“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

--- End of Scripture verses---

Even though Jude is one of the shortest letters in all Bible, it has one of the most beautiful doxologies you will ever read. The root word of “doxology” is the Greek word that means “glory,” and a “doxology” is “a hymn or form of words containing an ascription of praise to God” (dictionary.com). A few other examples of the many doxologies that can be found in Bible are Romans 11:33-36; 16:26-27; 1 Timothy 6:16-17; Hebrews 13:20-21.

While it is true that we must be busy about building ourselves up on the most holy faith (verse 20), and keeping ourselves in the love of God (verse 21), make no mistake about it: it is the Lord “who is able to keep” us “from stumbling” (verse 24). The Apostle Paul similarly stated that we must “work out” our “own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), but he stressed in the very next verse that “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Our little strength is required for our own faithfulness but is inadequate to make us “stand in the presence of His glory blameless.” We need His almighty power to accomplish that monumental feat for us.

It is clear from Jude’s doxology that he ascribed equal praise and glory to both God the Father and God the Son. Both our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ are described as “our Savior” (verse 25). “I, even I, am the Lord, and there is no savior besides Me,” exclaimed Yahweh! “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God.” (Isaiah 43:11-12) Both the Father and the Son are worthy of all “glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18; 1 Timothy 6:15; Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 17:14; 19:16)

The best we can do with our lives is to live them in ways that bring praise, glory and honor to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! I can’t wait to delve into one of the most glorious books of the whole Bible next: The Apostle John’s Holy Spirit-inspired masterpiece, the Book of Revelation! Lord willing we will have an introduction to that amazing piece of God-breathed literature for tomorrow!

Have a glorious day!

-Louie Taylor

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

--- End of Scripture verses---

We see here in today’s verses, as Jude brings his letter to a close, that we have a big part to play in our own salvation and in the salvation of other people. It is our personal responsibility to be continually “building” ourselves “up in” the “most holy faith” (verse 20). The means by which we build ourselves up spiritually is by reading, studying and meditating upon “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” by the Apostles and other inspired writers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Another critical aspect of personal edification is “praying in the Holy Spirit”. It is the Holy Spirit who revealed His will through the men who wrote the letters that make up the New Testament, Who also dwells in us through that perfect revelation, and Who intercedes for us when we pray (Romans 8:26-27).

We are also to keep ourselves “in God’s love” as we eagerly wait for Christ’s return (verse 21). Of course, God loves everyone unconditionally, so keeping ourselves in His love means to live our lives in such a way that shows the greatest appreciation for it. This would include being holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16), worshiping Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and serving Him to the best of our ability in ways that please Him (2 Corinthians 5:9). Until the Lord returns we must live this way and “wait” in patient anticipation for the day when “death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54), and He transforms “our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body’ (Philippians 3:22), and we dwell with Him eternally in heaven.

We also have the responsibility of being our brother’s keeper while we are waiting for the Lord to appear. We must “be merciful to those who doubt” (verse 22). We should not abandon our brothers and sisters in Christ when they experience crises in their faith. Those of us who are strong should help to bear the burdens of those who are weak in the faith, and do so in the spirit of meekness understanding that one day in the future the roles may be reversed (Romans 15:1; Galatians 6:1-2). “Fear” should move us to try to “snatch” brethren who have abandoned the faith or fallen into religious error out of the fire of eternal damnation. “We should “hate even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh” (verse 23). Some people reject that “loving the sinner and hating the sin” is a biblical concept, but the Lord’s brother shows us that it most certainly is. Sin ignored will result in eternal “fire”!!! If you love your brother don’t be silent about it!!!

Please read Jude 1:24-25 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

-Louie Taylor

“But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.”

