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About the author: The name “Jude” was another form of the Hebrew name “Judah,” “Judas” in the Greek. Although there are a few other considerations, the most likely author of this letter is “Judas,” the half brother of Jesus (see Matt. 13:55 and Mark 6:3). It would be especially preferable to use the Hebrew name “Jude” after Judas betrayed Jesus. The reason Jude calls himself the “brother of James” rather than the “brother of Jesus” could simply be a matter of humility. Similarly when James wrote his epistle, though we know he was Jesus’ half brother, he also chose to identify himself as the “bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1), rather than laying hold of a more esteemed title such as “brother of Jesus.”

It is interesting to note that before the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, Jude had denied that that He was the Messiah.

Reason for Jude’s writing of this letter: By the time Jude wrote this letter, sometime between 65 and 80 AD, there were many false teachers worming their way into the church. Jude states in verse three that it was his original desire to simply write about “our common salvation.” But because of all the false teachers, Jude, like the Apostle John, ended up writing to defend the true faith against the false teachers. And since many of the false teachers sought to give believers a license to sin, Jude emphasizes holiness and refines the definition of grace.

1 ¶ Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

A bondservant is something much more meaningful than a slave – a bondservant is a willing slave. See Exodus 21:1-6 for an explanation from the Mosaic Law of how a person who was once a slave becomes a bondservant.

• Jude uses the Greek word doulos (doo'-los) here. Thayer’s Greek dictionary defines doulos – “1b) metaph., one who gives himself up to another's will; those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing his cause among men 1c) devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests.”
• This was the universal attitude of the apostles. I.e. Paul - Titus 1:1; Peter – 2 Peter 1:1; James – James 1:1.
  • Every Christian should have this mindset toward the Lord Jesus. We willingly call him “Lord.” That makes us his bondservants.

Bondservant of Jesus Christ- Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which appropriately means “salvation of Jehovah.” How appropriate that the Savior of the world’s name literally means salvation. Christ is not part of Jesus’ name but rather a title. Christ means “the anointed one.” It is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” These are terms that cannot be shared with more than one person. In Hebrew thinking there is only one Messiah. Therefore, when Jude identifies Jesus as the Christ he sets him apart from and above all other deliverers, kings, or religious leaders.

Brother of James- Jude identifies himself as the brother of James. He is referring to the Apostle James who authored the epistle of James. The one who, along with Judas, was a half brother of Jesus, being the children of Mary, born after Jesus’ birth. See Mark 3:32 and Galatians 1:19. Also see Matthew 13:55

To Those Who are Called - This is another definition of a true Christian.

· All Christians are called by God. This term “called” refers to both being “called out” of the world system and priorities and to being “called to” God’s purposes and plans.

· This calling is not just the general invitation that is given to all to repent and believe in Christ, it is the personal calling and response to the call of God unto salvation.

o 2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

· Beloved, we are called from sin to Christ, from vanity to seriousness, from uncleanness to holiness; and this according to the Divine purpose and grace.

Sanctified – Purified and set apart for God. This is an essential part of being a Christian (1Thess. 4:3, Heb. 12:14).

· Some translations read, beloved by God The Father. It is truly The Father’s love that sanctifies us to be His children.

By God the Father - A key characteristic of God is that He is “the Father.” He is the Father of all things because He is Creator. But He is also “God the Father” identifying Him as distinct from “God the Son” (Prov. 30:4).

· In context we must see that those who are called and sanctified are called and sanctified by God the Father rather than as a result of any work of religion, denomination, or of self.

And Preserved – It is not enough to be called and sanctified. If that were all God’s grace offered us we would soon find way to wander off again and perish. We need to be “preserved” by Jesus Christ. This means to be guarded and kept. Jesus watches over the souls He saves.

· John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

· Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

In Jesus Christ - Being “in Jesus Christ” is how a called and sanctified person is preserved.

· It is God who begins the work of grace in the souls of men, so it is he who carries it on, and perfects it. Let us not trust in ourselves, nor in our stock of grace already received, but in him, and in him alone. MHCC

2 Mercy (compassion, kindness) unto you, and peace (security of mind), and love (selfless, enduring love of God rather than the very limited love of mankind), be multiplied.

• Jude desires to see a great multiplication of the mercy, peace, and love of God toward his readers. Where the grace of God is present, the mercy, peace and love of God will follow.

