Journey Through Jude
Imagine a bookshelf with several books on it. On each end of that row of books are bookends holding them up. A starting point and an ending point. As we have journeyed through the New Testament, there are multiple letters. These are epistles. On each end of these books that detail for us the church age, there are bookends. There is a book that begins and ends this particular section of the Bible for us, and both of those books are transitional books.
On the left, that bookend is the Book of Acts. The Acts of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Apostles during the early church age. On the right-hand side of that bookend is the little Book of Jude. Just as the Book of Acts has been referred to as the Acts of the Apostles or the Acts of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Apostles, Jude is the Acts of the Apostates, those who turn from the truth. Those who reject it, resist it, and fight against it.
Listen: Journeying through Jude
Overview of Jude
Like Acts, Jude is a transitional book. Acts shows us the early days of the church age. Jude shows us the closing days of the church age. This will help you to see where Jude fits into our New Testament, because it describes for us a period of time when people, by and large, have turned from revealed truth, and how we are to act and respond to that.
It is placed very appropriately, I think, as the next-to-last book in our New Testament, because it is like a vestibule leading into the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Friend, we are living in the book of Jude. You ought to study this book because we are living in the book of Jude. We are living in dark days, but we are living on the verge of the light. The Lord Jesus Christ is being revealed, and He is coming for us.
Biography of Jude
The writer of this particular little book is a man by the name of Jude or Judas. He refers to himself in Jude 1 as “the servant,” or literally the bondslave, of Jesus Christ, and brother of James…”
We have already learned that James was the half-brother of the Lord. That means Jude is also the half-brother of the Lord. Yet, Jude opens this book not by mentioning his earthly relationship to Christ, but his heavenly relationship to Christ. I love that! He has no claim on Christ except mercy. No one does.
God has no grandchildren, someone said, only children. Your family, genealogy, or heritage is not enough. You must come to Jesus Christ as a sinner, take Him as your Savior. Your relationship to Him is that you are now a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He writes just before the fall of Jerusalem, and he writes to Hebrew believers.
Key Verse of Jude
What is the great message of Jude? His great message is that we must all “earnestly contend for the faith.” The key verse is Jude 3: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Common Salvation
There are two interesting phrases here. One is “the common salvation.” We do not mean here that salvation was common in that it was everyday, or that it was mundane. No, this common is not a matter of greatness. It is a matter of availability. He is saying the message of salvation has been made to every man. Everybody receives salvation the same way. It is through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the common salvation. I am glad we have entered into that.
Contending for the Faith
Jude wanted to write about “the common salvation,” but instead he had to write about “contending for the faith.” Now, those two things go together. For the message of salvation to go forth, we must be willing to “fight the good fight of faith…” (1 Timothy 6:12)
You cannot separate “the common salvation” and “contending for the faith.” There is no common salvation if there is no faith. We will ask and answer a few questions here.
Questions and Answers Concerning Jude 3
Who is to do the contending?
The Bible uses the term “beloved.” This is all who are part of the family of God, all who have experienced the love of God. This is not just a word for preachers, but for all of God’s people. If you are a believer, this is one of your responsibilities to contend for the faith.
What must we contend for?
The Bible uses the term “faith” here, not in the sense of us believing on the Lord Jesus as a matter of personal faith, but rather the word faith here refers to the entire body of truth, the faith that
has been revealed. The word “faith” here is the Word of God. It is the message of Christ. This is our faith.
Why must we contend?
The Bible says that our faith has been once delivered, so it has been delivered one time, but it has to be contended for in every generation. Many apostates are waging war against the truth. These are fighting words! Jude 4 explains that “certain men crept in unawares.” They are fighting against the truth, which is the Gospel, the faith referred to in Jude 3. We must be willing to stand up and be counted, and to take our position on the battle line, on the front line for the faith that we believe.
How must we contend?
Earnestly! Did you know that the word earnestly literally means to stand agonizingly seriously? Sometimes contenders are accused of being contentious. The Bible does not say to be contentious for the faith. It says “contend for the faith.” It means to stand with conviction, and with heart. To be willing to sacrifice, if need be, and to keep on standing even when it is not easy. Even when it is difficult, when the apostates get in your face, do not flinch. Be true to the faith. The faith has been delivered once, but it must be contended for again and again. It must be contended for, not only with conviction, but with compassion. My pastor used to say that our compassion should run as deep as our convictions run high. That is exactly the case here.
Outline of Jude
The Book of Jude is divided into two parts:
- Jude exposes the danger (Jude 1-19).
- Jude exhorts to duty (Jude 20-25).
Every time I read it, it stirs my heart to be on call for Christ, to be on duty for the Lord, and to take my place. <strong>Jude 20-23: “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh”
This is our duty in the face of grave danger, and how Christians should live in an age of apostasy. This is how we ought to be living at the end of the age. We ought to be faithful to that which Jesus Christ has given us to do.
Seeing Jesus Christ in the Book of Jude
There are many glimpses of Christ in the book of Jude. The first and the last glimpses of Christ, the first times we find Him, He is preserving us. In Jude 1, the Bible declares that we are:
“…sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:” The last time we see our Lord Jesus in the book is in the last two verses: “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25)
In a book that could seem dark and a little depressing about all of the errors around us, remember that Jesus Christ is able to keep us right with Him and to keep us for all eternity. Even in days of apostasy, our anchor holds. Keep yourself close to God and rest in this: He will keep you.
[Click HERE to listen to Scott Pauley’s devotional series on Jude: On the Edge of Eternity]
Related Article: 5 Ways to Get More Out of Your Bible Reading
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