Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints…Jud 1:3-4:
The epistle of Jude is a small one, only one chapter of twenty five verses. Jude introduces himself as the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James. This small epistle is between 3 John and Revelations and many people would not have read it. James here is mentioned as a brother of Messiah (Mark.6:3) and is not to be confused with James, the brother of John, who was beheaded by Herod (Acts.12:1-2).
Jude wrote his letter around AD 66, that is, 32 years after the crucifixion. By this time Christianity had become well established, as is evident by the travels of Paul. By this time also many false prophets had already made their entry into Christianity, they were twisting the scriptures to their tastes and also mixing pagan ideas and rituals into the worship of Elohim. Jude was disturbed because they were attacking the church from the inside. They professed to be Christians but were turning the grace of Elohim into license to do immoral acts and denying that Yahshua was the Messiah. Similar ideas also exist in our churches. The doctrine of grace has been abused in such a way that people believe that since we are in the ‘time of grace’, Elohim will forgive anything we do, the more we sin, the more he will forgive us !
In verse 6 Jude tells us how false preachers work and sin.
They defile the flesh: They are bad spots on the agape love feasts that led people to riotous behaviour. These love feasts were actually dinners where each would bring something and everyone would partake of the food, like a pot-luck dinner. But these feasts brought about divisions where particular groups of people would mix only with similar people, which led to selfishness. They indulge in lusts of the flesh, immoral sexual practices, impure seducers and their abandoned followers, give themselves up to their own fleshly minds.
They despise dominion: These false teachers despise authority. An example is given about Michael the archangel, who disputed with the devil about the body of Moses when he died. Michael did not bring against him an accusation. Michael did not mock or accuse the devil, bur said ‘the Lord rebuke thee’. Elohim hasn’t called us to judge or to condemn the devil, to mock or accuse him, but to fight against him taking the name of the Lord. Just as Michael dared not bring against the devil a reviling accusation, these false teachers should not speak evil of dignitaries.
They speak evil of dignitaries: Jude cites the examples of three more men. Cain was basically selfish and had no love or concern for his brother Abel (Gen.4:1-8). Balaam took money from Balak to curse the Israelites (Num.22:21-35). Later he took money again and sent women into the camp of the Israelites to seduce the army and to turn them to idolatry (Num31:15). This is refereed to as the error of Balaam. When the Israelites were in the wilderness, Korah and some from the tribe of Reuben along with 250 Israelites challenged Moses’ authority. The ground opened and swallowed them alive (Num.16:1-32). There are false teachers among us who today behave in the same manner.
Jude reminds us of the words of Yahshua Messiah that there would be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. So what is going to be our response or reaction to these false teachers? Jude tells us of four ways we should encounter them.
Build yourself in the most holy faith: We build ourselves up by knowing the truth. To know the truth we must read the Bible.i Thes.5:11:‘ Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.’ A strong church is a group effort. We are to build together on our most holy faith. This is faith in Messiah. This faith should be the foundation on which we build a pure and holy life. Our defense against false teachers should be the truth of Elohim. Pray in the Holy Spirit. We cannot build ourselves without spending time in prayer. Prayer is the most powerful weapon that we Christians have. Prayer should be a continuous process. I Thes.5:17,’pray without ceasing’. To pray in the spirit means to pray according to His teaching. To pray in the Spirit we must have the Holy Spirit in our heart. Rom.8:26, ’the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us.’ When we pray in the Spirit we are seeking Elohim’s will. We are asking Him to intercede in our behalf.
Keep yourself in the love of Elohim. ‘Elohim so loved the world…’ We are all familiar with these words from John.3:16. There is no place where the love of Elohim is nor present. Nothing can separate us from the love of Elohim (Rom.8:36). We may stop loving Him but Elohim will never stop loving us. When we sin, our sin separates us from Elohim (Isa.59:2). The world and its’ bright colors attract us. It is easy to love this world and forget Elohim. We keep ourselves in the love of Elohim by turning our backs to the pleasures of this world, by not letting sin control our lives. Keep walking in the love of Yahweh and we can overcome the devil.
Wait for the mercy of Yahshua Messiah. As Christians we believe in the Second Coming of the Messiah. We must be alert, always waiting for Messiah to put an end to this world of sin. This hope keeps us in the love of Elohim and helps us to not lose our faith. It is by the mercy of Yahweh that we are forgiven and saved from the penalty of sin. Lam.3:22-23, ‘It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ We must look for the mercy of Yahshua Messiah to bring us to eternal life.
Obedient Christians have to be on guard against false teachers who deceive others for their own gain. False teachers contradict basic biblical truths. Their god is their own appetites, not Yahshua Messiah. Their method is to use flattering speech to deceive the hearts of the immature.
Romans 16:20: “The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
