Jude
Contend for the Faith
Central Teaching
In response to false teaching, God’s people must be willing to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Memory Verses
Setting
The early church struggled with threats from both the outside (persecution) and the inside (false teaching). Jude was written in response to false teaching that was threatening the church from within (see Jude 4, 7–8, 10–12, 16–17, 19–20). The author describes himself as a “servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James” (v. 1). Christian tradition identifies Jude as the half brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3). His brother James wrote the New Testament letter of James.
Second Peter and Jude have a great deal in common, and one may have borrowed from the other. Most scholars assume that Jude was written prior to (but close to the same time as) 2 Peter, which was written shortly before Peter’s death, sometime between AD 64 and 68. Jude was probably writing to a Jewish-Christian community outside of Palestine in a Gentile setting. The false teachers were probably Gentile since they were advocating such an immoral lifestyle.
Bronze coins depicting Nero and celebrating his military and civic achievements
Message
Jude warns of godless people who have infiltrated the church, advocating a false view of Jesus and twisting the grace of God into a license for godless living. He denounces these false teachers and warns of their impending judgment, calling them selfish shepherds because they live perverted lives, reject spiritual authority, and create chaos within the church. They are worldly people who do not have God’s Spirit within them.
Jude then addresses the faithful about how to contend for the true faith. They need to grow in their knowledge of scriptural truth, pray in the Spirit, live in God’s love, stay hopeful about Christ’s return, and serve others.
Jude closes his short letter with a poetically powerful word of praise to God, who is able to protect his children and bring them into his glorious presence with great joy and without fault. The only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord deserves all “glory, majesty, power and authority,” from eternity past, to the present, and into eternity future (v. 25).
Interesting Features
- Jude is one of two letters in the New Testament that are believed to have been written by Jesus’s half brothers (James and Jude). He was either the third or fourth son born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus (see Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3).
- Jude quotes extrabiblical Jewish literature twice in his short letter: the Testament of Moses in verse 9 and 1 Enoch in verses 14–15.
- Jude refers to angels several times in this short letter (vv. 6, 8–9, 14) and even names Michael the archangel (a rare event in Scripture).
Connections
Persecution takes various forms for Western Christians: ridicule, slander, ostracism, and economic discrimination, to name a few. And sometimes opposition occurs from within the church, from false teachers who have infiltrated the congregation. This is Jude’s focus. Jude makes the point that false teachers sometimes need to be confronted as a matter of contending for the historic Christian faith. Not all conflict is unhealthy. In fact, conflict may be necessary when others are being steered away from the true gospel. Paul himself confronts false teachers in 2 Corinthians.
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