seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jude 1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for[a] Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[c] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[d] 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[e] 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.[f]
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
a. Jude 1:1 Or by; or in
b. Jude 1:4 Or individuals who were marked out for condemnation
c. Jude 1:5 Some early manuscripts Jesus
d. Jude 1:9 Jude is alluding to the Jewish Testament of Moses (approximately the first century a.d.).
e. Jude 1:15 From the Jewish First Book of Enoch (approximately the first century b.c.)
f. Jude 1:23 The Greek manuscripts of these verses vary at several points.
This is from bible_studys.org.
Like most if not all of Jesus’ immediate family, Jude did not respond favorably to Jesus’ ministry during His earthly days (John 7:5). Yet later he may have been among Jesus’ brothers who had preaching ministries (1 Cor. 9:5). As a close relative of Jesus and a brother of James, himself a renowned Jewish Christian leader in Jerusalem, Jude wrote with authority and the assurance that his earliest readers would give him a careful hearing.
Although Jude had earlier rejected Jesus as Messiah (John 7:1-9), he along with other half-brothers of our Lord, was converted after Christ's resurrection (Acts 1:14). Because of his relation to Jesus, his eye-witness knowledge of the resurrected Christ, and the content of this epistle, it was acknowledged as inspired and was included in the Muratorian Canon (170 A.D.). The early questions about its canonicity also tend to support that it was written after 2 Peter. If Peter had quoted Jude, there would have been no question about canonicity, since Peter would thereby have given Jude apostolic affirmation. Clement of Rome (96 A.D.), plus Clement of Alexandria (200 A.D.), also alluded to the authenticity of Jude. Its diminutive size and Jude's quotations from uninspired writings account for any misplaced questions about its canonicity.
Writing to warn believers of false teachers, Jude uses similar material as (in 2 Peter 2). Both Jude and Peter were alarmed about the rapid rise of false doctrines and the subsequent prevailing attitude of apostasy, and both men addressed these issues in their epistles.
Evidently Jude's original intent for his letter was to discuss truths of the common salvation that both Jews and Gentiles received, but he was led of the Spirit to exhort believers to defend the truth and contend for the faith. He reminds his readers that God punishes violations of His law, citing Old Testament examples of Cain, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Egyptians, Balaam, and the rebellion of Korah (see Numbers 16).
Several verses in this short epistle relate to future judgment, Christ's return, the Last Days, and the believer's destiny in the presence of His glory. An interesting tidbit of prophecy is seen (in verses 14-16), where Jude quotes from ancient Jewish literature (200 B.C.). This prophecy, not recorded in the Old Testament, is from the extra biblical book of (1 Enoch 1:9). Jude uses it to emphatically illustrate the second coming of Christ.
Because nothing else is needed, it is the responsibility of believers now to study the Word (Second Timothy 2:15), preach the Word (Second Timothy 4:2), and fight for its preservation.
Even at this early stage of the Christian movement, there were those who were bringing in messages that were not true. We see these evil men had crept in unaware to those in charge. They were of the devil, and they were intent in turning people away from the truth to believe a lie. Just because someone sits on the pew next to you in church does not mean they are godly.
Sometimes they are sent there by the devil himself to bring false teachings in the church and to damage the gospel message. These evil men had brought sin into the church. They had even gone so far as to declare the Lord Jesus Christ not to be God in the flesh. They really were denying the Father and the Son.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ”: Two Greek words for Jesus are used here. The apostates disowned Christ as sovereign Lord (despotes, a person who wields power oppressively; a tyrant). And disdained any recognition of Christ as honorable Lord (kurios), by their wicked behavior.
The better New Testament manuscripts omit God in the text, placing the emphasis clearly on one person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and emphasizing that apostates deny Him. It is always true of false religions that they pervert what Scripture declares is true about the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is reminding them that just because they were saved, does not mean they can do anything they want to, and still come to salvation. He is giving as an example, the Israelites (God's people), who he delivered from Egypt (world).