3 Beloved (a term designating godly intimacy), when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort (urge, beseech) you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

• Common salvation- Our common salvation” is referring to the one thing all true Christians have in common, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
• To experience salvation is to be forgiven of and delivered from the power and consequences of sin. There are many things true Christians may disagree on or even divide over. But the one thing all true Christians have in common is that they have received the gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life provided through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• The faith which centers on the salvation of Jesus Christ as described in the scriptures.
• Once delivered to the saints- The gospel was delivered not in part but as a complete whole- 'once for all.' This statement presses the point that the truth of the Gospel is permanent and unalterable. God doesn’t issue periodic revisions or updates, as many of today’s cults would have you believe. And the word “saints” here is simply referring to all of God’s people who have been made holy by the blood of Jesus.
  • Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
    • God’s revelation as found in Scripture is complete and nothing can be deleted from it or added to it.

4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men (godless in behaviour), turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord (Gr. despots; ruler, master) God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Certain men crept in- One of Satan’s most effective strategies to spoil the work of God is to sneak his workers in among the fellowship of true believers as angels of light who preach another Jesus, another Spirit and another gospel. These spiritual pretenders are Satanic counterfeits who pose themselves to be messengers of God.
  • 2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
  • 2Cor 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
• Ordained to this condemnation- In other words, the kinds of men who are used by Satan to work undercover in the church are destined for judgment, just as Judas Iscariot was.
• Turn the grace of God into lasciviousness- Antinomianism; no law. They misinterpret the grace of God and turn it into a license for unbridled lust and sinful living.
  • Rom 6.1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
  • The Gnostic heresy that was very prominent at this time taught that it didn’t matter what you did with your body since the body was physical matter and utterly sinful anyway.
• Denying The only Lord God, and Lord Jesus Christ-
• The first Eng word Lord is the Greek word despotes (des-pot'-ace) meaning, “ruler” or “master.”
  • This is the same Greek word Peter used in 2 Peter 2:1 for master.
  • 2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
    • Please note that Jesus Christ died for people who will not believe in Him and will be eternally damned, which proves that His atonement was not limited in any way at all.
• The second Greek word for Lord is kurios (koo'-ree-os), which would be a title of respect given to a master.
  • Both of these words for Lord have been used in the New Testament with reference to both God and Jesus.
• The overall thrust of verse 4 is warning us to beware of “gospels” that twist or distort the true revelation of the grace of God; and, beware of those who pervert what Scripture declares about the character and nature of The Lord Jesus Christ…fully God and fully man.
  • The one who knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Master will seek to obey Christ’s commands to live a holy life.

5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

• Jude now gives us the first of three examples of people or beings who have turned from God’s truth.
• This first example is the famous story of the Exodus. The very same people who experienced such a great deliverance ended up cast off and exiled in the wilderness by the same God who delivered them in the first place. After haven been delivered out of Egypt by the blood of the lamb, unbelief in the promise of God to enter into the Promised Land it.
  • Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
  • Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: {it was: or, the gospel was}
  • Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. {unbelief: or, disobedience}
• Although the world has been reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5.19-21), that does not mean that Christ provided universal salvation for every single person. The personal application of that blood atonement is only applied to those who repent and believe in His vicarious sacrifice for their sin.
  • None are shut out from gospel offers and invitations, but those who obstinately and wickedly shut themselves out. But the application is to all believers, and only to such. MHCC

6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

• Now Jude illustrates his point with a second example of turning from the truth of God – the fallen angels. Created holy, they had sinned and become wicked angels, or evil spirits. This is a mysterious passage, which can only be understood in the light of other mysterious passages.
• There are just a few places in scripture where we can read of angels who rebelled or fell away from God. See Isaiah 14:12-14, Revelation 12:4, and Genesis 6:1-12.
• Reserved in everlasting chains- The fate of the fallen angels is very grave and grievous (2 Pet. 2:4).
  • God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.
• Some liberal scholars and theologians refuse to believe in God’s judgment or eternal punishment. The same holds true of Unitarians. See what the Bible says about this in Revelation 20:10-15. All who reject the Lordship of Christ, both angels and men alike, will share a grim eternity.

7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh (same gender sex), are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

• Jude’s third example of those who reject Gods truth is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which you can read about in Genesis chapters 10 through 19, as well as various references throughout the scriptures (Deut. 29:23; Is. 13:19; Jer. 49:18, 50:40; Amos 4:11).
• Genesis 19 clearly reveals that both heterosexual and homosexual sins were prominent in these wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them. This sexual perversion against the moral law of God is what triggered the judgment of God.
• Romans 1.24-27 tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah’s sin was brought about because they changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
• The failure to recognize the character and holiness of God will always degrade into a hardening of the heart against the things of God, and a reprobate lifestyle.
• The thought of eternal fire is rejected by many people today, even though it is evidenced in scripture (Matt. 18:8, 25:41).

