An unknown author wrote,“Most of Jude is a scathing denunciation of false teachers—the smoke almost rises from its pages. The denunciation is sandwiched between two short, three-verse sections in which he exhorts them to faith and love. One of the factors that nearly kept it out of the canon was that Jude quotes two passages from apocryphal books, "The Assumption of Moses" and "The Book of Enoch," both of which were written between the writing of Malachi and beginning of the New Testament. Though they were apocryphal, Jude has no problem quoting passages from them.”

1. JUDE VERSE BY VERSE STUDY
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
I have searched the works of many authors to find the best comments on each verse
of this neglected book of the Bible. I have added my own comments as well, and the
goal of the labor is to help students of the Word, and pastors to save a lot of time,
for they do not need to read the many dozens of sermons, articles, and commentaries
that I have read, for I have quoted what I think are the highlights of the wisdom of
these many authors. Some of the authors are unknown because they have put their
writings on the internet, but they do not have their name on the message. If you find
quotes that you know were written by a known author, let me know and I will edit
the commentary and give them credit.
INTRODUCTION
1. There is much to be said for the saying that good things come in small packages,
as is in this case with the small epistle of Jude. The writer was familiar with the OT.
He mentions Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 7), Moses (verse 9), Cain (verse 11),
Balaam (verse 11), Korah (verse 11) and Enoch (verse 14).
2. An unknown author wrote,“Most of Jude is a scathing denunciation of false
teachers—the smoke almost rises from its pages. The denunciation is sandwiched
between two short, three-verse sections in which he exhorts them to faith and love.
One of the factors that nearly kept it out of the canon was that Jude quotes two
passages from apocryphal books, "The Assumption of Moses" and "The Book of
Enoch," both of which were written between the writing of Malachi and beginning
of the New Testament. Though they were apocryphal, Jude has no problem quoting
passages from them.”
3. Calvin wrote, “Though there was a dispute among the ancients respecting this
Epistle, yet as the reading of it is useful, and as it contains nothing inconsistent with
the purity of apostolic doctrine, and was received as authentic formerly, by some of
the best, I willingly add it to the others. Its brevity, moreover, does not require a
long statement of its contents; and almost the whole of it is nearly the same with the
second chapter of the last Epistle.”
4. To whom was it written? Barnes gives this answer: “Nothing can be determined
with entire certainty in regard to the persons to whom this epistle was written.

2. Witsius supposed that it was addressed to Christians everywhere; Hammond, that it
was addressed to Jewish Christians alone, who were scattered abroad, and that its
design was to secure them against the errors of the Gnostics; Benson, that it was
directed to Jewish believers, especially to those of the western dispersion; Lardner,
that it was written to all, without distinction, who had embraced the gospel. The
principal argument for supposing that it was addressed to Jewish converts is, that
the apostle refers mainly for proof to Hebrew writings, but this might be sufficiently
accounted tbr by the fact that the writer himself was of Jewish origin. The only way
of determining anything on this point is from the epistle itself. The inscription is,
"To them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and
called," Jude 1:1. From this it would appear evident that he had no particular
classes of Christians in his eye, whether of Jewish or Gentile origin, but that he
designed the epistle for the general use of all who had embraced the Christian
religion. The errors which he combats in the epistle were evidently wide-spread, and
were of such a nature that it was proper to warn all Christians against them. They
might, it is true, be more prevalent in some quarters than in others, but still they
were so common that Christians everywhere should be put on their guard against
them. The design for which Jude wrote the epistle he has himself stated, Jude 1:3. It
was with reference to the "common salvation"-- the doctrines pertaining to
salvation which were held by all Christians, and to show them the reasons for
"contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." That faith was
assailed. There were teachers of error abroad. They were insinuating and artful
men--men who had crept in unawares, and who, while they professed to hold the
Christian doctrine, were really undermining its faith, and spreading corruption
through the church. The purpose, therefore, of the epistle is to put those to whom it
was written on their guard against the corrupt teachings of these men, and to
encourage them to stand up manfully for the great principles of Christian truth."
5. "One of the most remarkable things respecting this epistle, is its resemblance to
the second chapter of the second epistle of Peter--a similarity so striking as to make
it quite certain that one of these writers had seen the epistle of the other, and copied
from it; or rather, perhaps, adopted the language of the other as expressing his own
views. It is evident, that substantially the same class of teachers is referred to by
both; that they held the same errors, and were guilty of the same corrupt and
dangerous practices and that the two apostles describing them, made use of the
same expressions, and employed the same arguments against them. They refer to the
same facts in history, and to the same arguments from tradition; and if either of
them quoted an apocryphal book, both have done it. On the resemblance, compare
the following place:---Jude 1:8, with 2 Peter 2:10; Judges 1:10, with 2 Peter 2:12;
Jude 1:16, with 2 Peter 2:18; Jude 1:4 with 2 Peter 1:2,3; Jude 1:7 with 2 Peter 2:6;
Jude 1:9 with 2 Peter 2:11 The similarity between the two is so striking, both in the
general structure of the argument and in the particular expressions, that it cannot
have been accidental. It is not such a resemblance as would be likely to occur in two
authors, if they had been writing in a wholly independent manner. In regard to this
resemblance, there is but one of three ways in which it can be accounted for: either
that the Holy Spirit inspired both of them to say the same thing, without the one
having any knowledge of what the other said; or that they both copied from a

3. common document, which is now lost; or that one copied from the other."
6. BibleOutlines.com has a great answer to the question, Why Study This Book?
To be aware of the dangers around us within professing Christendom so that we do
not naively accept all spiritual leaders and all teaching as legitimate
To learn the characteristics of apostate false teachers so that we can recognize and
expose them and warn the vulnerable flock of God
To reinforce our understanding of the severity of God's judgment and the reality of
eterinal punishment
To deepen our heart of compassion and mercy for those under attack who may be
wavering or susceptible to the influence of these deceptive teachers
To heighten our own sense of spiritual alertness so that we avail ourselves of all of
the spiritual resources at our disposal to build ourselves up in our faith and keep
ourselves in the love of God
To heighten our anticipation of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ who will put
down every rebellion, judge every false teacher, and bring His own to glory in a
state of complete sanctification."
7. L. D. Williams has captured one of the most unusual aspects of this letter. He
wrote, 'The author is very fond of triple arrangements. Each thought is expressed in
groups of three. In the 25 verses he presents 11 groups of triples." To demonstrate it
he has this outline:
vi The author:
1. Jude
2. Servant of Jesus Christ
3. Brother of James
vi Ones addressed:
1. Called
2. Beloved in God
3. Kept for Jesus Christ
v2 Salutations
1. Mercy
2. Peace
3. Love
vv. 5-7 Examples of Judgments
1. Unbelievers among Israelites
2. Angels who sinned
3. Sodom and Gomorrah
vv. 8-10 The dreamers:
1. Defile the flesh
2. Set at naught dominion
3. Rail at dignities
v 11 False teachers went:

4. 1. In the way of Cain
2. Error of Balaam
3. Gainsaying of Korah
v. 16 False Teachers are:
1. Murmurers
2. Complainers
3. Walking after their own lust
v. 19 These are:
1. They who make separations
2. Sensual
3. Having not the spirit
v. 20 Christians are to:
1. Build up yourselves
2. Pray in the Holy Spirit
3. Keep yourselves in the love of God
vv. 22-23 How to deal with those in error:
1. On some have mercy
2. On some save, snatching them out of the fire
3. On some have mercy with fear
v. 25 Giving glory to God:
1. Before all time
2 . Now
3. For evermore
1. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of
James, To those who have been called, who are
loved by God the Father and kept by[a] Jesus
Christ:
Cotton Patch Version "From Joe, Jim s brother, and owned by Jesus Christ lock, stock,
and barrel; to the church members—people who have been loved by Father-God and
nursed by Jesus Christ. May you all be loaded up with kindness and peace and love."
1. It would appear on the surface that the authorship of this letter is obvious, for
how many Jude’s can there be who might have written it? The answer is 7. And so it
becomes a complex issue to know for sure just who the author was. Could it be the
Apostle Jude, who is known as St. Jude and who has more churches named after
him than any other except Mary, and who has numerous other Christian
institutions named after him including St. Jude hospitals and medical centers?
Could it be one of the other Jude’s in the New Testament? It was a common name
until Judas ruined it and now nobody wants to call their child Judas. Jude is just a
reduced way of saying Judas, and because it is different, it is not hated like the name
Judas. It was not a hated name before Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. There was a