There are/were two archangels in heaven, Lucifer and Michael. Each of them had a position over the other angels. The possible reason there were one third following Lucifer, was because they were under his command. When they chose to follow Lucifer, who is now known as Satan or the devil, they gave up their freedom of movement and are only allowed to minister when sent on an evil mission.
Demons, as we call them, or devil spirits as the Bible calls them, are still ministering spirits. They just minister evil instead of good. A devil, or demon spirit, must get permission from God before he attacks a Christian. We are bought and paid for by Jesus and we are His. He says what can happen to us, not the devil.
Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned often in Scripture as examples of God’s severe judgment on sexual sin, particularly sexual perversion. From (this verse and verse 6), immoralities have clearly entered the ranks of believers to whom Jude writes.
Jude describes the false teachers against whom he writes. Instead of God’s revealed Word, they pay attention to their own visions or dreams. In doing so they lapse into immorality and insubordination, refusing to obey authorities (whether angelic or perhaps apostolic), and even criticizing them openly.
This is saying that the sins of the flesh lead a person to come against all authority of God and the authority He has set up upon the earth. To defile the flesh is to do things against the laws of nature.
These love feasts have to do with the early church having love-feasts, where they sat with rich and poor. In some places, this was called the Lord's Supper. The thing intended to be beautiful had turned into something evil. They were not out to help others, but to feed themselves.
These apostates were dirt spots, filth on the garment of the church. Or more likely, what God intended for the church as smooth sailing, they turned into a potential shipwreck through their presence. These “feasts” were the regular gathering of the early church to partake of the bread and cup, plus share a common meal.
“Clouds without water”: Apostates promise spiritual life but are empty clouds which bring the hope of rain, but deliver nothing but dryness and death (Prov. 25:14). They preach a false gospel that leads only to hell.
Clouds without water are a disappointment to those who need their fields watered. They are not fit to have anything happen to them, but to be destroyed.
“Trees whose fruit withereth”: Apostates hold out the claim of providing a spiritual feast, but instead deliver famine (Luke 13:6-9). Doubly dead trees will never yield fruit and, regardless of what they say, will always be barren because they are uprooted (Matthew 7:17-20).
Their message has external attractiveness, but is void of the powerful substance of divine truth. They tell people what they want to hear for their own profit rather than proclaiming the truth of God’s Word for the listener’s benefit.
Now, we see who this judgement will be executed against. The people's sins, listed in the verse above, are sins of the flesh. They are caused by worldliness. Their murmurings were against God.
“They who separate themselves”: Jude seems to have in mind their tendency to be schismatic or divisive, to set forth heretical notions and then separate themselves and their followers from those who hold to apostolic doctrine. But note that they get their start in the church itself, (verse 4). They fractured the church rather than united it (Eph. 4:4-6; Phil. 2:2).
Sensual or worldly-minded people are people who are controlled by their flesh and not the Spirit of God. I have said this over and over, but we are either controlled by our flesh, or by our spirit. We must crucify our flesh, so that Jesus can quicken our spirit.
These worldly-minded, sensual apostate teachers advertise themselves as having the highest spiritual knowledge, but are actually attracted to the most debased levels of life. They are “soulish” not “spiritual” (James 3:15).
John 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
An important factor in keeping one’s own faith active and vibrant is exercising it serving others. Even where there is danger or extreme immorality involved, God calls on believers to mediate His love for the fallen and share the gospel with the lost.
“Some” - there are several textual variants here which could result in either two or three groups being indicated. They are:
(1) Sincere doubters who deserve compassion (verse 22);
(2) Those who are deeper in unbelief and urgently need to be pulled from the fire (verse 23);
(3) Those declared disciples of apostasy who still deserve mercy, but are to be handled with much fear (verse 23), lest the would-be-rescuer also be spiritual sullied.
