Jude 1:1-11/Commentary

Jude Verses: 1-11

Authorship The most obvious choice is Jude, the brother of Jesus (Mark 6:3), since he specifically mentions that the name of his brother is James (Jude 1). James the brother of Jesus was a very well known member of the early church. If the writer had been an apostle, such as Judas Thaddaeus, he probably would have mentioned his apostleship.

Date Written during the second half of the first century, especially in light of the prevalence of false teachers among God’s people that Jude mentions. Probably written near the time of 2 Peter, thus around 65 A.D. Purpose The purpose of the letter is clear, to contend earnestly for the faith that has been delivered through the apostles (3,17), and to warn the readers of the influence, teachings, practices, characteristics, and cunning of the false teachers.

Outline 1.

2.

3.

4.

Salutation: 1-2 The Warning of Apostasy: 3-4 Historical Examples of Apostasy: 5-7 The Description of the Apostates: 8-16 a. Their actions: 8-11 b. Their character: 12-13 c. Their judgment: 14-15 d. Their pride: 16 1

5. a. b. c. d.

The Duties of Believers To the Scriptures: 17-19 To themselves: 20-21 To others: 22-23 To God: 24-25

Jude 3 “For the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints”: By the term “faith” Jude means those things which Christians believe. This means that the truths which Christians are to believe are truths that are fixed and settled. It refers to the teaching that governs the church and to which all men are accountable (Acts 2:42). The phrase “once for all” does not mean, “once about a time”, but rather has the meaning of finality and definiteness. “So there is no room to think that God grants extra insights and additions down the years of Christian history” (The Message of 2 Peter and Jude, John Stott p. 175). The words “handled down” means to “deliver” and is often used in connection with the handing down of authorized teaching (1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:6).

Thus Jude is saying that God has handed over to His people a complete, understandable and recognizable body of teaching called “the faith”, and this body of teaching is the authoritative standard, not whatever might be the current theological fashion in the 1st century or the 21st century. We cannot get “behind” this teaching and neither are we to go “beyond it” (2 John 9), and the true test for authentic Christianity or progress in the spiritual realm is how closely one abides by this teaching (1 Timothy 4:16).

Jude 3 “Contend earnestly”: This phrase is used “in order to emphasize that the defense of this faith will be costly and agonizing; the cost of being unfashionable” (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, 2 Peter and Jude, Michael Green, p. 160).

This implies that in preaching the gospel we will encounter many opponents, and many who seek to pervert its teachings (2 Peter 3:16; Jude 4). This will be an on going wrestling match for each Christian and each congregation, and we must not opt out of this struggle because we weary of controversy. “This will be unpopular, because it is commonly assumed that since Christianity is a faith based on love, it can say only nice, comforting things. The evidence throughout the Bible is that being faithful to God’s Word means bringing hard, unpopular warnings as well as bright promises” (Stott p. 176). And one reason that every generation must “earnestly contend” is that the devil never lets up (Jude 4). “To the saints”: “It is 2

not thing invented (by the church), but given; not found out by us, but delivered

by God Himself. It is easy to become thoughtless about that, as if it were obvious and to be taken for granted that God would give us an unchangeable gospel. But it is a remarkable privilege. We can begin to see Jude’s concern. If God has given us a gospel, and if He is not going to give us another one, we must guard it as highly precious” (Stott p. 174). Compare with 1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:13,14.

The Opposition Jude 4: “Crept in unnoticed”: “Wormed their way in” (NEB); “to slip in secretly”.

It is a sinister and secretive word, see 2 Peter 2:1; Galatians 2:4. “The message had to go out to the churches not to use ‘niceness’ as an excuse for gullibility” (Stott p. 179). This verse certainly admonishes congregations and especially elderships to be diligent and thorough when it comes to accepting new members.

“Those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation”: This does not mean that people are predestined to be false teachers, but rather, the warnings concerning wolves entering the flock as sheep go back a long way (Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:28ff; Deuteronomy 13:2-11). “Ungodly persons”: Jude is always blunt and to the point. “Although these people no doubt mouthed Christian phrases, quoted the Bible and knew all the new songs, they were not to be taken at face value. No doubt Jude’s readers were shocked at the implication of what he was saying. We should be shocked too as we realize that he is talking about people who may write Christian books, speak as Christian conferences and sound very convincing and liberating. Jude was denouncing their friends and their heroes—and therefore perhaps some of our friends and heroes as anti-Christian pagans” (Stott p. 179). “Who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness”: “They are treating the fact that God graciously accepts sinners as an excuse for flagrant, shameless sin” (Green p. 161). “To a skeptical Greek, the gospel could seem to offer total freedom today on the basis of total forgiveness tomorrow” (Stott p. 180). What such people fail to realize is that Jesus’ lighter and easier yoke (Matthew 11:28-30), is still a yoke, and forgiveness is offered on the condition of genuine repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10-11). The early church often encountered people who thought that salvation by grace means that one has a license to sin freely (Romans 6:1ff). In fact, to this day one can hear even professed Christians contending that the grace of God will simply take good care of some member who has persisted in sin at the last day (i.e., “Well the grace of God will take care of that”). The Calvinistic contention of “once-saved-always3