5. famous man named Judas Maccabeus who was a hero and restored God’s temple
160 years before Christ. Jesus had a brother named Judas and chose disciples
named Judas. It was as good a name as any until spoiled and stained by the
traitorous act of Iscariot. Judas was the name of Jude also, but it is shortened to
Jude to escape the confusion of calling all the Judas’s in the New Testament by this
name. David Legge sees God’s sense of humor in using a man named Judas to write
about the Judas’s who are bringing heresy into the church and betraying the Lord
with their godless teachings and practices. He is using one with the name of the
greatest of apostates to warn of the apostates plaguing the body of Christ. Matthew
Henry wrote, "The same names may be common to the best and worst persons.
2. Jude is the English form of the name Judas (Ioudas), the Greek form of Judah,
which literally means, "to give thanks, laud, praise" Here are the 7 men who are
named Jude, Juda, or Judas in the New Testament.
Brother of Jesus (Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3).
Ancestor of Christ (Lu 3:30).
Apostle, not Iscariot, son of James (Lu 6:16; Ac 1:13).
Iscariot, treasurer, traitor (Joh 6:71; 12:4-6; 13:29).
Surnamed Barsabas, proposed as Judas' successor (Ac 1:23; 15:22, 27,
32).
Galilean insurrectionist (Ac 5:37).
Owner of inn, in street called Straight at Damascus (Ac 9:11).
3. Bible scholars have narrowed the author of this letter down to one of two
possibilities. He is either the Jude who was an Apostle, or he was the Jude who was
the brother of James, both of whom were not Apostles but brothers of Jesus. They
are called half-brothers because they have different fathers. Jesus was born of the
Holy Spirit, but they were fathered by Joseph. The majority have concluded that the
author was Jude the brother of Jesus, and this being the case, we have two of the
letters of the New Testament written by the brothers of Jesus, and they are James
and Jude. Mary and Joseph were into the often practiced way of naming children by
starting them all with the same first letter. We do not know the names of the sisters
of Jesus, of whom there were at least two, but we do know his brothers were James,
Joseph, Judas and Simon. Then his name Jesus makes it four out of the five boys all
beginning with the same first letter of J. We see this revealed in “(Mark 6:3 KJV) Is
not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of
Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at
him.”
4. It is of interest that in researching the name of Jude I came up with two famous
modern day Jude’s who have something in common. Jude Law the famous
handsome actor who was voted the sexiest man alive has gone through a bitter
divorce and considered it to be like a horrible car crash. Then there was the famous

6. divorce of John Lennon of the Beatles that led Paul McCartney to write “Hay
Jude,” which became the most successful song the Beatles ever released. Paul wrote
it to encourage the 5 year old son of Lennon as his parents were going through their
divorce. In 1968 alone it sold over 5 million copies. I share this because the theme of
this letter is also about divorce in the spiritual realm. People are divorcing
themselves from the truth of God’s revelation. They are going astray after false gods
and divorcing themselves from the kingdom of God. There is much sadness in the
world because people forsake their commitments and their loyalty, and this is what
we see over and over again in the history of God’s people in both the Old and New
Testaments. Jude was chosen by God to be the author of this letter that would be a
powerful warning about the danger of divorce from our Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus
Christ.
5. It is a short letter, but it is packed with many messages, and we need to
break it up into words and phrases to get the full value of it. First we will
look at his description of himself.
A servant of Jesus Christ
1. He was the half brother of Jesus, and he could have made much of that,
but he chose instead to humble himself and call himself a servant. The word
for servant is “doulos”, and it means slave. We see that he is a man with a
humble attitude who does not exalt himself because of his special relationship
to Jesus. He is just like the rest of us who love and serve our Lord. He is one
of the family of servants in the kingdom of God. Let’s be honest and admit
that if we were half-brothers of Jesus we would be tempted to be more proud
than Jude, and try to inflate our ego by making more of that relationship
than he did. It would be hard to be humble like this and just call ourselves
one of the servants. Jude listened to his older brother and believed him when
he said that the servant is the greatest of all.
2. The apostles called themselves SLAVES of JESUS CHRIST. Romans 1:1 "From
Paul, a bond SLAVE of JESUS CHRIST (the Messiah)..." 2 Peter 1:1"...a SLAVE
and apostle of JESUS CHRIST...". James 1:1 "...a SLAVE of God and of the Lord
JESUS CHRIST...". It is not just Apostles, however, for all believers are to be slaves
of Christ. In I Cor. 7:22-23 Paul says, “For he who was a slave when he was called
by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was
called is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”
We are to have only one master, and we are to be His slaves and His only. Matthew
4:10 "You shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
3. It is part of the definition of being a slave that we please one master and one
master only. Paul says in Gal. 1:10 “If I were still trying to please men, I would not
be a servant of Christ.” In other words a true servant is a slave and a one master
servant. He has one ultimate loyalty and if pleasing Him displeases everyone else,

7. then that is the way it must be, for he cannot please others at the expense of
displeasing his master. Jesus is Lord and all that matters is that he is satisfied and
pleased with my attitudes and actions. Many others may be pleased with them also,
but they are not the reason for my choices. Jesus alone is the reason, for pleasing
Him is the only goal that a servant has. If everyone else loves what you choose, but
Jesus does not, then the servant is a failure. But if everyone else is disappointed and
Jesus is happy with your choice, then you are a good and faithful servant. So when
the Bible authors call themselves slaves or servants of Christ or God they are saying
right from the start, “What I am writing is to please my Lord, and so if it is not to
your liking, that is your problem, for I do not write to please men, but only my
Master.” This is to be the attitude of all Christians, for all are called to be servants.
4. This does not mean that the servant of Christ does not please men, for the greatest
pleasure you can give men is to reveal the Gospel to them and give them the
revelation of God’s will, and that is what the Apostles did. The pleasing of men is a
worthy goal of all who minister to a lost world, for the Gospel is itself the greatest
pleasure that can be given to mankind. The point is, the pleasing of men can become
an idol that takes over as master and leads us astray from our loyalty to Christ. This
is what is happening in the church, and this is why Jude is warning believers to
beware of men pleasers who come with appealing ideas that lead them out of God’s
will into all kinds of immorality and sins of the flesh. Those who seek to please men
only, will soon be under the judgment of God, for they will be forsaking all that
pleases God. God’s pleasure is to be our perpetual goal, for when that is our aim in
life, we will please many men as well. But when we aim to please men, and make
that the goal of life, we will fall into every trap the devil has devised to lead men
astray. To keep life simple and successful, make pleasing God your only aim. Those
who do so are the servants or slaves of Christ.
5. In the following 5 texts we see just how often the Apostle Paul stressed the
pleasing of God as the goal and purpose of his life, and this is why he was the
greatest of the slaves of Christ. When we grasp this we will understand why Jude
and other Bible authors were proud to declare themselves slaves of Christ, and we
will want to join them, and be proud ourselves to take on this title as a title of great
honor.
# 2 Corinthians 5:9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in
the body or away from it.
# Galatians 6:8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature [ Or
his flesh, from the flesh] will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit,
from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
# Colossians 1:10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the
Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing
in the knowledge of God
# 1 Thessalonians 2:4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be

8. entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our
hearts.
# 1 Thessalonians 4:1 [ Living to Please God ] Finally, brothers, we instructed you
how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and
urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.
6. The problem that Jude is dealing with is the false concept of freedom. The false
teachers are saying that we are free from the law and free from all the bondage of
the legalism of the Jews, and they took this truth and twisted it to mean that they
were no longer slaves to Christ. The slave of Christ does only what pleases his
master, but the person who wants to be free from slavery to Christ will end up in
deeper bondage even than the legalist. Those who get free from pleasing Christ will
then do only what pleases themselves, and this means they will become self centered
and flesh driven. As you read on you see this very thing in the false teachers that
creep like serpents into the Christian church. Emil Brunner wrote, “The man who
has simply gotten "free" is without a master and therefore more deeply a slave.
There is no slavery comparable to the slavery of master-less-ness. For then a man is
slave to his own passions, or to that worst of all tyrants, the Ego, or as the Bible
expresses it -- to sin. For Master-Ego and sin are exactly the same -- the sinful man
is the man who recognizes no Lord but himself.”
7. Thus, we have the paradox that those who are free from pleasing any master are
those most in slavery and bondage, and those who are most in slavery and bondage
to Christ are those who are the only truly free. The only way to have real freedom is
to be a slave of Christ, and live in full obedience to His Lordship. By pleasing Him
you have the best in life, and what Jesus came to give, which is abundant and
eternal life. This is life with perpetual purpose and meaning. Emil Brunner writes
again, “Paul always calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ, and in that servitude is
his freedom. We are so created of God that we cannot be free, true men, happy,
glad, strong manly men without Him. It is only through Him. God created us for
fellowship with Himself. Fellowship with God is, so too speak, the substance of
human life. When we part with God and try to stand on our own feet, we know our
situation to be like that of the son in the parable who said to his father; "Father,
give me my inheritance" -- then went into the far country and fell into misery.
Without God we get into the far country and into misery. We waste that "human
substance" which consists of fellowship with God and love. The redeeming work of
Christ consists in bringing us, the lost, back home to the Father, and thus to
liberty.”
8. The paradox has another twist yet. When we are free in Christ by being slaves of
Christ, we are then free to please men in a way that we never could do when
pleasing them was our aim in life. Luther wrote, "A Christian man is the most
dutiful servant of all and subject to every one through love." In other words, by

