About Jesus     Steve Sweetman

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My Commentary on the Letter of
Jude

Jude 1 and 2    Jude 3-16     Jude 17-23    Jude 24 and 25

Introduction

This commentary is based on the 1994 edition of the New International Bible.  Chapter titles in my commentary correspond to the chapter titles in the NIV, making for easier comparison.

A man named Jude wrote this letter, and he claimed to be the brother of James.  What James he is speaking about is not certain.  It could have been James, one of the leaders in the Jerusalem church, who wrote the book of James.  This James was also the brother of Jesus.  So if this is the case, then Jude was also the brother of Jesus.  We can’t really be certain, because nowhere in the text does the writer make this certain.  Yet it is a good guess that if someone mentioned the name of James in the first generation church, then the first thought that might come to mind is "James of Jerusalem, the brother of Jesus”.   

No one knows the date this letter was written.  If Jude really was the brother of Jesus then it was written somewhere between 55 and 80 AD.  The problems that he points out in the church were beginning to spring up during this time.  Yet some place the date much farther into the future.  If this is the case, then this Jude was most likely not the brother of Jesus, unless he was the youngest brother of Jesus and lived a long time.

Greetings (verses 1 and 2)

Jude, like Paul and Peter, introduces himself as a servant of Jesus Christ.  We, in today’s world often introduce ourselves as a Christian, yet if we would introduce ourselves as a servant of Jesus Christ, people would be more likely to understand where we are coming from.  Most people in North America call themselves a Christian, but few call themselves a servant of Jesus.  It would make for interesting conversation if someone asked what religion you were and you replied by saying, “I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ”.  Of course, you would have to live a life worthy of such a claim.

Jude also says that he is a brother of James.  As I have said, what James he is speaking of is uncertain, although James was well known to Christians and if someone claimed to be a brother of James, it is quite possible that people would think of James the brother of Jesus.          

This is a general letter.  It is written to “those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father, and kept by Jesus Christ”.  All true Christians have been called by God.  They are also kept by Jesus.  What does this mean?  It means that Jesus keeps them in His grace, keeps them in the true faith.  We need the help that only comes from Jesus to keep us from falling back into unbelief.  If it was not possible to fall back into unbelief, then it might be logical to think that Jude would not have had to say these words.

“Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance”, is the way in which Jude closes his greeting.

The Sin And Doom Of Godless Men (verses 3-16)

Jude says in verse 3 that what he really wanted to write about was the salvation that is found in Jesus.  This would have been the topic to write about, if not for the present problems with false teaching in the church.  Therefore he “urges them to contend for the faith that was once and for all entrusted to the saints”.  Jude urges these people to “contend” for what they believe in, the faith, their trust in Jesus.  The message of salvation that is found by trusting Jesus was “entrusted” to his readers.  God Himself gave them this salvation to hold and to keep and to look after.  But now some were beginning to change the salvation and make it into something that it should not be.  They were misusing God’s trust that He gave them. 

Because there was a movement a foot to undermine the true gospel Jude tells his readers to contend for the faith.  This means to fight for the faith.  It means to come up against the false teachers and the things they teach.  Christians are not to sit back and let false teaching overthrow what God has entrusted them with.  It is our responsibility to stand up against any false teaching.  This is somewhat foreign in our world of relevance that has penetrated the church.  Even within the church the thinking is not to rock the boat.  We all don’t think alike anyway.  Don’t be contentious.   But Jude says just the opposite.  Be contentious.  Stand up and fight for what you believe in.  Don't let the false teachers run you over.  This became the number one duty of the second and third generation church in the second century.  Great men of God were those who contended for the faith, fighting against false teaching from within and from without. 

When I speak of “contending for the faith”, I am speaking of the central doctrines of salvation.  I am not speaking of secondary issues.  We have been quite good at contending over secondary issues, and dividing the church.  We are to contend for the faith, not secondary and disputable issues.  

In my thinking, one of the biggest problems the twenty first century church has is their ignorance of the Bible.  We don't contend for the faith because we really don't know what our faith is all about.  We've rejected the book that teaches us our faith.  This should never be.  We will be judged by the Lord for this failure. 

In verse 4 Jude tells his readers that these men, these false teachers, were written about long ago and their condemnation was made known long ago as well.  Jude is not referring to specific prophecies concerning these teachers.  What he is saying is that the Old Testament clearly points out that those who defile the word of the Lord are condemned.  His references then should be taken in general terms and not specific terms from specific Old Testament passages. 

