Overview
Contend earnestly for the faith.
What does this letter tell me about how to live?
- Contend earnestly for the faith.
- Do not change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ.
- Don’t speak abusively about what we don’t understand.
- We must learn to live with the Spirit if we’re to overcome our natural instincts and ungodly desires.
- We must build ourselves up in our most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
- We must keep ourselves in God’s love as we wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus to bring us into eternal life.
- We must be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
What Will Happen to Godless Men, Jude 1-16
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: Mercy to you and peace and love be multiplied.
Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn’t believe. Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings. But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” But these speak evil of whatever things they don’t know. What they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, they are destroyed in these things.
Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouth speaks proud things), showing respect of persons to gain advantage.
How We Are to Persevere, Jude 17-25
But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you that “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.” These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit.
But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
On some have compassion, making a distinction, and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Thoughts
This letter boils down to contending for our faith—what Jude refers to as our most holy faith—against those who would warp the grace of God into a license for immorality. Grace does indeed continually save us, but the liberty it gives us, as Paul points out in Romans, doesn’t give us a free pass to sin. This grace, this overwhelming matchless grace from God through Jesus Christ, should serve as the catalyst to do what God commands us to do. And that command is to love him with everything that we are, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This commandment to love in this way flies in the face of what Jude refers to in this letter as “natural instincts” and “ungodly desires” (NIV). We come to this earth hard-wired to put ourselves first. Yet God calls us to overcome this natural instinct and learn to put him first and to pull the well-being of others at equal and sometimes even above our own well being.
Questions
- Do you pray for other Christ followers in this way: “Mercy to you and peace and love be multiplied”?
- What does it mean to contend earnestly for the faith?
- Do you know any “ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency”?
- Do you know those who “in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings”?
- If Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” then how should we contend for the faith? How should judgment and condemnation stay out of our conversations?
- Do you ever speak evil of whatever things you don’t know?
- Are we guilty of letting the things that are our natural instinct creep into our churches and our worship services?
- What was the way of Cain? What was Balaam open to do for hire? What was Korah’s rebellion?
- Are there shepherds without fear; clouds without water; autumn leaves without fruit; wild waves of the sea, foaming out of their own shame; and wandering stars among us today?
- Are there murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouths speak proud things), showing respect of persons to gain advantage within our worship services?
- Are there mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts, causing divisions, living sensually, and not having the Spirit in our churches?
- Are you building yourself up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit?
- Are you keeping yourself in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life?
- Are you showing compassion, making a distinction, and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear?
- Is your faith solely in Jesus Christ to present you faultless before God?
What do we do now?
- We’ve got to learn how to build ourselves up on our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
- We have to keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
- We have to show some compassion, making a distinction, and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
Prayer
Father, Lord Jesus, and Holy Spirit, teach your children how to build ourselves up in our most holy faith, praying in your Holy Spirit. Show us how to keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. Help us to learn how to show some compassion, making a distinction between those who are to receive your compassion and those who are godless, and help us to save some, snatching them out of the fire with fear. Father, I don’t really understand what it means to even hate the clothing stained by the flesh, but if this is what you want, help me understand it and do it to your glory. Amen.
