A Exegesis of the
Epistle of Jude
By
Mario R. Velez Jr., Th.M
Professor of New
Testament Studies
Charis Seminary
and Bible Institute
INTRODUCTION
Even though the epistle of Jude may be only twenty-five verses in length, its message is of vital importance. In the same way the Book of Acts contained the message for the beginning of the Church Age, the book of Jude contains the message for the end of the Church Age. It serves as a warning to the state of the apostate teachings that will be in effect right before the events of the Book of Revelation take place. Those who have ears should adhere to its message so as to be able to dicern the message of evil men claiming to speak sound biblical truth. This study should serve to examine and gain the ability to dicern the hollow and evil messages that these apostates proclaim. This book not only served as a warning to those believers at the time of its writing, but it is also a warning to us today as well.
This Epistle should not be taken lightly because of its short content as many have in the past. Even though it may only be twenty-five verses long, it is rich in content. There is a sense of urgency in Jude as he takes us back to the apostasy of some within Israel in the Old Testament. We are also reminded of the angels who are kept in darkness because of their sin as well as how the Archangel Michael disputed with Satan for the body of Moses. The examples that Jude used
are to let us know that the apostates in reference will follow the same pattern of evil. Therefore, let us now begin our verse-by-verse study of a book for the latter times. This is a book that will train us in recognizing the apostates of the latter times with straightforward language that brings forth very dramatic imagery.
AUTHOR AND DATE
The
author immediately introduces himself by stating his name, which is Jude. The Greek form of the name Jude is
Judas. This, of course, was not Judas
Iscariot, who was the one who had betrayed the Lord and hung himself way before
the beginning of the Church Age (Mt. 27:5).
Jude tells us that he was the brother of James in the first
verse. Luke 6:16 also tells us
that the author was the brother of James and not Judas Iscariot since they are
both listed in this same verse. The author of this Epistle is listed as one of
the Lord's brothers in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3.
The word that our author uses in verse 17 when referring to the remembering of the words that were spoken by the apostles suggests that the epistle was written sometime after the apostles had taught. If tradition is correct that Jude was crucified in the year 72 A.D., then the time he wrote this epistle was probably sometime after the apostles had taught and before his death. Thus, suggesting a date in the second part of the first century.
PURPOSE AND
RECIPIENTS
Jude was moved to write to warn the readers of certain immoral men who had infiltrated their midst and were perverting the grace of God. Whether his readers were Gentile or Jewish believers, this warning was to all believers who are part of the body of Christ. Today, every believer would be wise to adhere to Jude's warning so as to not get caught up in the evil patterns of these apostate teachers that he warns us about. Let us now begin our exegesis of Jude.
ASSURANCE FOR CHRISTIANS
KJV Jude 1:1 "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:"
This verse begins with the name of the writer of this epistle, Jude, who like all the other authors of scripture was under the divine guidance of God the Holy Spirit. His name was a common name of that time and, as I have already mentioned, was Judas in the Greek. Judas is a name often associated with Judas Iscariot, who betrayed our Lord on that faithful night many, many years ago. This is a very important reason God choose someone with this name to write an epistle about the great falling away from sound doctrine that would occur in the last days of the Church Age. What better name for a book about the treacherous apostate men that Jude is about to warn us about than the name of the evil and devious traitor Judas Iscariot. Because of the negative connotation associated with this name, it is not surprising that I have never met anyone named "Judas" or heard of any parent that has actually named their child this. It would probably be rare to find anyone that would even name his or her pet by the name of "Judas."
Next, Jude identifies himself in his first and most important relationship that he and every human being can ever have in their lifes, and that is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jude declares himself a “servant” of Jesus Christ. The word "servant" is from the Greek noun [doulos] signifying, “in bondage, bond slave, devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interest.” This word frequently indicates subjection without the idea of bondage. A servant who willingly submits to the Lord in joy and complete dependence on His every word, constructing an altar in their souls, word upon word, line upon line, book upon book, ever growing in the Lord's knowledge and Love. Jude is relating to us that he chose to surrender willingly his freewill to the Lord as the Lord Himself had surrendered His own will to that of His Heavenly Father when He said, "not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). Jude was a willing bondservant representing Jesus Christ to speak and carry out the Lord's will.