9. being a slave of Christ, and desiring always to please Him, we are under the law of
love where the love of Christ guides our behavior. This means we please our Master
by being loving to all people. Now, as servants of Christ we can please men because
we are doing so in a way that pleases our Master.
9. Emil Brunner again has excellent words of explanation of this paradox. “The
slave of sin, slave of his own self is separated from men and wants to dominate them.
He must seek his own. He is possessed by selfishness. But he who has been freed by
Christ from this worst of all sicknesses, and is placed in the love of God, is free from
himself and free for others. The misery and the welfare of other men all at once
become important for him. He sympathizes with them, rejoices with them, as though
he were one with them. He would be ready to give all things, even his life for the
sake of others. That is just the human element which now appears when the
inhuman, the sinful has disappeared. He has become a true servant of man -- as
Jesus was a servant of man.” The servant or slave of Christ is now the greatest
servant of all and is thereby Christlike, for he or she is willing to be a servant to all
people. We have come full circle to show that the slave of Christ is the most free
person on the face of the earth, for he is free to be what pleases God and ministers to
the needs of people. The servant of Christ is the most pleasing person possible, and
even when he has to write warnings like Jude does in this letter, he does so because
of his love for people, and his desire to help them escape the negative and enjoy the
positive that God has for them.
10. There is one other point we want to make before we leave this title of servant or
bond slave. If we go back to Exod. 21:2, 5-6 we read about the law dealing with
slaves. “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he
shall go out as a free man without payment... But if the slave plainly says, "I love my
master...; I will not go out as a free man," then his master shall bring him to God,
then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his
ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.” The bond slave had a mark
that revealed that he freely chose this position of slavery. He was not forced to be a
slave, but chose to be a slave out of love for his master. He said by this that life
under my master is far superior to anything that I could have as a free man. I have
love and all I need as a slave of my master. It is the best life with meaning and
purpose, and I freely choose it as a blessing. Slavery to Christ is also a free choice.
He does not enslave us, but we chose to be his servant and live under his Lordship.
It is a free choice which we gladly make, for we have no other way of living that we
can conceive as better than that of living to please Him who gave His all for us. It is
the greatest liberty to be a servant and slave of Jesus. And it will be our joy for all
eternity, for Rev. 22:3 says, “his servants shall serve him.” There will never be a
greater position to be in than that of servant of Jesus Christ.
11. The following poem illustrates how paradoxical it can be to be the ideal servant.
Strong enough to be weak

10. Successful enough to fail
Busy enough to make time
Wise enough to say "I don't know"
Serious enough to laugh
Rich enough to be poor
Right enough to say "I'm wrong"
Compassionate enough to discipline
Mature enough to be childlike
Important enough to be last
Planned enough to be spontaneous
Controlled enough to be flexible
Free enough to endure captivity
Knowledgeable enough to ask questions
Loving enough to be angry
Great enough to be anonymous
Responsible enough to play
Assured enough to be rejected
Victorious enough to lose
Industrious enough to relax
Leading enough to serve
Poem by Brewer --- as cited by Hansel, in Holy Sweat, Dallas Texas, Word, 1987.
12. "Now let me just ask you something, If you were a half-brother or half-sister of
Jesus Christ and you were writing to other Christians, wouldn’t you tell ‘em?!
Wouldn’t you say, “And by the way, I’m Bob, Jesus’ brother”? But this man
identifies himself as ‘Jude, Jesus’ slave.’ And I think that tells you a lot about his
own self-understanding. It tells you something of his humility. He’s the Lord’s own

11. brother, but he views Jesus as his Master. It shows his submission to the lordship of
Christ. His whole life had been put at the disposal of Jesus. He calls himself, “the
brother of James,” even though others call him “the brother of our Lord.” Paul in 1
Corinthians 9:5 calls James and Jude, “the brothers of our Lord,” but this writer
doesn’t say, ‘I’m Jude the brother of our common Lord.’ He says, ‘I’m Jude, the
slave of Jesus the Messiah and the brother of James.’" Author unknown
13. This unknown author goes on, "Can you imagine a man growing up with
another man and still acknowledging him as his Master? Jude lived with Jesus, and
he acknowledged Jesus as his Lord and Master. If that isn’t a testimony to the
divinity of Christ, I don’t know one. Here Jude acknowledges Jesus as Messiah and
Lord of his life, and yet even as a servant to Jesus, it sets Jude free. Because it is one
of the paradoxes of Christianity that in glad devotion to Jesus we find our freedom.
And so even in Jude’s self-designation in the introduction, in the salutation of this
letter, we learn something about Jude’s self-understanding and his view of Christ,
and we learn something of what our self-understanding ought to be. We are
servants of Jesus Christ. We belong to Him. We march to the beat of His drum.
We follow His word. We follow His commission. We seek to go in His ways. We
desire to be conformed to His image. We long for His exaltation. We want the
nations of the world to come to Him. He is the center of our existence in the
community of faith. And we learn, of course, from Jude’s introduction that this
Jesus is Master and Lord and divine. And so we learn something about the way we
ought to view ourselves and the way we ought to view our Savior."
and a brother of James
1. James was the brother who became most famous in the early church, for he
became the leader of the church in Jerusalem, the home church of Christianity.
He was well known and that is why Jude, when he penned this letter, called
himself the brother of James. Everybody would know who he was by showing
his relationship to James. It puts you in the position of playing second fiddle
when you make yourself known by your relationship to someone more famous,
but Jude did not mind, for he is a man of humility just like his brother James.
They both were brothers of Jesus and could have tried to make something of
that, but they did not write their letters beginning “Jude and James the brothers
of Jesus.” Instead, they both used the term servant to describe themselves. Jude
said he was the servant of Jesus Christ and James says he is the servant of God.
2. James his brother starts his letter by also calling himself a servant of God and of
the Lord Jesus Christ. They were both humble, and they did have good reason for
their humility, for they were stubborn brothers who refused to believe that it

12. was possible that their brother Jesus was actually the Messiah. Like many
others, they did not come to believe in who Jesus was until after his
resurrection. We should ask ourselves which James is the James spoken of in the
verse? Only one James would be so recognized in the early church as not to need
qualification and that is James the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He was the
brother of Jesus as stated in Galatians by Paul in Gal 1:19, “ I saw none of the other
apostles--only James, the Lord's brother.”
3. It is of interest how often it is brothers who make history by doing
something together that makes them famous. Everybody has heard of the
Wright brothers and their fame in the field of flying. Both Wilbur and Orville
were elected posthumously to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. Then
there are the Marx brothers who were famous for their humor, and the Ringling
brothers famous for their circus. The Blackwood brothers are famous in
country music. Reinhold Niebuhr, and his brother H. Richard Niebuhr are
famous in theology. We could go on and on, for brothers have worked together
in almost every field known to man, and have become the best at what they do.
Just type in famous brothers in history in a search engine and you will have
more examples than anybody will ever read. Jesus chose brothers on purpose
to be his disciples. Six of the 12 were brothers, and so brothers were a major
part of the foundation of the church that Jesus began. This says something
about the importance of family and relationship in maintaining unity in a cause.
People who are close and who love each other can work together for a common
cause better than those who are not so related. Jesus chose brothers and his
own brothers became key people in writing the New Testament. In the Old
Testament the 12 tribes of Israel all came from 12 brothers, and so brothers
play major roles in both testaments. In eternity we will all be brothers in Christ
forever.
4. Playing second fiddle to a more famous brother is no easy role. Remember Cain
killed his brother Abel who was more in the favor of God because of his more
acceptable offering to God. His jealousy led him to murder, and this is a plot that is
often written about. Sibling rivalry can lead to murder when one becomes so famous
that it leaves the other in the shadow where they are hardly ever recognized. James
is a well known leader of the home church in Jerusalem, and he is the author of a
letter far larger and more popular than that of Jude. It would be easy to be jealous
and try to become independent of this more famous brother. But Jude has no such
spirit, and publically proclaims for all the world to know, “I am a brother of
James.” The poet was right when he wrote, “It takes more grace than I can tell, to
play the second fiddle well.”
5. Dr. Ward Williams has written some wonderful words about this issue of playing
second fiddle, and they are worth exploring here, for Jude is a great example of how
it can be done well. All of the following is based on a message Dr. Williams preached
on March 15 of 1998. I have added some comments, but it is all his creativity, and I

13. hope you love it as much as I do. It is a wonderful insight that applies to Jude and to
all of us. Thank you Dr. Williams. He points out the obvious truth that we tend to
overlook, and that is that all people who gain great fame, and who are always in the
limelight, could never be there if it was not for others who are in the background,
and who are never seen, or seldom seen, or thought of at all.
6. Williams writes, “The poet reminds us of the importance of those behind-the-scenes,
when he says: “Here's the secret of the riddle, for successes everywhere --
There's some little second fiddle that is carrying the air.” If you stay on the well-worn
path of public praise, you will never come to appreciate the unknown and
unsung heroes of life who carry the world's burdens. Lefty Gomez, holder of the
World Series' pitching record (six wins, no losses), was asked the secret of his
success. He replied, "Clean living and a fast outfield." A pitcher cannot achieve a
no-hitter without some miracle catches up against the fence. Behind every
achievement there are other people who helped along the way.”
7. It is not only in sports where there is a dependence upon all on the team to do
their best, but it is true in every field. Billy Graham knows that he could not preach
to millions without the help of masses of people in the background doing all kinds of
things he could never do. Dr. Williams gives some dramatic examples of how hard it
is to play second fiddle and get no reward for doing what others are exalted and
praised for doing. He writes, “When Charles A. Lindbergh flew from New York to
Paris, the reception committee and the populace of both the United States and
France, along with avid followers around the world, lavished praise on the young
flyer. Within thirty days he had received no less than 3,500,000 letters, 100,000
telegrams, and 14,000 packages.
8. A recording company offered Lindbergh $300,000 for the story of his flight told
in his own words, and recorded by their machine. A motion picture producer
brought an offer of $500,000 for a few weeks work before the cameras. A European
syndicate cabled a message promising Lindbergh $2,500,000 if he would make a trip
alone around the world. Five thousand laudatory poems were dedicated to "The
Conqueror of the Air." A few weeks afterward, another American aviator made a
similar solo flight across the Atlantic. As a matter of fact, this fellow, whose name
was Chamberlain, succeeded in reaching a point much further east than Paris. Yet
he was not so fortunate. He had trouble financing the return trip to the United
States. When he came home with a small collection of European medals, he was
asked to pay duty of $124 on them. Practically no one remembers his
accomplishment; fewer remember his name. The fact that a person comes in second
does not mean that his or her abilities are deficient. He may be equal or even more
outstanding than those who ranked above him. Chamberlain was quite as capable
as Lindbergh, even though Lindbergh received most of the attention and almost all
the applause. "It takes more grace than I can tell, to play the second fiddle well."
9. Lets be honest now. After reading such an example as that, do you think you
could enjoy playing second fiddle? It would be hard to do, and it would take the
grace of God to do it without some degree of resentment, and a good deal of
complaining of how life is unfair. The brother in the New Testament who could not
stomach playing the second fiddle has a lot to justify his refusal to do so. Many can

