Jude Study, Part 1

The following are the notes that I compiled from my studies in the book of Jude that we are now discussing in our Tuesday night Bible study. It isn't put together in an easy read format and are simply posted here for you to take into your study and compare. Feel free to leave some comments for discussion of specific topics.

Introduction
The name Jude is rendered from “Judah” in Hebrew and “Judas” in Greek.
In the New Testament, there are a few people mentioned with the same name. Some may be the same person and some are obviously different.
° Luke 6:16, John 14:22, Acts 1:13, brother of James (some versions say son of) also called Thaddaeus the apostle.
° Matthew 26:14 the disciple who betrayed Jesus.
° Acts 5:37 a troublemaker from Galilee
° Matthew 13:55 brother of James, half-brother of Jesus
° Acts 9:11 a person who lived with Paul.
° Acts 15:22 ambassador of church in Jerusalem who traveled with Silas.
It is Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, brother of James (author of book of James) who wrote this book. These brothers did not actually become disciples of Jesus until after Christ’s resurrection.

Based on indications in the text and on quoted texts, it is thought to be written around 68 AD.

As the news of Christ spread throughout the world, Jude wanted to write to some believers to encourage them in the faith. The church was under heavy attack from Roman persecution and spiritual infiltration from false teachers. This book is meant to warn believers to keep an eye out for false teaching and to encourage them to stay strong in the faith.

Jude 1:1
Greeting
Brother of James:
° Not offended to be identified as brother of… That is usually a hit to our pride because we want to be known as our own person.
° Doesn’t identify himself as Jesus’ brother

Jude 1:3,4
Purpose for the letter
He wanted to write about the common faith they shared, but a more pressing need was at hand.
He felt he needed to defend the faith, once for all delivered to the saints.
° It is important to be discerning, understanding right and wrong, truth and error.
° Our faith was not manufactured, but delivered by the Holy Spirit.
° The faith was delivered once for all, we don’t need to look to more secret revelation, prophecy or dreams to know what God wants us to do with our lives. The Bible is all that is needed for life and godliness.
° Saints are believers, not some higher status of Christians. The Bible was delivered to all Christians, not all “super-Christians.”
Professed Christians are teaching false doctrine.
° People have made their way into the church who are ungodly, who pervert God’s grace, and deny who Jesus is.
° They snuck in. They weren’t obvious haters of God, otherwise they wouldn’t have made it into the church. They were subtle in their teaching, which had quite a bit of truth.
° John Murray: “The difference between truth and error is not a chasm but a razor’s edge.”
° Charles Spurgeon: “Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather, it is the difference between right and almost right.”
° False Teaching
o Changing the grace of God into a license to sin. Since God is so forgiving, we can sin more so He can forgive more.
o They would also say that as long as your spirit is right, it doesn’t matter what you do with your body (similar to people today saying, “as long as you love someone, it doesn’t matter what you do.”).

Jude 5-7
Though they are allowed to continue in their sin now, they will be judged.
3 Examples
° Jude 5: Israel saved out of Egypt.
o Judged naturally by dying in the wilderness, not being allowed into Promised Land.
° Jude 6: Angels thrown from heaven.
o Judgment reserved for future great day of judgment.
° Jude 7: Sodom and Gomorrah
o Judged immediately by destruction of the city.