Jude 1-4
Scripture: Jude 1-4
1 Jude, a servant of
Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the
Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, peace, and
love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common
salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the
faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who
long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the
grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus
Christ. [1]
Devotion:
Jude may be a short book,
but it is packed full of meaning. First, who was Jude there a several
contenders, but the leading candidate Jude the brother of James and the half
brother of Jesus. Jude wasn’t a believer until after the resurrection of our Lord.
(Mk 6:3) The specific recipient isn’t known,
but a group of Jewish believers would be a good guess. There are many Old
Testament references as well as extra-biblical Jewish sources. Jude then wishes
his readers mercy, peace, and love. This should not be seen as a trite stock
phrase, but a genuine heartfelt prayer for Jude’s readers. And the entire book
an extension of that prayer.
Jude states he
started out to write a letter about the faith but became convinced in his mind
and spirit that he should write a defense of the faith. 2“He wrote
to “exhort” them (Jude 3). In the Greek language, this word was used to
describe a general giving orders to the army; hence, the atmosphere of this
letter is “military.” Jude had started to write a quiet devotional letter about
salvation, but the Spirit led him to put down his harp and sound the trumpet! The
epistle of Jude is a call to arms.
Why did Jude write this letter? To warn his
readers that the apostates were already on the scene! Peter had prophesied that
they would come (2 Peter 2:1–3; 3:3ff.), and his prophecy had been
fulfilled.[2]
Just as today there are many “fake” religions out there were many false messiah’s
in Jude’s day. (Jude was written most likely in the 60 to 70 A.D. time period.)
Jude says enemies had
“crept into” the church. These people brought with them an ungodly spirit. They
perverted grace into sensuality, and they denied that Jesus was Lord. The Greek
word translated here as sensuality means a complete lack of moral restraint. Another
word for that sensuality could be translated as is lasciviousness. indecency.”
A person who is lascivious thinks only of satisfying his lusts, and whatever he
touches is stained by his base appetites. Lasciviousness is one of the works of
the flesh (Gal. 5:19) that proceeds from the evil heart of man (Mark 7:21–22).
We could call these
people who “crept in” by using deceitfulness, apostates. “The apostates, like the cultists today, use
the Word of God to promote and defend their false doctrines. They seduce young,
immature Christians who have not yet been grounded in the Scriptures. Every
soldier of the cross needs to go through “basic training” in a local church so
that he knows how to use the weapons of spiritual warfare.”4
[2] Wiersbe,
Warren W,, Be Alert( 2 Peter, 2&3 John, Jude) Beware of religious impostors
(The BE series commentary) P. 156 David C Cook. Kindle Edition
3 Wiersbe, Warren W., Be Alert (2 Peter, 2&3 John, Jude) Beware of Religious Impostors (The BE Series Commentary) P157-158 David C. Cook, Kindle Edition.
3 Wiersbe, Warren W., Be Alert (2 Peter, 2&3 John, Jude) Beware of Religious Impostors (The BE Series Commentary) P157-158 David C. Cook, Kindle Edition.
4Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Alert (2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude): Beware
of the Religious Impostors (The BE Series Commentary) (p. 162). David C Cook.
Kindle Edition.
Comments
Post a Comment