Bible Study Notes (The Book of Jude)
Session 4: Jude 1:2
Greetings
Jude 1:2 “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” “Relax, everything’s going to be all right; rest, everything’s coming together; open your hearts, love is on the way!” (Message Bible). There are four cross-references to this verse: 1 Peter 1:2, 2 Peter 1:2, Romans 1:7, and Revelation 1:4-6. In the Greco-Roman society, the final section of an epistle greeting would contain a wish-prayer for the readers of the letter. The greeting of Jude’s letter is quite short, but it is densely packed with spiritual truth. Jude uses a threefold construction. A true knowledge of God results in mercy and grace from God, which breeds peace and contentment in the lives of believers. We are dearly loved by God who has done everything we need for a safe and secure salvation.
He asked that an overflowing abundance of mercy, peace, and love be showered on all who trust in Jesus. He looked for multiplication instead of simple addition. He knew that wolves were prowling around seeking to scatter the little flock of God, and so he asked the Father for mercy to help in time of need and for an abundance of peace and love, in the midst of difficult times. Mercy is the sparing of just judgment. In light of our sinful condition, we need the mercy of God every hour. Peace is a very Jewish concept, coming from the Hebrew word shalom. The peace of God encompasses the entirety of a person. It is not simply the opposite of chaos or lack of strife; rather, it is the holistic well-being that can only come from no longer being in enmity against God. Our peace flows from our reconciliation with God and into our present circumstances. Since we know that we will ultimately be with God, no temporal anxiety of this world will be able to quench our peace. Finally, love is the characteristic of God that first enabled our calling. The Christian worldview is saturated in love.
In this salutation the apostle wishes first for multiplication of “mercy”, from God the Father, by whom these persons were sanctified: mercy is a perfection in God; the multiplication of it intends an enlarged view and fresh application of it, which they sometimes stand in need of when they want the sense and manifestation of it to them; and under temptations and afflictions, when they need sympathy and compassion; and when they fall into sin they stand in need of the fresh discoveries and application of pardoning mercy to them. According to Calvin, Mercy means nearly the same as grace in the salutations of Paul. Grace is properly the effect of mercy.
Secondly, the multiplication of “peace” from Christ, in whom these chosen ones were preserved; may design a fresh and enlarged view of peace being made for them by his blood, and an increase of conscience and peace in their own hearts, as the effect of it; and may include peace, and an abundance of it, among themselves, as well as all prosperity, both external, internal, and eternal. Peace, meaning a strong sense of wellness, would enable them to feel secure in troublesome times. Philippians 4:7 describes God’s gift of peace as transcending all understanding and as being a protective guard for the heart and mind. Love for God and others would keep Jude’s readers close to God and actively engaged in defending and sharing the truth. We are to work to have peace and live in such a way as to have peace. We should emphasize to each other that we can have peace with God, Christ, and our brethren and with ourselves.
Thirdly, the multiplication of “love”, and multiplication of it is wished for from the Spirit of God, by whom they were called. According to Calvin, God has embraced us in love because he pitied our miseries. Love may be understood as that of God towards men, as well as that of men towards one another.
(Ref: Bible study tools; Bible ref; B. C. Newton: Jude Contending for Faith, Bible Commentaries in Study light).
Session 5: Jude 1:3
Content for the Faith
Delivered to Saints: Jude writes to encourage his readers to violently defend the faith that the apostles had taught. Jude writes that “the faith … was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). To be a saint means you stand shoulder to shoulder with millions of Christians who have gone before. You stand with strong Christians and weak Christians, brave Christians and cowardly Christians, aged Christians, and young Christians.
The faith is handed over to those who are called, beloved by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ (Jude 1). The duty to contend for the faith is, therefore, not just the duty of the ordained ministers of the Word, though they do have a special responsibility. It is the duty of every genuine believer. Contending faith means defending the faith and building the faith with great hope. William Barclay states that the defense of the faith is a duty that falls on every generation of the church.
Definition of Faith: What does Jude mean by “the faith”? Does it refer to a set of church doctrines or creeds? Faith simply refers to believing the gospel or having faith as taught by the apostles to his original readers and listeners (vv. 5, 18, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Faith means the essential truths of the gospel that all true Christians hold in common. It means the sum of that which Christians believe. The full message in its entirety and completeness is delivered through Christ to the apostles and to us.
The faith is all-inclusive of the New Testament requirements of faith, repentance, confession, and baptism into Christ of all who would be saved initially, and the ethical, moral, and religious obligations of Christians, including their faithful observance of the Lord’s Supper, along with the reception and cherishing of the earnest of the Holy Spirit, as necessarily manifested in their subsequent lives. The revelation of Christ through the apostles is complete, inviolate, sufficient, eternal, immutable, and not subject to any change whatsoever. Jesus made his sayings to be the dogmatic foundation of Christianity as evident in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 7:24-25) and in the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20).