The three examples we have just reviewed are reminders of two important truths:

• God will judge the unrighteous. Even those who manage to fool everybody else are not fooling God. The Day of Judgment will come for all evildoers.
• If professors of faith in Jesus Christ leave the gospel as once delivered to the saints for unholy doctrine and impure living, He who cast down the angels for their sin will not spare them.
• Those who know God’s truth are responsible to continue in it, because the blessings of the past do not guarantee future blessings or present security.

8 ¶ Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

• Filthy dreamers- a “dreamer” is a person who chooses to dream up his own reality rather than to live in God’s reality. A dreamer is a person that follows the desires of his own flesh rather than bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. A dreamer can also be one who dreams up his own concepts of God under a covering of false religion or false prophecies.
• The Apostle Paul’s exhortation in 2 Cor. 10:5 is a word in season for us tonight because he warns followers of Jesus Christ about our spiritual warfare and tells us all that we should be, “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
• Defile the Flesh - To defile means to corrupt, pollute, contaminate, or stain. Since a “dreamer” replaces God’s truth with his own fleshy imaginations he would naturally “defile the flesh” by sinful living.
• Despise dominion (reject authority). A person who loves to live in his own dreamt up world and is governed by his own imagination will naturally reject God’s authority.
• And Speak Evil of Dignitaries – A dignitary is one who holds a high rank or position. A “dreamer” has a high opinion of himself and would think nothing of criticizing one of God’s apostles or any other person of rank in the church.

9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

• An archangel is one of the highest ranking of God’s angels. Michael is mentioned several times throughout the scriptures and he seems to be a powerful angel of war (Rev. 12:7). He is also called a “prince” in the book of Daniel (Dan. 10:13 & 12:1).
• Disputed about the body of Moses- We do not have a record in scripture of this event, but there are many reputable scholars who say that it has been taken from an extra biblical book from that era.
• Moses only stood against the devil on the authority of The Name of The Lord, not his own.

10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

• Jude shows a stark contrast now between those in submission to God and His dignitaries and those who dream of their own rule and authority. The great archangel and prince Michael was careful how he addressed the devil, who once was a great “dignitary” of God but now stands in opposition to God’s authority. In contrast, these “dreamers” ignorantly speak whatever they want to whomever they want. This is but another characteristic of the wicked.
• Like brute beasts, with disordered appetites and affections, they corrupt themselves with their inflated self importance and heretical views of God’s character and gospel.

11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

• The way of Cain- Cain was the son of Adam and Eve and the brother of Able. You can read of his story in Genesis 4. Cain and his brother both made an offering to the LORD. Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain’s was rejected. This made Cain jealous and angry. Cain let these fleshly feelings take over and he murdered his own brother.
• New Testament writers give more insight to this event in Hebrews 11:4 and 1 John 3:12. The way of Cain was the way of unbelief and unrighteousness distinguished by jealousy, hatred, and murder.
• The error of Balaam- Balaam was a prophet of God who did not have the heart of God. You can read his story in Numbers 22-25 and 31. King Balak of the Moabites hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel because he knew he could not defeat them by natural means. Every time Balaam tried to curse Israel he ended up pronouncing a blessing upon them instead of a curse. God would not let him curse His people. Yet because Balaam greatly desired the financial or material rewards that king Balak offered him, he finally gave the king advice that would bring destruction upon God’s people. Balaam counseled king Balak that the children of Israel could be brought down by sexual and spiritual idolatry. The women of Moab were therefore sent by King Balak to seduce the young Israeli soldiers and then entice them to worship their gods (Num. 31:16). This plan brought great destruction upon the people of God. Balaam’s error was to think he could use his God-given position for profit rather than for God’s glory. Balaam’s problem was greed. This led to Balaam’s own destruction. In God’s providence Balaam was slain by the very people he gave his wicked counsel against (Num. 31:8).
• Gainsaying of Core- Korah is another example of how a person numbered among God’s people, even among God’s leaders, can turn to folly and destruction. You can read about Korah and his rebellion in Numbers chapter 16. Korah was a Levite and prominent leader in Israel. He had been given the high honor of overseeing the transport of the Holy items of the tabernacle. Yet, Korah desired more. He was not satisfied with the position of honor God had given him. He wanted much more. He even challenged Moses’ authority. When the contest was over, all who sided with Korah were destroyed as the ground opened up and swallowed them. Korah’s sin was pride and rebellion. We learn from Korah’s story that when you rebel against the people God has raised up in authority, you rebel against the Lord Himself (Num. 16:11).

May we never presume upon God’s grace beloved, but may we cherish it as more dear and necessary than ever before.