--- End of Scripture verses---

The fact that there were ungodly men disrupting the Lord’s church and corrupting the Lord’s doctrine for their own personal gain should have come to no surprise to the brethren that Jude wrote to. The Apostles of Christ had previously taught by spoken and written word that “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts” (verse 18). Consider the Apostle Paul’s warnings in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 and 2 Timothy 2:1-5 as prime examples of this truth. Paul had also warned the elders in the church at Ephesus that, “savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30). We surpass naivety and embrace foolishness when we ignore the Lord’s warnings to “be on the alert” (Acts 20:31) for that dangers that ever threaten the peace and sanctity of the body of Christ.

Jude echoed the Apostle Peter’s words when he wrote of “mockers” who would disparage the Lord’s promises and humiliate the Lord’s people in order to satisfy “their own ungodly lusts” (2 Peter 3:3). Self-willed pretenders cannot prevail upon the minds of godly people with logic and reason, so they naturally resort to mockery and contempt to accomplish their ends. The truth has nothing to fear and no reason to berate others with belligerence. If someone comes across as hypercritical or hostile when trying to make you see things their way, chances are their motives are impure and their doctrine in untrue. “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.” (Titus 3:9-11).

Please notice that it is not the faithful brethren striving to stick to “the ancient paths” (Jeremiah 6:16) that cause factions and “divisions” (verse 19), but the ones who endeavor to introduce innovative doctrines and practices foreign to the “truth once for all handed down to the saints” (verse 3). It is the Apostles of Jesus Christ that bear the standard of authority in the Lord’s church and their “sound doctrine” is found only in the clearly written passages of the New Testament. “Some things” are “hard to understand, which” the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). Any strange teaching that appears to be too complex and convoluted to be true probably is. “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Please read Jude 1:20-23 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

-Louie Taylor

“It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”

--- End of Scripture verses---

Jude quotes the inter-testimental portion of the non-inspired apocryphal book known as “1 Enoch” in today’s verses. The Lord’s brother was not claiming this complicated piece of literature was “God-breathed,” but wrote to people who were very familiar with it, and simply wanted to make a point by citing a well-known, secular “prophet” as other inspired authors had done (Titus 1:12). All that we know about the Old Testament figure Enoch is contained in Genesis 5:21-24 and Hebrews 11:5. He most certainly did live “in the seventh generation from Adam” as the Bible and 1 Enoch 60:8 indicates, but anything else accredited to Enoch is speculative at best. He could possibly have made the prophecy quoted in verses 15-16, but even if he did not, it has no bearing on the point Jude was making about false teachers.

Jude is making a very simple claim in his quotation about Enoch, and it is a truthful one that is found elsewhere in the Bible: Jesus will appear with His mighty angels to administer eternal judgement upon the disobedient and ungodly sinners of the world (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). When Jude wrote that Enoch “prophesied” about “these men,” he was not indicating that “the prophet” had these “particular” men exclusively in mind, but that they were included in “all the ungodly” people who would be condemned at the coming of the Lord.

The word “ungodly” really leaps off the page when you read verse 15 as the author repeats if four times in one, short sentence. Ungodly people are those who lack proper reverence for the Almighty Creator who gave them life and affords them all the providential blessings that they possess. The ungodly express the fact that they “do not know God” by their lack of love and reverence for Him, and their absence of the humility required to “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

Jude lists some other attributes of ungodly people (not just false teachers) in verse 16 that we must take careful note of. They are often “grumblers” who find ample reason to complain about the things they perceive are not fair or favorable to personal cause. They are “fault-finders” who tend to criticize others for their opinions and short-comings instead of lifting people up and being a part of the solutions to the problems they perceive to exist. Ungodly people are driven by “their own lusts” instead of God’s will for them, which often places them in harms way and difficult situations. They “speak arrogantly” because of their overrated view of themselves, and yet will not hesitate to speak “flattering” words to people if it means “gaining” a personal “advantage” from them or over them.

