December 5
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus,” Jude 3-4.
The Epistle of Jude or Judas is the last of the Epistles that we have in the New Testament. The author identifies himself as “a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” Since James was a common name, we cannot with total certainty identify the person to whom Jude was referring.
The Epistle was not addressed to any specific person or congregation. It was addressed to Christians in some general area, possibly in Palestine.
Jude states the reasons for writing this Epistle. It appears that he intended to write about our common salvation, which would have been a Letter about Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of all sinners. It would have been a Letter about the price that was paid on Calvary’s cross to redeem all people from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
However, because of certain conditions in the congregation or community, he was moved by the Holy Spirit to write specifically about some other problems. He writes, “I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” He urged his readers to be on both the defensive and offensive in their battle for the Christian faith. On the one hand, you should confess your faith lovingly and clearly in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only Savior. On the other hand, you should take issue with and stand up against the false teachings that conflict with the Christian faith. When our Christian faith is attacked, we cannot sit by silently and give the impression that when we talk about salvation, it does not make any difference what we believe and confess.
What had happened in the congregation or the community which was being addressed is expressed in the words, “Certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus.” Enemies of God and the Gospel had crept in unnoticed. Although they tried to give the impression that they were godly, they were ungodly. They denied the one true, triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and they denied that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only Savior for sinners.
The enemies of God and the Gospel remind us of the words of the Lord Jesus: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves,” Matthew 7:15. The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world,” 1 John 4:1.
Today, we also must beware of false teachers and false teachings which seek to destroy our Christian faith and hope.
“My soul, be on thy guard;
Ten thousand foes arise,
And hosts of sin are pressing hard
To draw thee from the skies.
Oh, watch and fight and pray,
The battle ne’er give o’er;
Renew it boldly ev’ry day,
And help divine implore.” Amen.