Fight for Faith: Jude exhorts his readers to fight in three ways: First, avoid contamination with their ungodly teaching and sin (Jude 23). Second, live out the righteousness of the gospel that was originally given to them by the apostles (Jude 5-7, 17-18). And third, recognize the prophetic pronouncement of future judgment that is already upon these ungodly teachers (Jude 9, 14-15). Thus, they will have contended for the faith (v. 3). There is a faith once and for all delivered to the saints. This faith is worth contending for. This faith is repeatedly threatened from within the church. Every genuine believer should contend for the faith. In Acts 6:7, a great company of priests was obedient to the faith. In Galatians 1:23, Paul is said to have preached the faith he once destroyed. In Ephesians 4:5, Paul firmly teaches there is one faith.
The faith that we cherish was preserved for us with the blood of hundreds of reformers. The blood of the martyrs is a powerful testimony that the faith once and for all delivered to the saints is worth contending for. When the faith is at stake, our salvation is at stake. If the truth is lost, salvation is lost. The apostles and reformers were willing to die for the sake of the faith because they cared about whether the message of salvation would be preserved. The salvation common to Jews and Gentiles, and to all who bore the Christian name.
(Ref: Bible. ref; Three Steps of Jude 3 by DR. Doug Potter; Desiring God by John Piper; Enduring Commentary; study light & Bible hub commentaries)
Session 6: Jude 1.4
Problems of Early Christianity
Jude 1:4 “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (NIV)
Introduction: Jude had to address an issue that was becoming progressively problematic in those early churches and increasingly dangerous to the people of God, namely, apostasy and heresy. Their object was to pervert the grace of God into an excuse for immorality, greed, fame and fortune which are supposed to be denied to follow Christ. The blindness of the heart leads to adherence to their teachings.
Certain Individuals: Their names and their numbers are not mentioned. This is done to stir up the saints to self-examination, whether they were in the true faith. They must diligently find out these men and oppose them with vigour. Take care to nip the error and heresy in the bud. However, some commentators named the following two categories which were popular heretics.
Antinomians taught that the gospel released us from the obligations of the law, and to indulgence to their sinful passions in order that grace might abound. The liability of the doctrines of grace to be thus abused (Romans 6:1) (Barnes).
The Nicolaitans maintained that marriage was a human invention, not binding on Christians. They had women in common, and practiced unnatural lusts, as is plain from Jude’s account of them. They taught that sex is one of the needs of humanity. You eat when you are hungry, you drink when you are thirsty and have sex when you want it. They promoted consensual sex, they behaved like animals (Revelation 2:6, 2 Peter 2:1-3).
Secretly Slipped: The appearance of a corrupt and insidious party in the Church. The problem is that you can’t identify them easily. They never openly always subtle like Satan entering into the Garden of Eden. They are in the Church and came to the church privily (Galatians 2:4, 2 Timothy 3:6, 2 Peter 2:1). They professed to teach the Christian religion, when in fact they denied some of its fundamental doctrines; they professed to be holy, when in fact they were living most scandalous lives. In all ages, there have been men who were willing to do this for basic purposes. (Barnes). This ungodliness is next shown to take the form of an immoral perversion of spiritual privilege – turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (Pulpit).
Jude warned the apostates who were lawless, wanton, and immoral people who had crept into the church by pretending to be ministers of God. The ungodly actions and unbridled lust of such people perverted the grace of our God and twisted the liberty in Christ into licentiousness. They challenged Christ’s right to rule the Church; denied His eternal deity; discredited His vicarious death and rejected His glorious resurrection. They stripped Christ of His honour, glory, might, majesty, dominion, and power for their own personal gain. They even rejected the fact that Jesus Christ is the ultimate authority and Lord.
Traits of the Apostates: These apostates believed it was acceptable to give in to the body’s evil desires. The apostates’ character, conduct, and condemnation had been predicted (Isaiah 8:19–22; 2 Thessalonians 2:6–10; 1 Timothy 4:1–2; 2 Timothy 3:1– 9; 2 Peter 2:1–9). The apostle Peter also contradicts the false teaching that grace permits immoral living, writing be Holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16). Paul urged the believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:2).
Conclusion: Find out and keep yourself away from those pseudo-preachers, prophets, and ministers.
(Ref: Bibleref.com; knowing-jesus.com; Biblehub.com; Bible study tools; Study light)