While we may not be the instinctive, “unreasoning animals” who “defile the flesh and reject authority” (verses 8-10) that Jude says these false teachers were, we can very easily fall into the category of “grumblers” and “fault-finders” if we are not very careful. The Lord’s church needs more virtuous, kind-hearted, respectful, compassion-driven people who are willing to happily serve; and much, much less of the idle, cynical, judgmental people who sit back and point the finger at everything they perceive the actual servants and “doers of the work” are doing wrong.

Please read Jude 1:17-19 for tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day!

-Louie Taylor

“Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

--- End of Scripture verses---

Jude had given three examples of sinful and rebellious GROUPS in verses 5-7, and in today’s reading he singles out three INDIVIDUALS who garnered God’s wrath and righteous judgment because of their wicked hearts and deeds. Like Cain, the false teachers had no interest in God’s concern and desires for them. The Lord compassionately appealed to Adam’s head-strong firstborn when his anger began to consume him: “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7). As Cain brushed aside God’s affectionate plea and went straightway and murdered his brother, so the false teachers ignored the words and warnings from the divine instruments of revelation, and worked with the selfish intent to spiritually kill their brothers in Christ with deceptive persuasion and damnable doctrines.

Like Balaam, the false teachers were motivated by greed. Balak, the king of Moab, offered to pay the prophet Balaam handsomely if he would pronounce a curse against the children of Israel whom he presumed to be a threat to his kingdom (Numbers 22-24). Even though Balaam refused to curse the Israelites at the behest of the king, he still looked for an angle by which he could bypass God’s will for him and sell God’s people out for filthy lucre. The greedy prophet found a way to lure God’s people into sinfulness by which they condemned themselves. It was “through the counsel of Balaam” (Numbers 31:16) that the Moabite woman seduced many of the men of Israel to commit sexual immorality and idolatry, and 24,000 people were subsequently killed (Numbers 25:1-9; 31:16; Revelation 2:14).

Like Korah, the false teachers desired to usurp authority that was not given to them by God. Korah was a Levite who rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and ultimately God, because he desired a greater place of prominence among God’s people than he was given (Numbers 16:1-11). Cain, Balaam and Korah were all driven by their own selfishness and arrogance to abandon the way of righteousness and rebel against the Lord, and they left much human wreckage in their wakes. All three of these self-willed individuals suffered God’s condemnation and the troublers of Jude’s brethren would ultimately suffer the same fate.

Jude used two more sets of threes to describe the horrid nature of the corrupters of God’s word and defilers of His people. They were like “hidden reefs” that rip the hulls out of the sailing vessels of unsuspecting seafarers. They were like “clouds without water,” promising relief and precious refreshment, but delivering none and only intensifying thirst. They were like “autumn trees without fruit,” promising fruit but offering no sustenance. They were “doubly dead” and destined to be “uprooted”. They were like “wild waves,” “wandering stars,” destined for “black darkness”. Friend, can you see from these vivid illustrations just how sacred and vital and inviolable that the word of God truly is? We dare not alter it in any way or try to bypass any of God’s perfect precepts and commandments in order to satisfy our own desires or inflate our own egos. If we do, we will suffer the same penalty of “eternal fire” (verse) and “black darkness…forever (verse 13) as these men will.

Please read Jude 1:14-16 for tomorrow.

Blessings!

-Louie Taylor

“Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.”

--- End of Scripture verses---

Jude begins his scathing rebuke of the false teachers in verse 8. He was appalled and alarmed by the perversion of these men and the havoc that they were wreaking upon the Lord’s people. He was more concerned about addressing their character and their recklessness than the particular form of the perverted doctrine they were teaching. They were arrogant and ignorant and had zero respect for God-given authority, and they behaved more like dumb animals driven by base instincts than reasoning, sensible human beings. The Truth means little or nothing to egomaniacs who only live to satisfy self, so they will pervert the Gospel in any way that best serves their own purposes.