14. identify more with the elder brother than with the younger prodigal, but the fact is,
his downfall and unhappy ending was due to his inability to play the second fiddle
well. Dr. Williams tells the story so eloquently that I will quote it all. He writes,
10. “We see a surly fellow out behind the cow shed remaining immovable and self-righteous.
He grumbles about how he has been used, how obedient he has been, how
hard he has worked, how little appreciation he gets. He is not going to join in the
merriment over that wretched spendthrift of a brother and play second fiddle. Not
by a long shot. In such a way we are introduced to the older brother. We forget that
he was an exemplary character in many respects. Undoubtedly he would have been
voted the man most likely to succeed in his graduating class. He was the stable,
dependable man of substance in the community. He stuck to his job, and no
nonsense about it. When his no-good brother returned, where was he? He was out
working in the fields! He took home and community responsibilities seriously. No
running off to the bright lights of the city for him! He stayed at home, put his money
in the bank, and reinvested the dividends. He went to synagogue once a week and
led a clean, upstanding life. Here is a picture of the kind of person who makes the
backbone of any community. Society would be in a bad way without the likes of this
elder brother to give it stability and decency.
11. But that younger brother was a wild one! The neighbors had a field day with the
gossip about his carrying on. Reckless and irresponsible, he couldn't wait to get his
hands on his inheritance. He didn't even have the decency to wait for his father to
die first; but, as cool and callous as you please, made his father give him what was
eventually coming to him, and then off he went. He couldn't get away from home
fast enough, away from the dull care and restraint of his father, and that
respectable older brother of his! You know the story of the younger brother all to
well: he had a high old time living it up, but before long he was feeding the pigs.
And a Jew could sink no lower. So things seem to be just about right up to this
point: the older brother is at home fulfilling responsibilities, and the younger
brother has gotten what he deserves.
12. But the story has a strange ending. The roles are reversed. The elder brother
ends up outside his father's house in a "far country" of his own making, while the
younger ends up inside with feasting, music, and a fatted calf. It seems to me that
what Jesus is suggesting in his portrait of the older brother is just this: "It takes
more grace than I can tell, to play the second fiddle well."
13. If we see the story of the Prodigal as representing the Gentiles being welcomed
back into the family of God and the Jews being the faithful son who never forsook
the kingdom, then we have another insight into how hard it is to play second fiddle.
This picture portrays the Jews as jealous and becoming bitter toward the father for
accepting the Gentiles back. It is a disgrace to Israel to welcome Gentiles into the
family, and so they rebel and will not join in the party and celebrate the broader
grace of God who welcomes all to repent and return. This acceptance of those
outside of Israel is the Gospel to the Gentiles, but it is heresy to the Jews. Because
they cannot accept this good news of God’s love for all men, and the open door for
all who will to come, they reject the Gospel and refuse to play second fiddle to the

15. greater number of the Gentiles. Either the Gentiles come into Israel, or we will have
nothing to do with them and their party, even if the party is in the house of God.
They do not have the grace to play the second fiddle well.
14. Williams goes on to point out that we all have to play the second fiddle in some
relationship in life. We cannot stay on top all the time. New people come along and
new technology comes along and makes others superior in areas that we were once
the best. New people come into the lives of our children and they no longer look to
us as the final answer. They have friends and then mates who are the primary
influence, and we are put in second place. It happens to everyone eventually, and so
all people need to learn to play the second fiddle. If we learn to play it well we will
learn that second place is also a perfect place to be to continue to have an impact on
lives and situations. Jude did not say to God to get somebody else to write this letter.
He did not give up and say I am nobody and cannot be used in any meaningful way.
He did not say give the job to my superior brother James. He said instead, “I will
play the second fiddle well, for sometimes it is the only instrument that is heard in
the midst of all of the racket and noise of the world.”
15. Stedman writes, “He was like Andrew the brother of Peter. Peter got almost all
of the fame as being the leader of the Apostles. Andrew is in the shadow of his
brother, but he does not grieve over it, but accepts it as does Jude. Very seldom do
two brothers gain the same heights in leadership and fame. It takes great humility
and self-acceptance to play second fiddle to a famous brother. Jude was proud to be
a brother to James and proud to be a servant of Jesus.”
16. Both James and Jude were unbelievers (John 7:3-5) during the ministry of our
Lord on earth. It was not until after the resurrection that they accepted the claims
of our Lord, Acts 1:14; I Cor. 15:7.
To those who have been called,
1. Jude must have been a preacher for he loves to use outlines with three points. He
addresses his audience as people characterized by three things. They are called,
loved and kept. Each of these is characteristic of all believers, and so it is clear that
Jude is written to true believers who are a part of the family of God. In verse 2 it is
mercy, peace and love. In verses 5 through 7 he gives 3 examples of God's judgment
on his own people, the fallen angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah. In verse 8 are three
things the dreamsers do that is evil. In verse 11 are three examples of evil men. In
verses 22 and 23 are three kinds of troubled Christians and three ways of dealing
with them.
2. When your phone rings you know you are being called by someone. It is often
someone you wish would not bother you, but often it is from a friend or family
member and you are delighted that they called, for being called is a pleasure. The
greatest pleasure of all is to be called by God. You get this call when you hear the
Gospel. It is like the phone ringing and when you answer it you are taking the call.
You hear the good news that Jesus died for your sins and that He invites you to

16. become a part of the family of God by faith in Him as Savior and Lord. When you
hear this and respond by receiving Christ you become a part of the family of the
redeemed. You have been called and you responded to that call. Many get the call
but do not want to be bothered, and so they hang up before they really understand
what is being offered. They think it is a crank call, or that it sounds too good to be
true, and they hang up without any response. They got the call and so they were
called, but they were not added to the family of God because they did not accept the
message. Many are called but few are chosen, for they can only be chosen by
receiving the message of the call. “But to as many as received Him to them he gave
the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12). True believer are the called who
have received the call and in faith have responded by receiving Jesus as Savior.
Such were those to whom this letter is written. All believers are called. They are
called to come to Christ and called to come into Christian service, and called to use
their gifts for ministry of some kind. No one is uncalled and so have some excuse for
not using their gifts for the cause of Christ. If you are a Christian you are called, for
there are no uncalled Christians.
3, John Piper wrote, “Jude's letter begins and ends with very comforting words to
Christians. In verse 1 it describes us as "those who are called, loved in God the
Father and kept for Jesus Christ." All three verbs are passive. They stress the action
of God. God calls, God loves, and God keeps. We are called, are loved and are kept.
Jude is very eager to begin by stressing the security of the believer in God's electing
and preserving love.
Then at the end of his letter in verse 24 he says, "Now to him who is able to keep you
from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory
with rejoicing, to the only God … be glory …" Notice, in verse 1 we are kept by God
for Jesus Christ. And in verse 24 God is able to keep us from falling. Jude begins
and ends the letter by assuring believers that God exerts his omnipotence to keep
them from falling away from the faith.
So what should you answer when someone questions how you can be so sure you
will keep the faith to the end and so be saved at the judgment is? You should say
something like this: "God has called me out of unbelief. Therefore I know that he
loves me with a particular electing love. Therefore I know that he will keep me from
falling. He will work in me that which is pleasing in his sight (Hebrews 13:21), and
present me with rejoicing before the throne of his glory."
That's the way Jude begins and ends his letter. But in the middle his concern is
different. It is not to help believers feel content, but to help them feel vigilant.
Having shown them the electing love of God and the unsurpassed power of God (v.
2-5) to keep them safe, Jude now shows them the danger that surrounds them. And
he tells them to fight for the faith." John is very balanced here for a strong
Calvinist, for he has a focus on our security, and also on our responsibility.
4. This word tells us that we are called by God the Father. We saw this in John 6:37.
God calls us and places us into the Kingdom of God. This word “called” comes from

17. the Greek word, “kletos” which carries with it the meaning of “called out, chosen,
or appointed.” This word is also an adjective which means it is describing
something. It is describing Christians. We are “called Christians.” Basically, the
Bible is telling us here that we are called Christians who are sanctified and
preserved.
5. Gill follows Jude in his love for three things in a row. He wrote this on the word
called. "The Greek word for call is 'Kalein' and it has three interesting usages;
1. It is the word for summoning a person to office, to duty, to responsibility. The
Christian is summoned to office, duty and responsibility in his service for Christ.
2. It is the word summoning a person to a feast or a festival. It is the word of
invitation to some happy event. The Christian is summoned to a joyful feast at the
end of time as the guest of God.
3. The word is used of a person being summoned to a court so that he may stand
before the judge and give an explanation. Likewise the Christian is called to stand
before the judgement seat of Christ.”
6. The idea of believers being the called of God is quite common in the New
Testament. Paul was especially fond of the idea.
Romans 1:6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and
peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who
love him,[ 8:28 Some manuscripts And we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God] who[ 8:28 Or works together with those who love him
to bring about what is good–with those who] have been called according to his
purpose
1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ
Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ–their Lord and ours:
1 Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ
our Lord, is faithful.
1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or
woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.
Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your
freedom to indulge the sinful nature[ 5:13 Or the flesh; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and

