God sent into the world to save men.

This is the most basic belief of a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, every true minister of the gospel makes this belief the basis of his life and ministry.

He is a true minister because he is the servant and slave of Jesus Christ.

(2) The trait of humility.

The true minister walks humbly among believers and before God.

No matter how low God’s call is to him, he is thankful for the very fact that God called him.

He is, after all, the servant and slave who is available to do the bidding of his Master.

Think about how important obedience, humility, and submission are in the life of a slave or a servant.

Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as “the Son of God” and the perfect slave/servant of God.

Servant” (doulos) means slave, a person owned by another.

The call to come after someone implies discipleship because it is the disciple who breaks all other ties to follow his master as a servant.

Now, in his introduction, Jude mentions four wonderful things God does for us.

1. He calls us (1b)

Jude continues by greeting the recipients of his epistle: To those who are called (1b).

The word translated called suggests being personally chosen by God.

Jesus tells His disciples they would be loved by the world if they belonged to it, but they are no longer part of the world (Jn 15:19a–c).

Then, what does Jesus tell them (15:19d)?

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. John 15:9

Through the Holy Spirit, God calls us out of darkness into light by convicting us of our sins and revealing what Christ did for us on the cross.

This calling is not based on anything we have done or any virtue we might have.

It is based solely on God’s grace. According to Romans 11:29, why is this important to know?

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Romans 11:29

The word translated irrevocable, or “without repentance,” means God doesn’t change His mind.

The first wonderful thing God does for us is He calls us.

God made us, and God is able to empower us to do whatever he calls us to do. Denying that we can accomplish God’s work is not humility; it’s the worst kind of pride!

Whenever God calls us to a task that we think is beyond us, we must be careful to look to God and not to ourselves. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?

God calls us out of the indicative by His imperative. Ours is a call to nonconformity—to a transforming ethic that shatters the status quo.

God calls us to live a life we cannot live, so that we must depend on him for supernatural ability. We are called to do the impossible, to live beyond our natural ability.

Believers—Sanctified—Preserved—Called: the picture of a true believer.

Who were these believers?

f Jude was writing to a particular church or group of churches, he does not name the church or churches.

This points toward him writing to all the believers of the first century.

Apparently the fact that Jude and James were brothers of the Lord Jesus Christ carried a lot of weight with the believers of their day.

When they spoke, it made the believers stand up and take notice, for they had lived with Jesus day by day before His ministry and had experienced dramatic conversions from unbelief to staunch belief.

This fact probably points to Jude writing to a wider audience.

What he was writing was to be circulated among all the churches among all believers.

In these opening words, Jude pictures just who a believer is.

We can actually measure ourselves against his description and tell whether or not we are a believer.

a. Believers are the sanctified (hagios).

The sanctified person is a person who has turned away from sin and set his life apart to follow God.

He is a person who is set apart unto God, a person separated from the world and its possessions and pleasures, a person who is dedicated to following God, a person who has given all he is and has to God.

Note: the Greek text here is uncertain.

Some have the word beloved instead of sanctified.

That is, believers are beloved in God the Father.

God holds them ever so close to His heart.

They have accepted His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; honored Him by believing in Him.

Therefore, God loves the believer with a very special love, the love that accepts the believer and gives him the right to live in God’s presence forever and ever.

b. Believers are “preserved in Jesus Christ.”

The word preserved (teteremenois) means to be kept; to be guarded and watched after.

God keeps the believer, guards and watches over him.

The believer is a person …

• who is watched over by God

• who is guided and directed by God day by day

• who is strengthened by God to walk through all the trials and temptations of life

• who is protected from all the enemies of life, even death

• who is to be escorted into heaven quicker than the blink of an eye when the time comes for him to leave this world

• who is given life, both abundant and eternal

• who is given assurance of God’s presence and love through all of life

The true believer is a person who is preserved and kept by God.

He is a person who is looked after and cared for by God.

But note: it is in Jesus Christ that God keeps a person.

The believer is a person who has placed his life into Jesus Christ; he is a person who is trusting Jesus Christ to save him.

It is the true believer in Jesus Christ whom God preserves.

When we pass a prostitute in the street, we say, “Oh, poor creature! I pity you. I have not a harsh word for you, for I had been as you are, had not God preserved me.”

One salient dimension of God’s preservation is that the believer is not spared from danger or trial, but is preserved within it.

A true disciple has not taken an impulsive leap in the dark. That person is one who has become a Christian after deep thought and proper consideration.

Jesus insists that there is a relational love at stake that must be nurtured and preserved.