Concerning condemnation, Jesus in John 3:17 makes it very clear that people bring condemnation on themselves.  He says “those who believe not are condemned already”. 

Jude says what Peter said in 2 Peter 2:1, and that is, these false teachers have “secretly” infiltrated the church.  The idea is that these men, like spies, have covertly snook into the church, and then once in, they spread their heresies. 

In verse 4Jude says that these men “are godless and change the grace of God into a license for immorality”.  Many people took Paul’s teaching concerning grace and distorted it. They said everyone is under God’s grace and mercy. We are all forgiven of all our sins, past present and future, which is correct.  But they take this truth one step further by saying, because of this grace, we can do what we please.  We are already forgiven.  God’s grace covers it all.  Paul did not preach this.  This is in fact an abuse of God’s grace.  I think many Christians today, although they don't admit it, live like this.  They do things that aren't right, and they don't feel bad about it.  They think that God is okay with the way they live, but He isn't. 

Another thing that these false teachers do is “deny that Jesus Christ is our only Sovereign Lord”.  What Jude is saying here is that these false teachers don’t believe that Jesus is God.  The word “sovereign” applied to Jesus means that He is God.  These false teachers didn’t believe in the Deity of Christ.  This would make them non-Christians, even though they appeared in church gatherings, like many false teachers do today.

In verse 5 Jude reminds his readers that God delivered His people out of Egypt, but ended up destroying those who didn’t believe, or trust Him.   This is meant to be a warning.  If God could destroy His people in Old Testament times, he can do the same today.  In fact it is my opinion that He has left certain churches because of their failure to follow Him.  They become no different than any other civic group, or Israel of old.  

The idea that God could destroy His own people is interesting, even after He spent the time and energy to save them from the hands of the Egyptians.  God is very secure.  He is not afraid to destroy something that he has made.  Unlike most of us, if we make something, we most likely won’t want to destroy it.  God is not like this.  He created the earth, and then He flooded it.  He chose a people for Himself, helped them in many ways, then destroyed them because they failed to trust Him.

The point that Jude is making in verse 5 is that those who are teaching another gospel are at the point of not believing and will soon be cut off from the people of God by God Himself.  Note that Jude equates not believing in the Deity of Christ as not believing at all.   

The next example Jude gives as a warning concerns angels.  In 2 Peter 2:4, Peter seems to be speaking about the same event as Jude.  There have been many interpretations about just what Peter and Jude are talking about.  Could it be angels descending to earth and having sex with humans as some say took place in Genesis 6?  Could it be the expulsion of bad angels from their heavenly home?   Jude says that they “did not keep their position of authority, but abandoned their own home”.  It is generally understood that God threw out the bad angels from their home.  Jude says that they seemed to have left by their own choice.  Therefore you might say that these angels were thrown out, but they were thrown out because of the choice they made to rebel.  Yes, God threw them out, but in one sense they chose to be thrown out by their choice of actions. When it comes to our actions, the way we act really does determine, or at least show the world, if we have true faith or not.  These angels rebelled, showing they did not trust in God, something these false teachers were doing in Jude's day.

Like Peter, Jude says that these angels have been kept in chains of darkness for that Great Day of Judgment.  We must therefore conclude that the evil spirits now prowling the spiritual world are not these fallen angels.  They are a different being altogether.

The last warning that Jude gives these false teachers is the example of Sodom and Gomorrah “who gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion”. 

All three of these situations “serve as examples of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire”.  Jude is saying that if God punishes angels, cities, and His own people, he can punish the immoral false teachers of his day.  Their punishment is eternal fire – fire lasting forever.

In verse 8 Jude says that “these dreamers pollute their own bodies”.  The dreamers are the false teachers.  Their false teaching is seen as adultery, or spiritual adultery by Jude. When people commit adultery they are in fact polluting their own bodies in the eyes of our Lord. They also reject authority and slander celestial beings”.  These are the same words that Peter uses when he speaks of these things in his second letter.  Equating false teaching, especially concerning the Deity of Christ is in fact worshipping another god, which is, spiritual adultery

Both Jude and Peter speak of “celestial beings”.  Some people don’t think that these beings are angels while others do believe they are angels.  Jude gives a little more detail than Peter concerning these beings.  He says in verse 9 that “even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “the Lord rebuke you”.  If the celestial beings are being compared to Michael and the devil, then they are angels.