18. 24] ; rather, serve one another in love.
Ephesians 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order
that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious
inheritance in the saints,
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing,
because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing
1 Peter 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong,
firm and steadfast
who are loved by God the Father
1. LOVED = The Greek “agapao” (Strongs #G25) means “love.” Here it is
grammatically a plural perfect passive participle in the dative case meaning “having
been loved.” This means the “love” is punctiliar in that the action occurred in the
past, but it is also linear in that the results continue in the present. Every aspect of
our “calling” is due to God’s original and continuing love for us. An unknown
author wrote, "In covenant fellowship with the Triune God, we are the beloved.
Now I want you to revel in that for a moment. This is the only place in the New
Testament where you will find this phrase, “beloved in God the Father.” No other
place in the New Testament describes Christians as “beloved in God the Father.”
And Jude is telling us here that as we rest and trust in Jesus Christ alone for
salvation as He is offered in the gospel, we are beloved by God. We are the beloved
in union with the Beloved One, Jesus Christ, and we are thus in God as we are in
Christ."
2. David Legge, "He calls them the loved, the beloved as it says - sanctified here -
and you're not called because you look well, or because you talk well, or because you
think Christian things well, or because you're good living, or because your parents
were Christians - we all know that, that we're called because we're loved. Loved of
God! 'For God so loved the world that He gave' - we are precious in His eyes. Now, I

19. think this is lovely, we are loved of God the Father - we live in an age of a world of
insecurity, a world where children are born into homes without a mother or without
a father. And there are children that grow up with a complex, because they don't
have a Daddy and all those at school do have a Daddy - but what a great delight to
be able to sit down with those people, with the open word of God, and to show them
that they have an eternal love of an Eternal Father!
3. We know that God so loved the world that he gave His only Son for the
redemption of all who would receive Him. This means God’s love is universal. It is
impossible to find someone that God does not love. So to call someone loved by God
does not say much if this it true of everyone. But we need to make a distinction. Jude
says they are loved by God the Father. It is a distinctive father’s love here and not
the general love God has for all His creation and all people. It is as a part of the
family of God that they are loved and so it is a more intimate love. We all can say we
love people outside of our family, but the fact is we have a unique love for our
children that we do not have for others. I love many people but not with a father’s
love. It is as a friend or person in need or just a general concern for all people that I
have love. But for my children there is a more intimate love and concern. God’s love
for his own children has a greater depth and intimacy.
4. I do not hate any woman and so it can be said truthfully that I love all women.
But the fact is that love is not very intense at all. It amounts to just caring enough to
respond to any need a woman might have that I can help with. I have no feelings for
all the women in New York of Chicago, and yet I would help them in any way I
could if they asked me. That love is very general and even superficial, for it will
have no real existence until there is some direct contact. But I love my wife on an
entirely different level and with far greater intensity. She has a far greater value to
me than any other woman. So it is with kids. I love all kids, but that is superficial
and only real when there are kids that I can respond to. But I love my own kids in a
special way. The point is, God’s love is both general and specific as well. He loves all
and anyone who comes to Him he will in no wise cast them out. He will respond to
all who seek His grace. But he has a special love and affection for those who have
come into His family by receiving His Son. Everyone is loved by God, but not
everyone is God’s beloved. He has a bride that was first the people of Israel and now
the people of the body of Christ, the church. All who love Jesus will be at the
marriage supper of the Lamb and will be the bride of Jesus for all eternity. God
naturally has a different and more intense and intimate love for this bride than he
does for those who are not part of the bride.
5. God loved his Son in a unique way because he was the perfect example of
obedience to the Father’s will. When Jesus walked down to the Jordan river to be
baptized of John, a special event took place. God sent His Holy Spirit who
descended upon Jesus like a dove, and a voice declared: "This is my beloved son, in
whom I am well pleased." God does not love all people like he loved his Son, for
there was a special and precious relationship they had that none can match. Others
have pleased God like Jesus did, however, and they too were called beloved. What

20. awesome and amazing audacity to claim to be loved by God. Not, my family loves
me, my neighbors love me, the community loves me, the nation loves me, the world
loves me, but God loves me. Who do you think you are to claim to be loved by God?
For Jude to call these people loved by God is to say he is writing to the greatest
people that ever lived or will ever live. This is the highest category that any human
can achieve in life-to be loved by God.
"Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Gracious Spirit from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so.
Oh, this full and perfect peace!
Oh, this transport all Divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine!"
and kept by Jesus Christ:
1. A Christian is kept by Christ. He is the one who promises to never leave us or
forsake us; he is the one who intercedes for us. The Christian is never alone not
orphaned or abandoned, but always carries Christ in his everyday life as his strong
tower, as his shepherd and as his friend. The new International Version has a
footnote, stating that the word "by" from "kept by Christ" is not in the original text
and that this could be read as either "kept by Christ" or "kept in Christ" or "kept
for Christ". Any one of these statements could be justified. This being preserved or
kept in Christ engenders feelings of security and safety. The verse Colossians 3:3
sets forth the sense of the Christian being safe in Christ. The idea is that we are in
Christ's hand safe and secure. Calvin once put it this way, “At any moment Satan
might snatch us a hundred times over into his ready clutches were we not safe in the
protection of Christ.”
2. Gill wrote, "They are preserved not from indwelling sin, nor from the
temptations of Satan, nor from doubts and fears and unbelief, nor from slips and
falls into sin; but from the tyranny and dominion of sin, from being devoured by
Satan, and from a total and final falling away; they are preserved in the love of God,
and of Christ; in the covenant of grace; in a state of justification and adoption; and
in the paths of truth, faith, and holiness; and are preserved safe to the heavenly
kingdom and glory...
3. A study of this word leads to a strong case for eternal security. "In the
Greek this word also means to “keep or guard” and is used quite extensively
in the New Testament. The word is used four times in the Lord’s priestly

21. prayer. (John 17:11-12 KJV) And now I am no more in the world, but these
are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own
name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. {12}
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou
gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that
the scripture might be fulfilled. This is why the true believer can never lose
their salvation. God is the one who is preserving or keeping us. (1 Pet 1:4
KJV) To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven for you, If we could lose our salvation, then what
would God be reserving a place for? God preserves His children even when
we fall. He is faithful even when we are not."
3B. John MacArthur, "In effect, Jude is saying, "Christian, I am telling you
at the beginning and I am reiterating at the end that apostasy will have no
affect on you. There is no need to fear the decline of the faith and the rise of
heresy, because you are kept by God." Jude surrounds his comments on
apostasy with two great promises on the security of the child of God in Jesus
Christ. When we see people rejecting Christianity, we might wonder what
would happen if some Christians were dragged away into the terrible
apostasy. Jude's answer resounds in the first and last statements of his
epistle: "A Christian is kept by God." I think he is stating his case too
strongly here in saying apostasy will have no effect on you, and there is no
need to fear. Calvin disagrees and says a number of times that the believers
should be scared stiff by the apostasy. Why bother to write this letter if it is
no big deal. Jude changed his purpose to write about salvation in order to
deal with the urgency of this issue, and we can assume it was because he
thought it could and would have an effect on believers. MacArthur is taking
the danger all too lightly, and more so than many Calvinists. It is a weakness
in Calvinistic authors when they dismiss all the New Testament warnings, for
they are saying that all that stuff should never be in the Bible, for it has no
relevance to believer who have eternal security. It is saying God wasted space
that could have been used for a better purpose, and he is wasting our time by
making us read part of the Bible that are irrelevant to us. John would reject
what I am saying, but these are implications of what he has written.
4. Jim Elliff wrote, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do
in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe,
because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give eternal life to them, and
they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."
(Jn. 10: 27-28) Then, to make the emphasis even stronger, He says, My
Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to
snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." (Jn. 10: 29-
30) The point Christ is making, of course, is that the "sheep" (that is, the
true believers) are kept by the power of the One who is "greater than all"