It is difficult to determine just how “dreaming” factored into the distortions of the false teachers. It could have been that these “inventors of evil” (Romans 1:29) were so absorbed in their wickedness that they dreamt about ways to pursue evil even in their sleep. The prophet Micah wrote about “those who scheme iniquity, who work out evil on their beds! When morning comes, they do it” (Micah 2:1). Another possibility is that they insisted God had revealed His will to them through dreams and visions, and cited these as authority for the lies that they advanced. Either way you look at it, they were caught up in a dream world that meant a nightmare for anyone who crossed their paths.

There is no biblical or preserved extra-biblical account of the archangel Michael disputing with the devil over the body of Moses (verse 9). There is some question as to whether Jude was referring to a real-life event or appealing to a piece of popularly accepted Jewish lore. Either way you look at it, the point that Jude wanted to make is not affected and easily understood. If the much more powerful archangel Michael refused to “pronounce a railing judgment” against Satan, then the false teachers should refrain from “reviling” against God’s apostolic authority and about the things that they “do not understand” (verse 10). If an archangel was willing to give place to the wrath of God and leave judgment to the Lord, mere mortal men should refrain from unleashing their verbal fury against the things and people they don’t agree with.

I love what Duane Warden wrote on page 490 of his Truth for Today Commentary on “1 & 2 Peter And Jude” about these teachers being creatures of instinct so I will just quote it:

“Their own survival and their own aggrandizement were the driving forces behind what they did. Not only that, but the false teachers ‘[did] not understand’ the matters they proclaimed. Jude hinted that when Christ is the subject, there is a level of understanding that is born of embracing the gospel. Christians live in Christ as a fish lives in water. By contrast, the false teachers lived in the sphere of the flesh. They were as likely to understand what it meant to be in Christ as a hamster would be to understand what it means to live in water. Just as one would have to live in water to understand what that kind of life is, one must be in Christ to understand the peace He offers and the way of life He has for His people. Regardless of what ‘these men’ claimed, they were not following Christ. For that reason they were without understanding.

“Like Jude, Paul asserted that Christians understand spiritual matters on a level that the non-believing soul cannot know. The matter comes up in 1 Corinthians: ‘But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised’ (1 Cor. 2:14). Jude reasoned similarly. These men, he maintained, did not know Christ. They relied on ‘instinct’ and lived on a purely functional level. They were ‘like unreasoning animals’. The very things they claimed to be for the good of Christians led to separation from God. Jude had no doubt where the path of the false teachers was leading. He wanted his readers to know that ‘by these things they [would be] destroyed’. Jude was concerned that his brothers and sisters would follow them to the same destruction, which is why he wrote as he did (vv. 3,4).”

Please read Jude 1:11-13 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

“Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”

--- End of Scripture verses---

Like Peter did in his letter (2 Peter 1:13; 3:1), the Lord’s brother desired to stir up the memories of the people that he wrote to (verse 5). Jude reminded his brethren that there are ample inspired, historical accounts of God punishing people for the sins of rebellion and “gross immorality” (verse 7). The selected examples of sinfulness and God’s subsequent punishment served two important purposes. They demonstrated that the “ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness” (verse 4) would not get away with their wickedness, and also that Jude’s audience would not escape God’s judgement should they go after the appalling example of the false teachers.

As the Apostle Paul had done in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Jude cited the example of Israel’s dissatisfaction, dissension and disbelief after God liberated them from Egyptian slavery, and then “subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” Verse 5 seems to imply that the false teachers had truly become obedient, converted disciples of Christ at some point in time, but had fallen away from the faith having become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and a heart of disbelief. If God “laid” His disobedient children “low in the wilderness” (1 Corinthians 10:5) after having saved them from captivity, His consistency dictates that He will punish all His rebellious people who live in any era of time.

God even judged His “angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode” (verse 6). As Peter did 2 Peter 2:4, Jude treated the “eternal” punishment of God’s rebellious angels as common knowledge among his readers, even though there is no specific example of this incident in the biblical cannon. What is important to note is that even beings as near unto God as His “ministering spirits” (Hebrews 1:14) suffered eternal condemnation for rebelling against His holy sovereignty. And “if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness,” how much more will he “keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority” (2 Peter 2:4, 9-10).

