Jude 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
The book of Jude is a short letter. Very little is known about the man, Jude. There is speculation that he might have been a half brother of Jesus, however we cannot know that because God has not told us that. We do know he was one of the holy men of God chosen by God to write the Scriptures. Just because this letter is short, does not make it less important than any other.
Jude is not introduced as an apostle. He is introduced as a servant of Jesus Christ. A servant indicates a master. We have often talked of the fact that a true New Testament child of God is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. We also must understand that anything the Lord teaches us will be distorted by the devil. Some people allow the hair on the back of their heads to rise and they get red in the face, when they hear that Christians need to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know the devil does not like authority. He chose to rebel against God and he fell. We know that Cain did not like authority and he complained to God, telling Him that He was unjust. We know that the majority of humanity did not want to submit to God and in Genesis 6 God described the wickedness of humanity at that time. The flood destroyed thousands of people, but it did not change the heart of anyone. The heart of man is only changed through the New Birth.
We are also told that this Jude was the brother of James. God did not give us any more information on the man. Obviously God did not see it important or necessary to tell us more about Jude. The Scriptures are not about the writers. They are about the Author.
Jude was directed by God to write to them that are sanctified by God the Father. Again, we are reminded that true saints are set apart unto God. Notice that Jude is not writing to the apostles. He is writing to all New Testament saints. New Testament saints are made different at the moment of salvation.
As we have often mentioned, there has been such a corruption of the truth in my lifetime. For years false teachers have been telling us that Christianity has more grey areas than white areas. The common lie is that there is little certainty in Christianity. Some believe that being once saved, provides eternal life for the recipient. However, for most who believe that, they also believe there are no firm requirements of change that will define those who are saved.
There has been much ignorance as to what “legalism” is and so this crowd immediately claims that anyone who would teach that God requires certain things of His children, is a legalist. They determine in their “wisdom” that such a person must be avoided like the plague. Yet, Jude is directed BY GOD to remind us that he is writing to those who have been sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. Jesus Christ is the ONLY Saviour of mankind. When He saves a person, that person is preserved. That person has eternal life. That does not mean the person has the right to live in sin or even to commit sin. That means that the person is adopted into God’s family and as such is expected to behave in a certain manner. The manner is defined in the Bible. It is not my opinion or yours. God defines the nature and character of His children. He calls His children to serve Him.
In verse 2 we are once again reminded of the mercy, peace and love of God. We are reminded that these three gifts need to be multiplied in our hearts, if we are those described in verse 1. God’s mercy is the means by which we are saved. We do not deserve salvation. We do not deserve help in our Christian lives. However, God is merciful and Jude was directed to tell the saints of the need for God’s mercy to be multiplied unto them.
God’s peace provides the means for us to function properly in a sin cursed world. We need to be at peace with God and we need to learn to live in peace with fellow saints. True saints are unique individuals. True saints come from all kinds of backgrounds. True saints have all kinds of opinions. True saints also have different habits. When a lost sinner gets saved, they become a child of God. As such they need to work on their lives to be transformed to the will of God. As that is taking place, the saints need to let the peace of God rule in their hearts.
It is a blessing to have the love of God multiplied in our hearts. That is what causes true saints to work together. They set aside their own opinions and they let the love of God rule in their hearts. Jesus chose twelve men to be His disciples. As we study them we find each one a little different than the others. We find them all very different than Jesus. However, Jesus worked with them, even though He knew one of them was a devil. Judas would eventually show his true colours for others to see and he would go out and kill himself. He refused to turn to Jesus and seek forgiveness. Peter was impulsive and suffered great shame, but he longed to be right with his Master. Jesus forgave him and continued to train him. Each one of those twelve men had specific needs. Eleven of them allowed Jesus to love them and to change them. Every true child of God is blessed with the love of God in them from the moment of salvation. Each child of God must allow God to develop His love in their heart and life. The world needs to see that love at work. When a person walks away from a true child of God and wants nothing to do with them, they do not demonstrate the love of God. They demonstrate the hatred of the devil.
Jude was directed to address the apostasy of his time, but also that of future generations. Each person needs to choose whether they want to be a part of the apostasy or a part of those who are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Which one are you?
Pastor Bartel