22. and that there is no force in the universe that has the ability to take these
Christians out of His hands. Helpless sheep need such power.
4B. Insecurity is a part of life in this world, and that is why it is so important
to have a sense of security about our eternal life in Christ. A manager and a
sales rep stood looking at a map on which colored pins indicated the
company representative in each area. “I’m not going to fire you, Wilson,” the
manager said, “but I’m loosening your pin a bit just to emphasize the
insecurity of your situation.”
The story is told of a monastery in Portugal, perched high on a 3,000 foot cliff and
accessible only by a terrifying ride in a swaying basket. The basket is pulled with a
single rope by several strong men, perspiring under the strain of the fully loaded
basket. One American tourist who visited the site got nervous halfway up the cliff
when he noticed that the rope was old and frayed. Hoping to relive his fear he
asked, “How often do you change the rope?” The monk in charge replied,
“Whenever it breaks!”
5. F. B. Meyer wrote about two Germans who wanted to climb the Matterhorn.
They hired three guides and began their ascent at the steepest and most slippery
part. The men roped themselves together in this order: guide, traveler, guide,
traveler, guide. They had gone only a little way up the side when the last man lost
his footing. He was held up temporarily by the other four, because each had a
toehold in the niches they had cut in the ice. But then the next man slipped, and he
pulled down the two above him. The only one to stand firm was the first guide, who
had driven a spike deep into the ice. Because he held his ground, all the men
beneath him regained their footing. F. B. Meyer concluded his story by drawing a
spiritual application. He said, “I am like one of those men who slipped, but thank
God, I am bound in a living partnership to Christ. And because He stands, I will
never perish.”
6. “I believe”—but, do I? Am I sure?
Can I trust my trusting to endure?
Can I hope that my belief will last?
Will my hand forever hold Him fast?
Am I certain I am saved from sin?
Do I feel His presence here within?
Do I hear Him tell me that He cares?
Do I see the answers to my prayers?
Do no fears my confidence assail?
Do I know my faith will never fail?
“I believe”—ay, do I! I believe
He will never fail me, never leave;
I believe He holds me, and I know
His strong hand will never let me go;

23. Seeing, hearing, feeling—what are these?
Given or withheld as He shall please.
I believe in Him and what He saith;
I have faith in Him, not in my faith
That may fail, tomorrow or today;
Trust may weaken, feeling pass away,
Thoughts grow weary, anxious or depressed;
I believe in God—and here I rest. - Annie Johnson Flint
7. "What are we kept for? Well literally we are kept for Jesus Christ. Jude is
teaching us here that we are kept for Jesus when he returns. Heaven has a
high place in Jude’s thinking as we will see in a few weeks time. And we are
kept for the return of the King when we will join him in his kingdom.
Imagine that that a rich man goes off a for a journey and he wants to place
his unique South African diamond collection in the vault of Barclays bank on
Cottingham Road. Well someone else hears about this and a few days later
tries to ask the bank manager for the diamonds. Well says the manager, I’m
afraid those diamonds are taken and the owner is coming back for them.
There is no way you are getting your hands on them. And in the same way,
we are God’s treasured possession, and we are kept for our owner Jesus
Christ who one day will return to take us for himself. Now of course there is
a flip side which Jude will teach us in a few weeks time, that we need to keep
ourselves as God keeps us (verse 21). We don’t simply lie back and let God
do all the work. In Jude and elsewhere the Bible teaches us that we have a
responsibility to keep ourselves as God keeps us." Author unknown
8. CONCLUSION: The Trinity is involved here, for we are called by the
Spirit, loved by the Father, and kept by the Son.
2. Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
"The letter hasn’t even ended and the benediction is already being pronounced. It
hasn’t even hardly begun. We’ve not even gotten to the stuff of the letter, and
already a blessing is being pronounced on us, a three-fold blessing. And I want to
suggest to you that this blessing says something to us about what true Christians
really want, because these are three real blessings that every Christian ought to long
for: “May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.” Here Jude is speaking
of God’s mercy to us, God’s peace, and God’s love." unknown author
A. MERCY
1. Barnes, "Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. This is not quite the

24. form of salutaion used by the other apostles, but it is one equally expressive of an
earnest desire for their welfare. These things are mentioned as the choicest blessings
which could be conferred on them: mercy--in the pardon of all their sins and
acceptance with God; peace--with God, with their fellow-men, in their own
consciences, and in the prospect of death; and love--to God, to the brethren, to all
the world. What blessings are there which these do not include?"
2. "The New Unger's Bible Dictionary defines Mercy as: (Heb. hesed, "kindness";
Gk. eleos, "compassion"). "Mercy is a form of love determined by the state or
condition of its objects. Their state is one of suffering and need, while they may be
unworthy or ill-deserving. Mercy is at once the disposition of love respecting such,
and the kindly ministry of love for their relief" (Miley, Systematic Theology, 1:209-
10). Mercy is a Christian grace and is very strongly urged toward all men."
3. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve, and grace is getting what we don’t
deserve.
If not for our Savior's tender mercy,
Tell me. Where would my soul be?
It would be a lost and lonely vessel,
On a deep and endless sea.
My soul would be like the sunshine,
Without a place to shine;
Or, a beautiful song without a tune,
That's lacking words that rhyme.
My soul would be as the midnight sky,
With no stars to shine above;
Like a sparrow, with a broken wing,
Or, a song-less turtle dove.
It would be an empty void;
With nothingness to fill.
My soul would be like a lonesome dove,
That, somehow, lost his will.
My soul would be a drummer boy,
Whose lost his gift of drum.
Or, my soul would be a hummingbird,
That's lost his need to hum.
But, lucky me, my soul is safe
Because of my Savior's love and grace.
© 2001 by Vickie Lambdin

25. 4. Mercy in action: "Years after the death of President Calvin Coolidge, this story
came to light. In the early days of his presidency, Coolidge awoke one morning in
his hotel room to find a cat burglar going through his pockets. Coolidge spoke up,
asking the burglar not to take his watch chain because it contained an engraved
charm he wanted to keep. Coolidge then engaged the thief in quiet conversation and
discovered he was a college student who had no money to pay his hotel bill or buy a
ticket back to campus. Coolidge counted $32 out of his wallet -- which he had also
persuaded the dazed young man to give back! -- declared it to be a loan, and advised
the young man to leave the way he had come so as to avoid the Secret Service! (Yes,
the loan was paid back.)" Here we see both grace and mercy, for in mercy the thief
did not get what he deserved, and in grace he got what he did not deserve.
5. A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor
replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice
demanded death. "But I don't ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for
mercy." "But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied. "Sir," the
woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for."
"Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's
son.
Luis Palau, Experiencing God's Forgiveness, Multnomah Press, 1984. What we see
in these illustrations is that mercy is the child of grace. One has to have grace to
show mercy, for showing mercy is an act of grace, and grace is a product of love,
and so all goes back to love as the foundation.
5B. The implication of this verse is that believers need mercy all the time. Their
failure to be all that God wants them to be deserves some sort of judgment, but God
in mercy does not judge daily for our daily flaws. In his loving kindness he shows us
mercy by not being a legalist who demands his pound of flesh for every blunder we
make. If God had no mercy, we would be sunk before we could learn to swim. It is
worth our time to read of what the Bible says about the mercy of God, for it is a
reminder of how grateful we need to be that we have a God like the God of
Scripture.
6. Mercy in The Bible
The Lord thy God is a merciful God. - Deut. 4:31
My mercy shall not depart away from him. - 2 Sam. 7:15
Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are His mercies: but let me
not fall into the hand of man. - 1 Chron. 21:13
The Lord your gold is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away His face from
you, if ye return unto him. -. 2 Chron. 30:9

26. Thou art a God ready to pardon. - Neh. 9:17
Spare me according to the greatness of Thy mercy. - Neh. 13:22
God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve. - Ezra 9:13
Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak. - Ps. 6:2
Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up. - Ps. 56:1
God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us. - Ps. 67:1
Thou, O lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and
plentous in mercy and truth. - Ps. 86:15
His mercy is everlasting. - Ps. 100:5
As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear
Him. - Ps. 103:11
The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him. -
Psalm 103:17
His mercy endureth for ever. - E.g. Ps. 118:1
With me Lord there is mercy. - Ps. 130:7
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. - Jesus, Luke 6:36
It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. - Rom. 9:16
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. - Jesus, Matt. 5:7
I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. - Jer .3:12
7. Men try to take advantage of God’s mercy and think that because he loves to be
merciful they can defy his will all they want and they will be forgiven. Israel did this
time and time again and had to learn the hard way that God’s merciful nature does
not eliminate judgment. They suffered the wrath of God often, and only got back
into the favor of God by repentance. God in mercy took them back, but it was a
costly experience to rebel and go against his will. If mercy was the only attribute of
God then men could sin to their hearts content and always be forgiven, but God has
other attributes that need to be satisfied as well, such as justice. There is a limit to
God’s mercy. It always comes first, but when it is rejected, and he is continually
defied, justice must follow. God offered the whole world mercy by sending his Son
to die for the sins of the world. All are welcome to come to God and be forgiven, and