An interesting thing to note here is that an angel would not slander the devil.  You might think, “what is wrong with that”?  We hear Christians saying slanderous things  against the devil without any hesitation.  Maybe they shouldn’t be saying such things to the devil.  Maybe they should be like Michael, and let the Lord do the rebuking of the devil.

Also like Peter, Jude says these false teachers are like animals, because they follow their own sinful natural instincts, and speak about things they don’t understand.  Animals follow their instincts.  People have a mental capability to know and to understand.  What people do should be done from a good mental understanding.

Concerning this fight over the body of Moses between Michael and satan, Jude speaks as if we should know what he is talking about.  Most Christians have no clue what he is speaking of here.  If you read Deuteronomy 34 you will learn that Moses died at the age of one hundred and twenty.  He was not sick.  He was in good health, even at that old age.  God simply took Moses, but he did take him by death.  He didn't just disappear into the clouds like Elijah did.  Moses was buried because he did die.  The thing about Moses' burial is that no man buried him.  No man even knew where he was buried.  The text states that God Himself buried Moses and this is where the fight between Michael and satan took place.

You might wonder why satan was interested in the body of Michael.  I think I might know.  Elijah did not die.  He went to be with the Lord.  Moses died, but God buried him.  Both men left this planet on Mount Nebo to be with their Lord.  It is interesting to note that Jesus was transfigured on a mountain, that many people feel is mount Nebo.  Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah. The text does not say what they talked about.  It is my thinking that they spoke about the future ministry of these two men.  I feel, at least at this moment, that Moses and Elijah are the two witnesses spoken of in the book of Revelation.  If that is true, then satan would have had reason to fight over Moses' body, since Moses ministry was not over.  Moses didn't get to go into the promise land with the rest of Israel, but I don't think that was the end of his ministry.  There is more for him to do at the end of this age, and satan knew that.        

Jude then says that “these are the very things that destroy them”.  What “things destroy” these false teachers?  In the long run, their sinful natural instincts destroy them, because they are not tempered with holy living.  Sin leads to all sorts of problems, which ends in death.  Paul says that the “wages of sin is death”.  Following ones natural sinful instincts will sooner or later cause you to lay aside your faith, and the laying aside of faith is the thing that leads to death.

Notice the word "understand" in verse 10.  Understanding is extremely important when it comes to the things of God and Biblical truth.  I do differentiate between knowledge and understanding.  Knowing about things is one thing, but understanding what you know is another step beyond simple knowing.  Christians today have little Biblical understanding.  

Peter compares these men to Balaam.  Jude adds 2 other names to the list, Cain and Koreh. Cain killed his brother.   Korah rebelled against the authority of Moses.  Thus these men are rebellious like Korah, murders like Cain, and false teachers like Balaam.

Note the word "profit" when it comes to Balaam.  God used Balaam in a real way to help Israel.  God actually used Balaam as a prophet, but eventually "prophet" became "profit" in Balaam's life, like many Christian leaders today.  Money sometimes takes over a life.  

Verse 12 continues in the same vain as Peter in his second letter.  You might think that Jude had just read Peter’s letter.  Jude says that these men eat at your love feasts, “eating with you without the slightest qualm”. These men have no conscience.  They can participate in sexual orgies in the town square and then come and eat with the saints with no sense of shame.

Jude says that these men “are shepherds that feed only themselves”.  Godly shepherds are servants of Jesus, who care for God's people.  These men are greedy and selfish, thinking only of themselves.

Note in verse 12 that these false teachers are called "shepherds".  They are actually leaders in the local churches, leaders that have let themselves stray away from the truth in order to serve their own unholy appetites.  I see many leaders in the so-called Emergent Church of this early twenty first century as similar false teachers.    

Jude continues by saying that “they are clouds without rain, blown about by the wind”. These words are almost the same as Peter’s.  Peter says that these men are “springs without water”. (2 Peter 2:17)  This means that these men are empty and shallow.  What they claim they have, they don’t have.

These men are also like “autumn trees without fruit, uprooted, twice dead”.  Twice dead suggests that these men are doubly dead, unable to be revived. They were dead before they came to Christ, and now that they have departed from Christ, they are dead again. This death will carry them on to eternal death.

Like Peter, Jude says that ‘blackest darkness” is reserved for them forever.  It seems to me that there are different levels to ones punishment in the next life. This suggests to me that false teachers will be punished, not merely by darkness as some will be punished, but by “blackest darkness”.

You might note that all New Testament writers had a great disdain for false teachers.  They are not afraid to speak forth their mind against these people, as Jude so clearly does.  We  are much more reserved and polite in many cases today when it comes to speaking out against false teachers. We should probably be more forthright in our speaking against false doctrine.

In verse 14 Jude mentions a prophecy spoken by Enoch, an Old Testament man mentioned in Genesis 5.  But this prophecy is no where to be found in the Old Testament.  The quote however is found in the “Book of Enoch” that was written sometime in the first or second century B.C.  Most New Testament writers knew about this book.  This book is not found in the Protestant Canon of Scripture. Protestants call this book and others like it  “the Apocrypha.

You might ask, “why would the Lord inspire a man to quote from a book that is not found in our Bible”?   One answer might be that the content of the prophecy is scripturally correct, even though the book itself is questionable for canonization purposes.  Paul also quoted from secular writers to back up his points when speaking  to Gentiles.  

The point to the prophecy is that God will judge “ungodly men.  You can be certain of that. 

Jude ends his railing against these men by saying, “they are grumblers and fault finders, they follow their own evil desires, they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage”.

A Call To Persevere (verses 17-23)

In verse 17 Jude reminds his readers “what the apostles of our Lord” have told them.  And what Jude recalls for them is what Peter speaks about in his second letter.  He even uses the same word as Peter, that is the word scoffer.  Peter warned his readers about scoffers coming in the last days.  Jude warns his readers of the same thing. Scoffers are those who make fun of something, as a child makes fun of things based on their limited understanding. 

Jude says that these men follow their own ungodly desires.  He says that these false teachers divide the church.  This is exactly what they do. Some will hear and believe these men, separating them from those who don’t believe the teaching of the false teachers.

Jude then says that these men do not have the Spirit.  Somewhere along the way, these men, who were once real Christians had the Spirit of God in their lives, but when they chose to reject the truth of the gospel, the Holy Spirit left them.

In verse 20 Jude basically says that his readers should not be as these false teachers. They are to build themselves up in their most holy faith.  As we trust Jesus with more of our lives, we will be built up.  We will be stronger Christians. 

Then Jude says to “pray in the Spirit”.  This could mean one of two things, or both.  It could mean to pray under the influence of the Spirit, or/and, it could mean to pray in tongues.  Paul calls praying in tongues, praying by the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14.

In verse 21 he says “to keep yourself in God’s love while you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  We are to keep ourselves in God’s love.  That is our responsibility.  Once we enter the circle of God’s love, He will not kick us out, unless we decide to leave.  We are to stay in this circle of love until Jesus returns for us, something that we should be looking forward to.

Verse 22 says to “be merciful to those who doubt”.  He does not say, “be merciful to those who don’t believe”.  There is a difference between doubt and unbelief.  Thomas doubted, even though he was a believer.  We are to be merciful to such a person.  They need our help.

Verse 23 says, “snatch  others from the fire”.  This paints us a picture of someone quickly pulling out another from their sin before they get punished by the fire of God.  There is a sense of urgency with the use of the word “snatch”.  This was Paul’s attitude.  He tried his best, with the help of the Holy Spirit to persuade people, to snatch them out of their sin.

Jude finishes the above sentence by saying, “to others show mercy mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupt flesh”.  Jude is speaking of loving the sinner, but hating the sin.  This is not a simple dislike of sin.  It is an all out hatred towards sin, something that most of us know little about.  While trying to save the sinner we are to despise the sin, partly because we should, and partly because it is possible to get caught up in the sin while we are trying to save the sinner.  We often hear of under cover policemen trying to capture drug pushers and in the mean time get caught up in the same drug abuse as those they are trying to arrest.  When Jude uses the phrase, “mercy mixed with fear’, I believe this is at least partially what he means.  

Doxology (verses 24 and 25)

Jude closes his short letter with great and majestic words about our Lord.  He says, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling (we don’t need to fall – he will help us) and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and great joy (His blood makes us faultless resulting in great joy by Jesus – for the joy that was set before him – Heb. 12:2 ) to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more, amen”.  Jesus was, and is, and will be to come.  He is the final authority over all there is.  He has no rivals, no competition. His word is final. 

This is one very short letter, but it is extremely relevant for modern day Christians because we have the same problems today.  May we understand what Jude is teaching us and apply it our very lives.