I never gave much thought to Jude…I mean, the man behind the letter that he penned. Jude grew up with Jesus…he knew him longer than any of the disciples. Jude and Jesus played together, ate meals together…probably slept in the same bed. As cool as that seems, it probably made it harder for Jude to accept that his brother was actually God in human form.Read Jude and 1 John
The neat thing about Jude is that he writes with one single purpose, and doesn’t wander around touching on a lot of subjects. Jude is warning the church that false teachers have slipped inside. He doesn’t say “they’re coming” he says “they’re already here”. Of course, the first question we would ask is “who are they”. Anticipating that, Jude spells out how we can recognize someone who is teaching false doctrine.
1. What they say doesn’t agree or harmonize with what the Bible says
2. They defy authority…even spiritual authorities. The devil is pure evil and very powerful…be careful of those who mock even him. As Jude says, even Michael didn’t accuse the devil. Such things are better left to the Lord.
3. They operate on instinct (carnal instinct). That means lust, greed, envy, hate, etc.
4. They are greedy
Jude also says that they appear to be helpful, but are of no spiritual value at all. What he doesn’t say is how they look. I think the reason they can wiggle into churches is because they look and sound wonderful.
Jude says that it was Jesus who rescued the Hebrews from Egypt. We don’t often phrase it like that…we say “God” instead. I never considered that it was Jesus who made the ground open up and swallow the disobedient. That it was Jesus who allowed thousands to be killed in a plague after eating the quail. It was Jesus who told Moses “you disobeyed and cannot enter the Promised Land”. Of course we know that God did all those things, and we know that Jesus is God…I just don’t often think of the person who walked with the disciples as being the same person who wiped out thousands of disobedient Israelites.
If you’re wondering about Michael and Moses’s body I can’t help you. That’s the only reference we have in the Bible.
1 John
The letter is so short! I think that the point of the letter is to insist that we must repent in order to be saved. Apparently there were some who didn’t think it was necessary. I summarize it like this: God is light, wisdom, intelligence and truth. If we say that we are in a relationship with God, but we don’t reflect His light, wisdom and truth….then we are mistaken. If we are in Christ, we will be changed, transformed.
The way to do that is to confess your sins to Him, and know that upon confessing them, God will forgive. 1 John 1:9 was one of the first verses I ever memorized, and has always been a favorite.
Faithfully,
PR