27. be taken into the family of God. But Jesus will come again and those who have not
received his mercy will then have to face his justice. Mercy holds back justice, but it
does not eliminate it. For mercy to be ours in abundance means that we are
constantly seeking for God’s mercy by confessing our sins and striving always to live
a life pleasing to God.
8. God has no pleasure in judgment and he resists it as long as possible. He is like a
father who warns his sons to stop fighting and they do for a short time, but then
start again. He warns them again, and maybe even a third time. They are back at it
again and he knows that his warnings are having no effect. In mercy he holds back
and does not let his anger take over. They deserve a good spanking for their
rebellion, but dad loves his boys and does not want to punish them. However, he
knows there is a limit as to how long you can let rebellion go on. If he does not do
something they will lose all fear of his threats to punish, and so he is compelled by
love for their future to intervene. He has shown mercy first and let them get by with
disobedience, but now if he continues to do so his mercy is a support for evil. If
mercy never ends it is an ally with evil and lets evil win in the battle of good and
evil. Mercy has to end at some point or it ceases to be a virtue and becomes the
ultimate vice, for it encourages evil to be persistent and continuous. Dad has to do
what he hates to do for the sake of his boys character. He ends his merciful restraint
and lets judgment fall. The boys are punished and suffer pain and loss of privileges
in order to teach them there are negative consequences to disobedience.
9. This same pattern is what we see in the relationship between God and man. This
letter of Jude makes it clear that men in rebellion push God to the limit, and they
suffer judgment because they continually defy his revealed will in his Word. We all
face the same problem that God has. We are to be people of mercy and verse 22 says
we are to be merciful to those who doubt, and verse 23 says we are to show mercy to
those who are stained by their corrupt flesh. In other words, our first attitude
toward godless people is to be the same as God’s first attitude. Give them a break
and show mercy and willingness to forgive and restore them to the family of love
and acceptance. But there is always a breaking point where the rebellion is so
persistent and continuous that mercy is enabling them to live in sin. There is a time
to reject and forsake fellowship with such and let them face the judgment of God.
Mercy has to have a limit or it ceases to be a virtue and we cease to be Godlike. The
story of the Prodigal is a marvelous story of love and mercy toward a rebel son, but
imagine that young son stealing more of his father’s money and going back again to
the far country and wasting his wealth in riotous living. Then again coming back
broke and looking for his room and board. Then a third time doing it again and
maybe a fourth time even. How many times can this behavior go on before the door
is shut and the father says “No more are you welcome in this house.” There comes a
point where the father looks like a fool to let his son take such advantage of him.
God will not let rebellious people make his mercy look foolish. There is a point
where judgment is the only way, and that is what this books of Jude is largely
about-the judgment that must come on foolish and rebellious people. It is a book of
warning not to try and make a fool of God by expecting that he will always be
merciful no matter how much evil we do and promote.

28. 10. The other folly would be to not take advantage of the mercy of God. Jesus is our
high priest at the right hand of God the Father. He is in full understanding of our
weaknesses for he has lived the life of man in the flesh. He understands our
limitations. He is in sympathy with us for he too was tempted in all point. In the
light of this reality Heb. 4:16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of
need.” In other words, take full advantage of what we have in our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is our advocate, or lawyer, in the courtroom of heaven. We need
forgiveness often and that mercy that is willing to forgive is available to us if we
come to our Lord in prayer ever seeking his mercy. This may sound like a
contradiction with the last paragraph dealing with the limits of mercy, but it is not.
Those who try to take advantage of God’s mercy in a negative way are those who
say let us sin that grace may abound. They feel that they can do as they please and
God will forgive them. Their attitude is one of pride and love of sin. This is not the
attitude of those who take advantage of God’s mercy in a positive way. They hate
the sin that has captivated them. They want freedom and escape, but as they fight
their addiction they know they need the mercy of God and so they come before the
mercy seat of Christ ever pleading for his forgiveness. They are not proud of their
sin, and they are not trying to defy the will of God at all. They are weak and often
helpless in dealing with their sins. They know they are sunk without the mercy of
God, and so they come often seeking it. Jesus gladly accepts such sinners even if they
fail 490 times a day, for they are grateful for mercy and desperately seek by the help
of Christ to be victorious over sin. There is all the difference in the world between
them and those who want to use the mercy of God to enable them to remain in a life
of sin and rebellion. One wants mercy to support their evil, and the other wants
mercy to escape their evil. To have mercy in abundance is to have assurance that
you are always in the favor of your heavenly Father even though you fall short of his
glory in many ways. We should respond to God's mercy by communing with Him
through prayer. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that
we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Heb. 4:16).
11. Why does God let people get by with being so terrible? If he did not show mercy
to those who deserve judgment, there would be no plan of salvation, for all would be
condemned and lost without hope. It is God's mercy alone that makes salvation
possible. Rom 2:4 (LB) Don't you realize how patient he is being with you: Or don't
you care? Can't you see that he has been waiting all this time without punishing
you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to
repentance."
Prov 28:13 (NIV) "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses
and renounces them finds mercy."
12. Paul made it clear that he never would have had a chance without the mercy of
God. He wrote, "1 Tim 1:13 (Jer) Even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all
I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because
until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance, and "1 Tim 1:15-16 (Phi)
...I realize that I was the worst of them all, and that because of this very fact God

29. was particularly merciful to me. It was a demonstration of the extent of Christ's
patience towards the worst of men, to serve as an example to all who in the future
should trust him for eternal life."
13. There is also the aspect of the mercy we need from our fellow believers. Jude
may have had this in mind as well, but Paul spells it out in Colossians 3:12-13
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and
forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ
forgave you, so you also must do." If God shows mercy, but our brothers do not,
then we still have to suffer judgment and penalty, and now it is undeserved because
God has forgiven us. If God has done so, and we have his mercy, but the body of
Christ does not follow through, then you have the sin of going against God's will,
and the need for more mercy from God to forgive those who refuse to be forgiving.
If they persist, however, they may face God's anger for not heeding his Word. The
point I am getting at, is that there is need for mercy all the time in all of our lives,
for we as individuals, and as the body of Christ, as blowing it all the time by failing
to be like Christ in all of our relationships at all times.
14. Paul instructs us to have the mind of God (Philippians 2:5). How important is
mercy to Him? We know that God often uses repetition for emphasis and
importance. The times the Bible repeats "His mercy endures forever" eclipses many
times over any of the other attributes of God. In Psalm 136 alone, He repeats it 26
times and four times in Psalm 118:1-4! None of the other attributes are mentioned in
this way more than three times in the whole Bible! Psalm 30:5 says His anger
endures but a moment, but God's mercy endures forever! Conversely, humans tend
to show momentary mercy and hold lifelong grudges!
15. From sunrise to the sunset
Your mercies never cease
The joys of walking close to You
From day to day increase
Today Your mercy showers rain
Soaking through my soul
And once again I freely give
My life to Your control
Your Body broken for us
In the symbol of the bread
Your Blood poured out to wash us clean
And raise us from the dead.
Your beauty, Your magnificence,
The power of Your throne
Bids me to abide with You
Forever in Your Home.
What care I for houses here

30. Pots of gold or land?
They fade away to nothingness
In the shadow of Your Hand.
In Your dwelling place I'll safely lodge
Securely from all harm;
Steadied when I stumble
And carried in Your arms.
Chorus
This grateful heart will ever sing
Your honor and Your praise
Oh, Father, Son and Spirit One
I'll worship You always.
© June 18, 2002 Sharon Warden smarwar@webtv.net
16. Jesus gets personal about mercy as well. In Matthew 5:7, Jesus names mercy as
one of the primary beatitudes, or "attitudes to be in": "Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy." Here, in a very personal and positive setting, we begin to
see mercy's cause-and-effect principle: Show mercy and you will obtain mercy. It
works in reverse as well, for if one does not show mercy, he will not have mercy
shown, but judgment instead. Mercy is serious business with Jesus. James makes it
even more emphatic! "For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no
mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).
B. PEACE
1. Much more space was devoted to mercy than what we will give to peace and love.
These studies are more fitting to be done in depth in other texts, and so they will be
just briefly addressed her. "The New Unger's Bible Dictionary defines Peace as:
(Heb. shalom, "peace, health"; Gk. eirene, "unity, concord"). A term used in
different senses in the Scriptures. (1) Frequently with reference to outward
conditions of tranquility and thus of individuals, of communities, of churches, and
of nations (e.g., ). (2) Christian unity (e.g., ). (3) In its deepest application, spiritual
peace through restored relations of harmony with God. Peace then is that quiet
confidence and boldness that allows us to face life's adversities with fortitude and a
security that breeds well being and joy."
2. In one sense, “peace” is the opposite of war, stress and strife, however a
Christian can have God’s peace in the midst of stress and strife. When one says
“peace to you,” the idea is that the person wants every good thing for you. The New
Testament “eirene” is the equivalent of the Old Testament “shalom” meaning “well-

31. being, wholeness, prosperity, the absence of strife and war.”
3. The great purpose of the Gospel is to bring us to the state of being where we are
at peace with God (Romans 5:1). It is through Christ that we have peace with God
through the forgiveness of our sins. It is a peace which “guards our hearts and
minds” (Philippians 4:7). God is called the “God of peace,” not because He is in
need of peace, but because He is the source of peace and dispenses peace (Romans
15:33; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
4. "‘May God’s peace be multiplied to you,’ he says. “God’s peace” refers to our
experience of all the blessings which flow from God’s objective reconciliation
accomplished for us through the atoning death of Christ. It’s a rich biblical
term…peace. How often do we see in the Old Testament and in the New Testament
the greeting “peace”? There are only two books in the whole of the New Testament
that don’t contain that greeting “peace” somewhere. It’s a rich, biblical term. It
denotes completeness and soundness and wholeness. It doesn’t just mean an
absence of enmity with God; it means a friendship with God through His gracious
covenant. It entails safety and security and welfare and happiness, and it is the gift
of Christ....... You remember Martin Luther’s famous, little phrase, “It is due to the
perversity of men that they seek peace first and then righteousness, and
consequently they find no peace.” If we seek the blessings of this life apart from the
righteousness of God which is in Jesus Christ, we’ll never find real blessing. “Solid
joys and lasting treasures none but Zion’s children know.” And we know them
because those are the things that by God’s grace we have sought above all the
bobbles of this world." Author unknown
C. LOVE
1. The Greek word used here is Agape, which William Barclay defines as: "The real
meaning of agape is unconquerable benevolence. If we regard a person with agape,
it means that nothing that he can do will make us seek anything but his highest
good. Though he injure us and insult us, we will never feel anything but kindness
towards him. That quite clearly means that this Christian love is not an emotional
thing. This agape is a thing, not only of the emotions, but also of the will. It is the
ability to retain unconquerable good will to the unlovely and the unlovable, towards
those who do not love us, and even towards those whom we do not like. Agape is
that quality of mind and heart which compels a Christian never to feel any
bitterness, never to feel any desire for revenge, but always to seek the highest good
of every man no matter what he may be."
2. Manton wrote, in expounding a different text, about the love of Christ which is
ours both before our justification, and after. He said, "The efficacy of his love