This is from the easy English site.The ‘wicked men’ are false teachers. They may have travelled from place to place. Nobody noticed when they came among Jude’s readers. Their wrong ideas were a danger to the faith. These were the errors in their teaching:
- They were taking wrong advantage of God’s mercy. They used it as an excuse to behave in any way that they liked. They were like some Christians that Paul described (Romans 6:1). They said that God loves to forgive. So wicked behaviour makes it possible for God to show even more of his grace.
- They said that the human body is evil. So, it does not matter how you use it. They denied Jesus and his words by the wicked way in which they lived.
- They denied that Jesus had a real human body. They said that he could not be hungry or need to drink. He did not feel pain.
- They said that Jesus was not one with God.
- They claimed to have special knowledge of the way to God. They were superior to ordinary Christians, who could not have this same knowledge.
Verses 22-23 Jude now speaks about three groups of people who need special help.
· There are those with doubts.
The false teachers have already damaged the faith of some weaker Christians. Now those weaker Christians are not sure about what to believe or how to live. Jude urges his readers to be especially kind to those who have doubts. They need help to understand clearly how God wants them to live. They are to be holy, as God is holy. They are to care for other people, and not be selfish. At all times they are to trust God completely, and not their own thoughts.
· A second group needs help. These people have been too ready to listen to the false teachers.
Jude uses picture language. The people in this group are like a stick that is beginning to burn. Jude’s readers must rescue them quickly, before the fire burns them completely.
· A third group is also in great danger. These are people who refuse to turn to God.
Christians must pity them and be kind to them. But they must act with great care. This is in case the life without God that these people lead begins to appear attractive. Jude’s readers must hate these people’s evil practices as they would hate to touch their dirty underwear (clothes that people wear next to the skin).
Oh my.... I didn't know the book of Jude almost didn't make it into the Bible. That freaks me out even more.... looking back on my life. Things would have been a lot different without the Book of Jude in the hands of a preacher in Kissimmee, Florida.
Jesus had two half brothers who didn't believe He was the Messiah. James and Jude were probably embarrassed by Him. I saw this before in the family of Jesus. When Joseph [coat of many colors Joseph] had a dream that his brothers would bow to him.... it made them so angry they put him in a pit to die a slow death.... and then they decided to sell him into slavery instead. I can only imagine their surprise when they realized that Joseph was in control of their lives and they had to bow to him. So... the Bible doesn't really get into how James and Jude found their way to the truth.... but they finally made it at the Cross, apparently.
So... Jude is teaching "sometimes you have to leave".
The preacher in Kissimmee, Florida seemed to think this Book of the Bible needed to be opened in my living room. The preacher in Kissimmee, Florida felt the need to give me a private sermon.
Now I don't know how that preacher found out. I didn't tell anyone. He did his prowling in Orlando.... so it wouldn't get back to me. The kids didn't know.... and they would have been too little to know anything.... but somehow that preacher found out. He pulled out his thumper.... it was marked to that page....
Jude 1:23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
He explained to me that since my husband did unspeakable things.... I could leave him. The reason.... I am a Christian.... He is an unbeliever who did vial unspeakable things.... and he was trying to pull me into his way of life. That preacher told me I could leave..... because my faith was in jeopardy.
Why does the church teach some people [like my ex] can't find Salvation?
Why does the church teach the story of Noah and his three sons being Saved by God on a boat..... during the worst flood to ever cover the earth... then, now, or in the future.... and then say... God doesn't care about them? Seth was the great great great whatever grandfather of Jesus the Messiah. Japheth was the great great great whatever grandfather of the area to the North and east.... [modern Europe]. Ham.... cursed Ham.... was the great great great whatever grandfather of the area to the South and east [Egypt and Africa].
Wasn't Noah related to the Messiah? Weren't his sons related to the Messiah? Why was Ham's curse any worse than anything else that happened after the flood? Why aren't ALL the descendants of Noah.... the one God saved from the flood.... allowed Salvation?