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is set in the Bible as the primary example of God’s fiery judgment against the wickedness of man (Genesis 19:1-29). That they “indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh” (verse 7) is a transparent condemnation of the sin of homosexuality. The men of Sodom wanted to “have relations” with the angels that they perceived to be other “men” (Genesis 19:5), even if they had to do so forcibly with violence. God condemns the sin of homosexuality repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments (Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9), as he does all other forms of a sexual sin. All who engage in such immoral acts without remorse or repentance will be met with “the punishment of eternal fire” of Hell come Judgment Day.

It is critical to note that in these three examples of God’s judgment against rebellion and sinfulness that the first was against God’s covenant people, Israel, the second against His non-human, angelic spiritual beings, and the last was against basely wicked people who gave no consideration to God at all. The Lord will condemn every and all living beings that refuse to humble themselves before Him, and comply with His perfect will and sovereignty regardless of their status before Him.

Please read Jude 1:8-10 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

“Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

--- End of Scripture verses---

Like his sibling James (James 1:1), Jude could have introduced himself as the brother of the Lord, but was completely satisfied with being identified as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ” (verse 1). Jesus is our brother in a sense as well, and is not ashamed to call us brethren (Hebrews 2:11) as long as we understand that He is ultimately “our only Master and Lord” (verse 4). We have been “called” by God through the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14) to be His “beloved” children, and when we respond positively and obediently to our Master’s call we are “kept” safely through His loving guardianship.

We could all use a lot more “mercy and peace and love” in our lives couldn’t we (verse 2)? We are required by our heavenly Father to extend mercy to others in order to receive it from Him (James 2:13), and peaceful relations with God and man can only be acquired by loving the Lord with all our hearts, minds and souls, and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). But obviously, as verse 4 explicitly commands, we must not allow our love for people to tempt us to compromise the truth in any way. And it is precisely during the times when it is necessary to fight for the truth and against religious falsehood that we are most likely to feel distressed and be unloving. Jude proceeded to level some very harsh accusations against the false teachers, but before he did, he took the time to pray that mercy, peace and love would be “multiplied” to his troubled brethren.

Jude greatly desired to write to his brethren about the “common salvation” they shared in (verse 3), but unfortunately for them, they were in grave danger of losing theirs! He really wanted to build them up in the most holy faith but they first needed to be firmly established in “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” This is obviously a reference to the totality of inspired teaching as revealed through God’s prophets and Apostles, and not to their personal trust and faith in the Lord. The Apostle Paul used the same terminology in 1 Timothy 4:1 when he wrote that “the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” The brethren that Jude wrote to were in extreme danger of falling away from “the faith” that has been “once for all” given to God’s people through Christ Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2), and that will never, ever change.

Friends, we can only know how God wants us to serve and worship Him by what He has (once for all) revealed to us through inspiration. We can only talk with God in prayer after we have first listened to and obeyed His will for us. There were some evil workers teaching a different gospel, which was in no way the legitimate “good news” (Galatians 1:8-9), and Jude was eager to inform his brethren that they dare not be persuaded by the cheap imitation. In fact, they must “earnestly contend” for the genuine article when confronted with an accursed counterfeit. And so must we. The term “earnestly contend” was a common term used in reference to athletic competitions. Religious error always stands in direct opposition to God’s absolute, objective truth, and we must always be ready to take a stand against falsehood and make a defense for “the faith”.