saved” is another popular way that men turn God’s grace into licentiousness.

“Deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ”: “There are many ways of denying Christ apart from the obvious one of apostasy. These false teachers were certainly guilty of a practical denial of their faith by the way they lived” (Green p. 162).

Compare with Titus 1:16 “but by their deeds they deny Him”. “Master”: A term that is almost exclusively used of the Father in the New Testament, except 2 Peter 2:1. What Jude is saying is that Jesus is our “only” Master, and thus Jesus deserves our sole loyalty and obedience. Thus these men, like many men today fail to recognize that Jesus is the final voice of authority in every aspect of our lives. Yet man assumes that he is the lord of his life, and thus we often find that horrible combination of bad theology and bad morals. “If a Christian behaves badly, it must be because he or she has not understood the Bible properly; or, having understood it, refuses to accept its rule” (Stott p. 181).

Three Warning Reminders Jude 5 “Now I desire to remind you”: “The Bible is full of calls to us to remember things. Remembering in the Bible is a duty, an act of will; and those who remind God’s people do so in a tone of solemnity and great moment” (Stott p. 182). See 2 Peter 1:12-15; 3:1-2. “Though you know all things once for all”: Even though they already know the basic Bible stories that he is going to tell them, it might be that they did not understand them. “Perhaps, like us, they treat Old Testament narratives as good stories for children, that have no message once we become adults. In line with his plan to show us how the problems we face as churches have always been the problems of God’s people, Jude gives us his first series of three Old Testament warnings, the second comes in Jude 11-13. These are three examples of the fact that rebellion against God does not succeed” (Stott p. 183).

“After saving a people—subsequently destroyed those who did not believe”: God intervened in Israel’s history, first to save them, and then the most alarming part of the Exodus story, is God’s later intervention when He destroyed those He had rescued. God is sovereign (James 4:12), and it is clear that being one of God’s saved people does not make one immune from falling away. Thus there is nothing new about “saved people ” leaving the faith.

Jude 6 “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode”: That is, angels who were not satisfied with the role, responsibility and privileges that God had given them. “The application is clear: the people 4

who infect the churches in the way Jude will describe must not think that they can get away with their rebellious behavior forever. If even angels are subject to God’s judgment, despite their most strenuous attempts to rebel, what chance do human rebels have?” (Stott p. 185). “He has kept in eternal bonds”: Notice the play on words, these angels did not keep their proper place, so God has kept them under punishment. Where the false teachers overconfident, arrogant, unhappy with God’s restrictions and His blessings? Let them remember that such attitudes ruined many angels.

Jude 7 “Just as Sodom and Gomorrah”: Such cities had been richly blessed (Genesis 13:10), yet instead of being grateful for their blessings, they became arrogant, “Arrogance, abundant food and careless ease” (Ezekiel 16:49).

“Indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh”: The sin is not that of lusting after angels, since the men of Sodom had no idea of the spiritual significance of their visitors. “Their request is simply, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight?’ (Genesis 19:5)” (Stott p. 186). All three examples here stress the unnatural nature of rebelling against God. It was unnatural for the Israelites to rebel against the Lord who had redeemed them; unnatural, too, for the angels to rebel, and equally unnatural for the cities of the plain to become homosexuals. “Are exhibited as an example”: All three as examples, and especially they are examples that contradict popular ideas advocated by false teachers throughout the centuries. The example of Israel explodes the myth of once-saved-always-saved and that God will not punish His people for their sins.

The example of the angels contradicts the idea that one can become so powerful or spiritual that they are no longer accountable to God’s law, and the example of Sodom and Gomorrah undermines the claim that one can be spiritual and sexually immoral at the same time. “In undergoing the punishment of eternal fire”: Not only was the judgment that befell these cities an example to us of the final judgment, but the test equally seems to stress that such sinners are presently suffering in torment (2 Peter 2:6,9).

Jude 8 “In the same way”: These men are committing the same type of sins and are thinking in the same wrong direction as the Israelites, rebellious angels and cities of the plain. “By dreaming”: The sin here is not dreaming or day-dreaming but rather it may include one who claims to have a message from God, when he does not (Jeremiah 23:16,32). That is, the false teachers pretended that God was speaking to them and thus their “revelations” superceded Scripture. A modern 5

example would be the Charismatic movement and Mormonism. In addition, it would equally apply to men who ignore God’s reality and encourage people to create their own reality, that is, what is right is what you believe to be right. A current example would be a bumper-sticker I saw just the other day that said, “Keep Portland Weird”. “Defile the flesh”: “Dead to decency, sunk in the torpor of sin” (Green p. 168). They pollute their own bodies. “A major sign of the presence of these dreamers within our own churches is the loosening of sexual morality and the acceptance of behavior that other generations of Christians would have found impossible to justify” (Stott pp. 188-189). “And reject authority”: “Flout authority” (NEB). These men are anti-law, which would include ridiculing and ignoring civil law (Romans 13), the authority of elders (Hebrews 13:17), parental authority (Ephesians 6:1-2), the authority of male headship in the home (Ephesians 5:22ff), and other manifestations of God’s authority that is expressed in the whole of Scripture. What all these people have in common (Israel, sinning angels, inhabitants of Sodom, and these false teachers) was essentially a rejection of divine authority. “If you want to live your own way, he says, you have to adjust your doctrine accordingly, for if you accept Jesus’ lordship either your doctrine will make your life blush, or your life will make your doctrine blush, and be ashamed” (Stott p. 189). Yet while they reject authority such men often assert their own authority over their followers. “Revile angelic majesties”: One view is seeing that the Law of Moses had been delivered via angels (Acts 7:38,53), these men denied the inspiration of the Old Testament. “We might expect such people to say that the Old and New Testament commands are indefensibly bound to a maledominated, slave-owning, undemocratic and illiberal society, and have nothing authoritative to say to our own” (Stott p. 189). Or, such people may have scoffed at the entire notion of angels and spiritual powers of both good and evil, and may have regarded themselves as freed from such primitive ideas. It is interesting to note that even people who lived in the First Century were tempted to believe that God’s word was no longer relevant or authoritative for their generation. Yet, Lord still is the Master (Jude 4) and His word is still the final say (John 12:48).

Michael, Moses and the Devil Jude 9 “Michael, the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses”: Michael appears here and in Revelation 12:7 in the New Testament. Jude here cites an example that we do not have in the Old Testament, yet did have a wide oral tradition. This should not surprise us because 6

God has already told us in both Testaments that not everything that happened among God’s people was recorded (Deuteronomy 29:29; John 20:30-31; 21:25).

Some are bothered by the fact that Jude cites an oral tradition that existed among the Jews. First, not all oral traditions are biblical (Mark 7:7), but this one was rooted in fact. Paul will also quote from pagan Greek writers Cleanthes, Aratus and Menander (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12), and this never implied that such poets were inspired, but rather, even unbelievers say something true now and then.

“Argued about the body of Moses”: The Old Testament reveals that the body of Moses was buried in Moab but at a secret location (Deuteronomy 34:5-6). The typical view in many commentaries is that Satan is arguing that Moses does not have a right to enter into heaven (because he killed the Egyptian Exodus 2:12), and thus the body of Moses belongs to him. Yet this does not fit the verse. The argument is not over the “soul” of Moses, but rather over his body. In the end, we are not told why the devil was arguing over the body of Moses, did he resent the fact that the burial spot was secret? Did he want it to be public so that people would come and worship Moses and thus commit the sin of idolatry?

“Did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment”: “He did not presume to condemn him in insulting words” (NEB). The point is that mere mortals often speak confidently and ignorantly about God and the spiritual realm, yet an archangel simply left matters to God. “The point of the story lies just here. If an angel was so careful in what he said, how much more should mortal men watch their words” (Green p. 170). The point is not that Michael did not say anything, rather, Michael did not act on his own authority, rather what he spoke was the word of God. “Michael’s submissive attitude is quite different from the casual way in which the erring Christians follow Satan’s easy model. Like him, they think they prove their spiritual superiority by the way they ‘slander celestial beings’ (verse 8)” (Stott p. 194). In addition, Michael understands that he is not the judge, rather he allows God to pronounce either condemnation or justification (James 4:12).

“With the three warnings in verses 5-7 before them, Jude’s readers are urged to beware of the spiritual decadence of the false teachers. This pervaded their whole personalities. Physically, they became immoral. Intellectually, they became arrogant. Spiritually, they became disobedient to the Lord. ‘Progressive morality’ and ‘progressive thinking’ often go hand in hand with progressive deafness to the voice of God. To live like that is to inhabit a dream-world. His letter constitutes a stirring call to awake to moral integrity, intellectual humility and spiritual sensitivity” (Green p. 170).

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Jude 10 “These men revile the things which they do not understand”: For all their pretended knowledge, they actually know very little about true spirituality.

God’s people have a submissive spirit that is prepared to accept whatever the Bible teaches (Isaiah 65:1), that is, they are committed to God’s word in advance (Acts 17:11). “That means that when we come across a doctrine that we find difficult to grasp, or a passage of the Bible that we find hard (initially) to reconcile to other passages, we assume that there is an intelligent solution to the problem” (Stott p. 195). Yet Jude is speaking of people who do the exact opposite, they either scoff at the biblical account, or immediately scream “contradiction” and refuse to study any further. Notice the word “revile”, they speak abusively, boldly and confidently against spiritual realities (like hell) that they do even understand.

They do not argue intelligently, rather they are abusive.

“And the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed”: What they do understand is the physical desires that they have in common with the animal creation. Here are men who believe that they are superior to the common man and yet in the reality they are presently on the same level as brute beasts. “By these things they are destroyed”: The idea is that such men are corrupted by the very practice and “liberties” that they claim as a right for their self-expression. When men reject God’s truth (truth that proper governs and channels all physical desires), men are thus enslaved to and corrupted by the very desires to which they once turned to for “freedom”. And those desires, when “given free reign, are merciless” (Green p. 171). Peter said it this way, “promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:19). Paul said, “God gave them over to degrading passions” (Romans 1:26); and Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34).

Further Old Testament Examples Jude 11 “Woe to them”: Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 23. “They have gone the way of Cain”: As Cain murdered his brother these men murder the souls of others and in addition, Cain had no love for his brother, resented Abel’s approval and good deeds, and moreover in Hebrews 11:4, Abel is the very ideal of faith and Cain is thus the exact opposite of the believing and trusting man. “He stands for the cynical, materialistic character who defies God and despises man” 8

(Green p. 172). In addition, Cain wanted approval with God on his terms, with the sacrifice or act of “obedience” that he selected. The way of Cain involves denying that there is any such thing as absolute right and wrong, and that God will never judge “our muddled world by His absolute standards” (Stott p. 198). “For pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam”: Balaam who was three times prevented from cursing Israel (Numbers 22-24), did find a way to bring a curse upon the Israelites. John says, “Who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality” (Revelation 2:14). After Balaam is prevented from cursing Israel the next episode in Israel’s history relates how the Israelite men begin to indulge in sexual immorality with the Moabite women (Numbers 25). Only later in the book of Numbers do we discover that Balaam was behind the strategy (Numbers 31:16). What got the best of Balaam was his greed. Instead of recognizing and submitting to God’s desires to keep Israel a blessed people, “Balaam mulled the position over in his mind and sought another way to secure the downfall of the people” (Stott p. 199). As with Cain he was faced with a clear statement from God and then decided not to obey. Sadly, he was one of the most informed Gentiles about God’s plan for Israel. Balaam is an example of a very talented and biblically knowledgable individual who squandered such talents and decided to opt for a very temporary reward in this life. Balaam is not the last “preacher” who chose fame, money, or fame instead of being faithful. Notice that once the profit motive sets in such men rushed into error. “And perished in the rebellion of Korah”: Another man who was careless with God’s clear instructions and who did not submit. ‘Once again, in Korah we have a man who ruminates over God’s order of things and decides that God cannot have meant what He said. As we reach this ghastly climax, it is worth remembering again that the people Jude describes here are not at all easy to spot—if they were, he would not have had to write this”.

The truth of the matter is that such men (and women) can appear to be very “nice people”, who in fact are dangerous rebels. Again, look at Balaam, he looks very faithful and very spiritual in Numbers 22-24. Cain looked very “religious” in offering his sacrifice, and many people today would say that Korah was simply an advocate for the rights of others to be part of the priesthood. He was a “progressive” thinker. The evil in these men really only surfaces until they face an authoritative “no” from God or His revelation. How do we respond to the restrictions or directions in God’s word that run contrary to our goals or dreams?

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