Jude now identifies himself as “brother of James,” who was head of the church at Jerusalem and author of the epistle that also bears his name, James. In Galatians 1:19 and Mark 6:3, James is identified as the Lord's brother and from Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 9:5, we can assume that the Lord's brothers were involved in missionary work. Tradition has it that Jude was sent to Persia for missionary work and there he made many converts to the Lord before being crucified in the year 72 A.D. It is interesting that neither one of these brothers ever mentions their human relationship to the Lord Jesus. This would certainly be understandable when we look at the fact that at one time they didn't even believe on the Lord as mentioned in John 7:5. In Mark 3:21, 31 we are told that these same brothers actually thought the Lord was out of his mind. It certainly must have been embarrassing for them when they found out that the Lord was truly who He said He was.
This verse now takes us to where Jude addresses those to whom he was writing this epistle to, those that are "sanctified by God the Father." In the Greek, the word “sanctified” is [egapemenois], which comes from the verb [agapao], "to love." [egapemenois] means, "to show or prove one's love; long for, desire, place first in one's affections." The verb participle [egapemenois] is in the perfect tense, passive voice and dative case. The perfect tense lets us know that the action being spoken about is an action that was completed in the past, yet still having results existing in the present time. The passive voice signifies that the subject is acted upon or receives the action of the verb and the dative case points out the person to or for whom something is done. Not only did God the Father love us when we were lost sinners by providing salvation through His Son, but He now has an intimate permanent personal love for us as His own children. Those that Jude is writing to is every born-again believers in Jesus Christ who have a first priority in God the Father's love. The passive voice declares to us that we are receiving the benefit of God's love. He is actively and continually clothing us in His perfect love. This permanent result is not only in this life but also for all eternity. This permanency should certainly be a comfort to all believers, and indeed, Jude's intention was one of comfort before addressing the upcoming apostasy that he was about to warn about. The word "are," which is translated from the preposition [en] signifies being in the sphere of God's Love.
Jude
continues to comfort believers by stating that we are also, "preserved
in Jesus Christ." The word "preserved"
is the Greek verb [teteremenois] from [tereo] and means, "to
keep under guard, keep in custody, reserve." This verb conveys the message of an attentive, watchful and
concerning care. Like [egapemenois], [teteremenois] is also used in the
perfect tense, passive voice and dative case. Again, the perfect tense shows a
past action with existing results in the present. Jude is emphasizing God's
action of continually preserving us in our present state. Our writer's intend
was one of comfort for his readers. His
intend was to let us know that God the Father began His guard over us when we
were saved. He continues to presently
keep us in His watchful custody for our future groom-to-be, our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Our Lord Himself prayed
that God the Father would keep us so that we would be in union with Them when
He prayed, ". . . Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom
Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are" (KJV-Jn. 17:11).
We are suppose to find comfort in
knowing that God the Father is loving and keeping a watchful guard over us, not
only when we were born-again, but in our present state as saved believers. We don't deserve anything from God, but in
His grace He has actively given us these benefits. This undeserved favor is what is known as God's grace, and what a
wonderful gift it is. This is why Paul
tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 that, "8) For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9) Not of works lest
any man should boast." We
should note that the word "saved" in Ephesians 2:8 is
also in the perfect tense and passive voice, which lets us know that our saved
state in the Lord is certainly secured.
The perfect tense lets us know that we were saved in the past when we
believed and accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ (past action) and continue to
be in that saved state presently (the existing results). The passive voice lets us know that we are
the ones that are passively receiving the action of God's grace. He actively accomplished the work of
salvation and provides it to anyone who will believe and accept it by
faith. This is why Paul tells us in Ephesians
2:8 that it is a gift from God, not of works. This wonderful message should
be of great comfort to all believers everywhere who are "called."
The last word in verse one is the word "called" and is translated from the Greek adjective [kletois] meaning, "called, invited." This is an invitation in the sense of being invited to a feast or formal meal. It is a reference of the invitation that the Lord sends out to the unsaved world in the words, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (KJV-Matt 11:28). This invitation is to come and be part of God's kingdom by accepting His saving work on the Cross. The invitation is accomplished through God the Holy Spirit, in which through God's grace, the unbeliever, who is spiritually dead and cannot understand the spiritual phenomena of the Gospel, is brought to a comprehension of the Gospel of salvation (1Cor 2:14). The comprehension of why Christ is the only way to be saved is given when God the Holy Spirit acts as a human spirit to the spiritually dead unbeliever. Of course, this gracious work of God is only effective when the unbeliever is willing to listen to the message of salvation.
This same form of [kletois] is used four other times in the New Testament and always refers to the Christian (Rom 1:7; 8:28; 1 Co 1:2; 1 Co 1:24). Therefore, the reference is not simply a calling, but a calling that was answered by those who received it. The "called" ones that Jude is addressing are the ones that not only heard the Gospel but also were so deeply convicted, that they responded positively to it. This conviction is not of personal sin, which is never an issue for salvation, but of the one unpardonable sin of not believing in the unique person of Jesus Christ and His saving work on the cross (Jn. 16:8‑11). When the Lord stated that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin in John 16:8, He explained what that sin was in John 16:9. He states that this sin that was involved in the conviction was of not believing on Him. We need to be careful not divorce these two verses. Christ died for every sin that we have committed in the past and in the future when He died on the cross as our substitute. Rejection of this truth by the unbeliever is what constitutes the one unpardonable sin that John 16:9 is referring to. This is what the unbeliever's condemnation is based on and the reason John 3:18 states, "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." When the unbeliever realizes that Christ is the only way to be united to God the Father, as John 14:6 states, and accepts this wonderful gift of salvation, he is said to have "repented" or "changed his mind" in regards to Christ.
The word "repentance" comes from the Greek word [metanoia] and means, "to change one's mind." In salvation, this repentance is accomplished when God the Holy Spirit, in regards to Christ, convicts the unbeliever. As a result, they turned from every confidence for salvation to the one and only way, which is trust in Christ (Jn. 14:6). The bible refers to this trust as "faith." It is a usual practice to instill into this word the thought of sorrow. There is certainly no reason why sorrow cannot accompany repentance or lead to it, but the sorrow in itself is not the repentance. In 2 Corinthians 7:10 Paul states that, "godly sorrow worketh repentance." The sorrow was what leads to repentance but the sorrow is not to be mistaken for the "change of mind," which it serves to produce in regards to salvation through Christ. Let's not forget that even unbelievers can feel sorry for their sins, and even become reformed, but if there is no trust or faith in what Christ accomplished as Savior, they are still not saved and will spend eternity future in the lake of fire.
John 16:8 also declares to
us that God the Holy Spirit also convicts the world concerning
righteousness. The Holy Spirit exposes
our imperfect righteousness, which is due to us having a sin nature. A person's strive for perfect righteousness
may be noble and sincere, but it will never be perfect due to us having a sin
nature. A perfect and holy God can only
accept perfect righteousness and must reject imperfect righteousness. This is why Isaiah 64:6 states that, "Our
righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight." The Holy Spirit convicts us that it is
Christ's perfect righteousness that is the only righteousness that God the Father
will accept. It is our Lord's perfect
righteousness that is imputed to us at salvation when we put our trust in Him
as our Savior (Rom 3:22-26).
The final conviction of John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit accomplishes is concerning "judgment." Satan was judged when he rejected what God had provided in eternity past, and unbelievers will be judged for following that very same pattern, which is acceptance or rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God only chooses those who choose Him, "for many are called, but few are chosen" (Mt. 22:14). It is those believers who have chosen God through the perfect gift He has provided to us in the Lord Jesus Christ that Jude refers to as those who have been “called.” It should certainly be a comfort to those "called" to know that we are continually being clothed in our Father's love and guarded by His power until our wedding feast with our perfect Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! This will certainly be needed in a time that great apostasy will surround God's elect and a time that Jude was moved to warn us about. We can stand firm in knowing that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:38‑39). We can stand firm in knowing that in being “preserved for Jesus Christ,” we also share His eternal life (1 Jn. 5:11‑12), His perfect righteousness (2 Co 5:21), we are accepted in Christ forever (Eph.1:6), we share His destiny (Eph. 1:5), His heir ship (Eph. 1:4), His election and are sanctified in Christ (1 Co 1:2,30). We can be at ease in knowing that if God is for us, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)? These are just a few of the forty assets that we receive when we are born in Christ. If knowing that we are possessors of these precious gifts from God don't strengthen and encourage us, then nothing will. These truths should be ingrained within our frame of reference that they are not only our reality in this life but in the life to come. It is this reality that Jude wants believers to be clothed with as their protection from the apostasy he is about to warn us about.
*Corrective and expanded Translation*
Verse 1: Jude, a devoted bond-slave of Jesus
Christ and brother of James, to them who by God the Father have been loved and
continue to be in the sphere of first priority of His love, and who for Jesus
Christ have been guarded and continued to presently by under watchful guard, to
them who are called ones.
TO BE CONTINUED