But please notice Jude’s balanced approach to teaching what is good and holy and true. His first impulse and inclination was to edify his brethren by strengthening them in their “common salvation” (verse 3). But when it came to a confrontation against damnable heresies, the Lord’s brother was not afraid to put up a strong fight for the way of righteousness and truth and to encourage others to do so as well. Living in and for “the faith” must not always be a heated competition, but neither should it continually be stroll in the park. A life of faithfulness to God requires a good balance of “mercy and peace and love,” and strong striving against error and deception and sin. When someone perceives and portrays “the grace of our God” as a license to sin, they have effectively denied “our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (verse 4), and they must be taught better. For their own soul’s sake and for the benefit of the brotherhood at large. If you desire Jesus to be your Savior and friend, you must first accept His supreme sovereignty as “Master and Lord” over the entirety of your life.

Please read Jude 1:5-7 for tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day!

-Louie Taylor

While it cannot be verified with absolute certainty, the author of this letter was most likely the biological half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Mark 6:3 that Mary and Joseph had four other sons besides Jesus named “James and Joses and Judas and Simon,” and “Jude” is a shortened form of the name “Judas”. The Apostle Paul tells us that “James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19) was a prominent leader of the church in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9), and Jude introduced himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James (Jude 1:1). Some or all of the Lord’s brothers had become His followers shortly after His resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:14), and it is logical to conclude that Jude associated himself with his better-known brother to lend credibility and authority to his critical, urgent, inspired epistle.

The message of Jude’s greatly neglected letter bears a striking resemblance to that of the Peter’s second epistle. Peter wrote to confront the corrupting influence of “false teachers” (2 Peter 2:1), and Jude warned his audience about the same type of “ungodly persons” who had “crept in unnoticed” (Jude 1:4). These workers and teachers of evil “despised” and “rejected authority” (2 Peter 2:10; Jude 1:8), and turned the “grace of our God into licentiousness,” engaging in all types of despicable acts of greed and carnality (2 Peter 2:13-14; Jude 1:4). The Lord’s brother had initially planned to write a much more pleasant message to his fellow Christians concerning their “common salvation” they shared, but the urgency of the current predicament compelled him instead to encourage them to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 1:3). The truth is worth fighting for, and its defense and preservation take precedence over all other issues. If we learn this monumental truth alone from this astounding little letter, we have acquired that which delivers the greatest impact upon the souls of all humankind.

Duane Warden, PH. D. wrote in his Truth for Today Commentary on “1 & 2 Peter And Jude” the following concerning the relationship of Jude to 2 Peter: “When Jude and 2 Peter are compared, it is apparent that there is some literary relationship between the two works—that is, one of the authors knew and used the letter written by the other…the description each author gives of the teachers they denounce is too similar to be accidental. Of Jude’s twenty-five verses, fifteen of them have significant parallels in 2 Peter. In addition, the two authors used the same illustrations and ideas in their denunciation of the teachers. They even placed them in approximately the same order. They saw the threat to the churches they addressed similarly. Both reasoned that God would judge the false teachers as He had judged the disobedient in the past. Both used God’s judgment of angels and of Sodom and Gomorrah to bolster their messages. The points of comparison go on from there. That there is a literary dependence between 2 Peter and Jude is hardly questioned by scholars.”

Both inspired authors express that God’s condemning judgment upon the false teachers has been determined from long ago (2 Peter 2:3; Jude 1:4). Both assert that rebellious angels are being kept in bonds until the Day of Judgment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). Both refer to the false teachers as creatures of instinct and unreasoning animals (2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10), and say that they follow the error of Balaam (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11). This is just a small sampling of the similarities and exact quotations that abound between these two letters. While it cannot be determined precisely when or to whom these authors wrote their words of warning, or why they mirror each other so greatly, the uncertainty does not affect the authenticity of either epistle or the significance of their communication. It does appear that both were written to primarily Jewish audiences as Peter used an abundance of Old Testament references and Jewish thought trends, and Jude did so as well along with references to extra-biblical, Jewish apocryphal literature. It also appears that Peter wrote his letter first and Jude borrowed from it since Jude appealed to the authority of the Apostles as support for his message (Jude 1:17).

Please read Jude 1:1-4 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor