Introduction to Jude
Notes
Transcript
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Author
The author is Jude, the brother of James and half brother of Jesus. It is interesting that he does not say anything about his earthly relationship to Jesus just the spiritual one, a servant.
No other claim mattered!
Being the 1/2 brother of and earthly King or celebrity might count for something in earthly eyes.
Jude knew that there was a far more important relationship: the servant of the Lord
Occasion
He wanted to write a doctrinal treatise on the faith but felt compelled to write to address false teachers that have penetrated the community and teaching heresy.
God inspired Him to write:
His desire was a doctrinal discourse to encourage believers.
God wrote a much different letter through him.
He addresses and tells us we must address false teachers and their heresy.
He got wind of the presence of false teachers and felt compelled, because of his love for them, to write them to contend for the faith.
He describes the false teachers as
turning the grace of God into licentiousness,
which is lacking moral restraint or or ignoring standard, especially sexually.
They are further described as enemies, ungodly, perverting grace, arrogant and ignorant, hypocrites and deceivers, wanton sinners, grumblers, fault finders, causing division, and do not have the spirit.
Recipients
Thee is some debate whether the audience are Gentile or Jewish Christians. There are arguments for both.
Suffice it to say that God inspired this book for all of our benefit, not just a church in one place.
Themes
Jude is the only book of the NT which is devoted solely to confronting apostasy.
apostasy is defection from true biblical faith
Jude condemned apostates
Jude encouraged believers to contend for the faith
Jude called for us to have discernment
Jude urges us to rigorously defend Biblical truth
Address
The letter identifies Followers of Christ three ways:
they are called
beloved in God the Father
preserved (NKJV) by Jesus Christ.
Called
Called
To be called is an act of God toward us; always with a purpose that is accomplished.
People are called to be saints, called to holiness, called to be apostles; to belong to Christ. God is the decisive factor in his calling us (Rom 1:1, 6-7; Rom 8:28-30; 1 Cor 1-2, 24; Rev 17:14).
The Holy Spirit is actively calling people to Christ today:
Jesus Promised this
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
When the gospel is proclaimed people are drawn
They hear and either accept or reject the grace of GOD
Nothing surprises God and He knows exactly how we will respond.
We, however, do not. That is why we share the message of Christ with all people.
Beloved
Beloved
Believers are loved in God the Father.
In God is a designation of those in Christ, it is a position in which we stand as believers.
The love of God flows from God because Gods is love.
IT is not simply that God loves because is love itself. Love is not just one of his attributes; it is his nature.
Two things thing’s about Gods love.
First it is uninfluenced.
Gods love is free and uncaused.
There is nothing that you do to make God love you or look upon you with more favor than the next person.
On the contrary there is everything in us that would naturally cause him to detest us.
He freely loves us because it is his nature and it naturally flows toward us. This is contrary to human love.
Second is is sovereign.
He is not obligated to love us but does so our of his own freedom.
He is not influenced or forced to love.
God loves us solely because HE chooses to love us!
Third it is infinite.
It has no:t bounds nor limits.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gods love is both universal and particular
That is he loves all humanity but not all humanity is loved the same way.
Universal Love
He loved all people so much, He sent the Son to take our place on the cross
He made provision which was sufficient for all people to be saved.
His love is particular:
Only those who respond to grace by faith become His children
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
This is a Fathers’ love as a father loves a son.
God, who is love, has wrapped his love around those who repent of their sins and trust Him alone for salvation
To be loved by God is to experience his favor, his blessing, his approval, his care, and his protection.
Kept
Kept
NKJV preserved in Jesus Christ:
The New King James Version. (1982). (Jud 1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
This could read “kept for” or “kept by” Jesus Christ
The preposition can be translated wither way.
If we are kept by JC,
JC is the one exerting his keeping power;
if we are kept for JC,
it is the Father who is exerting his keeping power (v.24).
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
Either way: He is talking about persevering in the faith (Rom 8:28-30).
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
God’s action is the decisive factor in our perseverance (v. 24);
God exerting his power toward us is the decisive factoring our persevering;
our trusting him is a dependent factor in our perseverance.
He is exerting his power decisively to keep us;
we are exerting dependent power.
Both are essential and necessary and understanding both keeps us from passive fatalism (Phil 2:12-13).
We are able to keep trusting because God preserves us!
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
In a letter about false teachers and apostatizing, he wants to assure them that it is God who keeps.
He opens and closes with Gods keeping power.
But that does not create a deterministic or fatalistic view.
If God is the decisive keeper of my soul for eternal life (verses 1, 24), then I don't need to 'keep myself in the love of God'" (verse 20).
That would be like saying, since God is the decisive giver of life, then I don't need to breathe. No.
Breathing is the means that God uses to sustain life.
So the command to breathe is the command to fall in with the purposes and patterns of God to give and sustain life. It still have the responsibility to keep ourselves in the love of God.
God's "keeping" inspires and sustains our "keeping." His keeping is decisive and our keeping is dependent on his.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
We are called, beloved, & Kept