32. toward us before justification, with the efficacy of his love toward us after
justification. The argument standeth thus: If Christ had a love to us when sinners,
and his love prevailed with him to die for us, much more may we expect his love
when made friends: if when we were in sin and misery, shiftless and helpless, Christ
had the heart to die for us, and to take us with all our faults, will he cast us off after
we are justified and accepted with God in him? This love of Christ is asserted in ver.
6, amplified in ver. 7 and 8, and the conclusion is inferred in ver. 9: “Much more
then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
3. “With reference to God’s love, it is God’s willful direction toward man. It
involves God doing what He knows is best for man and not necessarily what man
desires. For example, John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that He gave.’
What did He give? Not what man wanted, but what God knew man needed, i.e., His
Son to bring forgiveness to man.”—The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary, New
Testament, Zodhiates, AMG Publishers, p. 66
Abundance
Be yours in abundance or multiplied to you = that his mercy and his peace and his
love be your everyday experience as a never-ending and all sufficient supply. The
idea of fullness is at the root of the word used in the passage, but it is more than
that, it is an ever-increasing fullness. God bestows upon us his mercy, his peace and
his love in ever increasing fullness to enable us to be more like Jesus, not to selfishly
enjoy his grace but to share mercy, peace and love with all mankind.
We abound in mercy when we show mercy to others, for this is the way to increase
our own mercy. If we are legalistic and unforgiving we will not abound in mercy,
but face judgment instead. But if we are forgiving and show mercy to others we win
the favor of God and he will show greater mercy to us. Mercy is a quantitative value
and so we can have more or less, and so it is with peace and love.
3. Dear friends, although I was very eager to write
to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to
write and urge you to contend for the faith that
was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Cotton Patch Version, "My dear ones, while doing my dead-level best to write to you
about our mutual salvation I had the urge to get a letter off to you begging you to fight
like fury for the way of life that has been totally entrusted to the Christians. For some
guys have come into the church like snakes in the grass. (It was pointed out in earlier

33. writings that they would stoop to this.) They are uncommitted; they twist the undeserved
favor of our God into a cover-up for their lewdness; and they disown Jesus Christ as our
only ruler and master."
1. Barnes comments on every part of this verse, and I quote them all, for he has it
summed up nicely. "When I applied my mind earnestly; implying that he had
reflected on the subject, and thought particularly what it would be desirable to
write to them. The state of mind referred to is that of one who was purposing to
write a letter, and who thought over carefully what it would be proper to say. The
mental process which led to writing the epistle seems to have been this:
(a.) For some reasons--mainly from his strong affection for them--he purposed to
write to them.
(b.) The general subject on which he designed to write was, of course, something
pertaining to the common salvation--for he and they were Christians.
(c.) On reflecting what particular thing pertaining to this common salvation it was
best for him to write on, he felt that, in view of their peculiar dangers, it ought to be
an exhortation to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to them. Macknight
renders this less correctly, "Making all haste to write to you," etc. But the idea is
rather that he set himself diligently and earnestly to write to them of the great
matter in which they had a common interest.
2. Barnes continues, "To write unto you of the common salvation. The salvation
common to Jews and Gentiles, and to all who bore the Christian name. The meaning
is, that he did not think of writing on any subject pertaining to a particular class or
party, but on some subject in which all who were Christians had a common interest.
There are great matters of religion held in common by all Christians, and it is
important for religious teachers to address their fellow Christians on those common
topics. After all, they are more important than the things which we may hold as
peculiar to our own party or sect, and should be more frequently dwelt upon.
3. Barnes continues, "It was needful for me to write to you. "I reflected on the
general subject, prompted by my affectionate regard to write to you of things
pertaining to religion in general, and, on looking at the matter, I found there was a
particular topic or aspect of the subject on which it was necessary to address you. I
saw the danger in which you were from false teachers, and felt it not only necessary
that I should write to you, but that I should make this the particular subject of my
counsels." And exhort you. "That I should make my letter in fact an exhortation on
a particular topic."
4. Barnes goes on, "That ye should earnestly contend. Comp. Galatians 2:5. The
word here rendered earnestly contend is one of those words used by the sacred
writers which have allusion to the Grecian games. See Barnes "1 Corinthians 9:24",
seq. This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It means to contend
upon--i. e. for or about anything; and would be applicable to the earnest effort put

34. forth in those games to obtain the prize. The reference here, of course, is only to
contention by argument, by reasoning, by holding fast the principles of religion, and
maintaining them against all opposers. It would not justify "contention" by arms,
by violence, or by persecution; for
(a.) that is contrary to the spirit of true religion, and to the requirements of the
gospel elsewhere revealed;
(b.) it is not demanded by the proper meaning of the word, all that that fairly
implies being the effort to maintain truth by argument and by a steady life;
(c.) it is not the most effectual way to keep up truth in the world to attempt to do it
by force and arms.
5. Barnes concludes, "For the faith. The system of religion revealed in the gospel. It
is called faith, because that is the cardinal virtue in the system, and because all
depends on that. The rule here will require that we should contend in this manner
for all truth.
Once delivered unto the saints. The word here used may mean either once for all, in
the sense that it was then complete, and would not be repeated; or formerly to wit,
by the author of the system. Doddridge, Estius, and Beza, understand it in the
former way; Macknight and others in the latter; Benson improperly supposes that it
means fully or perfectly. Perhaps the more usual sense of the word would be, that it
was done once in the sense that it is not to be done again, and therefore in the sense
that it was then complete, and that nothing was to be added to it. There is indeed the
idea that it was formerly done, but with this additional thought, that it was then
complete. Compare, for this use of the Greek word rendered once, Hebrews 9:26-28;
10:2; 1 Peter 3:18. The delivering of this faith to the saints here referred to is
evidently that made by revelation, or the system of truth which God has made
known in his word. Everything which He has revealed, we are to defend as true. We
are to surrender no part of it whatever, for every part of that system is of value, to
mankind. By a careful study of the Bible we are to ascertain what that system is,
and then in all places, at all times, in all circumstances, and at every sacrifice, we are
to maintain it."
6. Calvin, "Jude testifies that he felt so much concern for their salvation, that he
wished himself, and was indeed anxious to write to them; and, secondly, in order to
rouse their attention, he says that the state of things required him to do so. For
necessity adds strong stimulants. Had they not been forewarned how necessary his
exhortation was, they might have been slothful and negligent; but when he makes
this preface, that he wrote on account of the necessity of their case, it was the same
as though he had blown a trumpet to awake them from their torpor."
about the salvation we share,

35. 1. He is obviously writing to believer with whom he shared the common Gospel of
salvation in Christ. Ralph Bergmann wrote, "Everywhere we look people seem to
always focus in on things that are different about each and every one of us. There is
the difference in our origin or nationalities, there are the difference in our financial
and social statuses, there are the differences in our skin colors. These are the things
that each and every one of us can use as a gauge to call ourselves or others different.
Sometimes we use this difference as a point of superiority in order to call ourselves
better or above others. Sometimes this difference is used as a scale of degradation or
to judge others as inferior. The writer talks in this particular Scripture, not of
something that differentiates between different people but something that all can
possibly hold in common and that is the opportunity of common salvation. In this
particular section of Scripture we are told of something that is for all, common
salvation; and it is called this not because it is a salvation common to all persons,
regardless if they are good and bad. It is because it is common to all believers, who
have an interest in it, a common interest in it; the salvation which the gospel reveals,
is a common salvation; it is common in regard of the purchaser of it, Christ, our
common Savior; in regard of the price paid for it, the precious blood of Christ; in
regard to the way and means by which it is obtained and secured, and that is faith.
This common salvation is not even something that we just have or get is something
that we must seek and as we receive, we are instructed to also ensure that others
have that same opportunity to enjoy."
I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for
the faith
1. Jude has an urgency here, for he is anxious for believers to be fighting for the
faith, and not just letting it become corrupted by impostors and false teachers. The
faith is given to us by God, but he expects us to keep it pure so that it is his valid
Word, and able through all time to lead people to the Lord, and to eternal life. We
can never be complacent and let history just happen. We are to be a part of making
history happen in a way that will glorify our Redeemer. Keeping the truth that he
has revealed to us pure and uncontaminated is one of our most important tasks as
believers. Paul said the same thing in Philippians 1:27 “Whatever happens, conduct
yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and
see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one
spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel” The many pretenders
demand that we be contenders and defenders of the faith.
2. An unknown author wrote, “Should earnestly contend” is one word in the Greek
text. It is “epagonizomai” which carries with it the meaning of “fight or struggle.” A
cognate of this word is “agonizomai” which is used in Paul’s Epistles in 1
Corinthians 9:25. (1 Cor 9:25 KJV) And every man that striveth for the mastery is
temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an