INTRODUCTION

(A.D. 66)

¹Jude, t he servant of Jesus Christ, and Brother of James (Jude was the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ as well), to them who are Sanctified by God the Father (should have been translated, to them who are loved by God the Father), and preserved in Jesus Christ (in effect, says, God the Father is keeping the Saints guarded by Jesus Christ), and Called (the idea, as presented here by the Holy Spirit through Jude, is that God does not want to lose the people He has Called to be His Own through false doctrine).

²Mercy unto you, and Peace, and Love, be multiplied (all of this is made possible by the Cross, and the Cross alone).

FALSE TEACHERS

³Beloved, when I gave all diligence (a compulsion generated by the Holy Spirit) to write unto you of the common Salvation (he had at first thought to write an Epistle similar to Romans, but the Holy Spirit, although the Author of the compulsion, did not lead in this direction), it was needful for me to write unto you (the implication is that whatever was to be written had to be written at once, and could not be prepared for at leisure), and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the Faith (refers to the fact that the Saints must defend the Doctrines of Christianity with intense effort) which was once delivered unto the Saints (refers to the fact that no other Faith will be given; the idea is that God gave the Christian Doctrines to the Saints as a deposit of Truth to be guarded).

⁴For there are certain men crept in unawares (false teachers had crept into the Church), who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men (they came in by stealth and dishonesty; however, their methods were by no means new; they would assume an outward expression of light), turning the Grace of our God into lasciviousness (refers to the fact that Grace had been turned to license), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (if we deny the Cross, which is Gods Plan of Redemption, we are at the same time denying Both the Father and the Son).

⁵I will therefore put you in remembrance (suggests something of anxiety and upbraiding, which may be compared to the tone of Paul in writing Galatians), though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the Land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them who believed not (unbelief destroyed the Israelites in the wilderness, and it will do the same presently).

⁶And the Angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation (these particular Angels did not maintain their original position in which they were created, but transgressed those limits to invade territory foreign to them, namely the human race; they left Heaven and came to Earth, seeking to cohabit with women, which they did [Gen. 6:4]), He (the Lord) has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day (these Angels are now imprisoned [II Pet. 2:4], and will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment, then placed in the Lake of Fire where they will remain forever and forever [Rev. 20:10]).

⁷Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner (the Greek Text introduces a comparison showing a likeness between the Angels of Verse 6 and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah; but the likeness between them lies deeper than the fact that both were guilty of committing sin; it extends to the fact that both were guilty of the same identical sin), giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh (the Angels cohabited with women; the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, was homosexuality [Rom. 1:27]), are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire (those who engage in the sin of homosexuality and refuse to repent will suffer the vengeance of the Lake of Fire).

⁸Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh (Jude likens these false teachers to filthy dreamers, and refers to their doctrines as being the fruits of mere imagination and fancies), despise dominion (they refuse to live by the Word of God, but rather fabricate their own religion), and speak evil of dignities (refers to reviling the Word of God, and more particularly Christ and the Cross).

⁹Yet Michael the Archangel (no other Angel bears the title of Archangel, as recorded; there are others who are Chief Angels, and Michael is only one of them [Dan. 10:13]), when contending with the Devil he disputed about the body of Moses (after the death of Moses, Satan demanded the body of the Lawgiver which was denied him by Michael, the Archangel), did not bring against him (against Satan) a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke you (a railing accusation would have placed Michael on the same level with the Devil to which the great Archangel would not stoop, and rightly so!).

¹⁰But these (false teachers) speak evil of those things which they know not (the adage here applies, fools rush in where Angels fear to tread): but what they know naturally, as brute beasts (Jude refers to these false teachers as being in the class of unreasoning animals), in those things they corrupt themselves (could have been translated, by these things are being brought to ruin).

¹¹Woe unto them! (Concerning apostasy and apostates, the Holy Spirit says to them, Woe!) for they have gone in the way of Cain (the type of a religious man who believes in God and religion, but after his own will, and who rejects Redemption by blood), and ran greed ily after the error of Balaam for reward (the error of Balaam was that he was blind to the higher morality of the Cross, through which God maintains and enforces the authority and awful sanctions of His Law, so that He can be Just and the Justifier of the believing sinner; he loved the wages of unrighteousness in coveting the gifts of Balak [Num. 22:7, 17, 37; 24:11; II Pet. 2:15]), and perished in the gainsaying of Core (the gainsaying of this man was his rebellion against Aaron as Gods appointed Priest; this was, in principle, a denial of the High Priesthood of Christ [Num., Chpt. 16]).

¹²These are spots (rocks) in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you (these false teachers participated in the Lords Supper, thereby, claiming to be Godly), feeding themselves without fear (furthering their own schemes and lusts instead of tending the flock of God): clouds they are without water (such disappoints the ground that needs rain; likewise, these false teachers look good outwardly, but inwardly there is no substance), carried about of winds (they seek Believers with itching ears; they have no true course of the Word of God); trees whose fruit withers, without fruit (there is no proper fruit, simply because good fruit cannot come from a bad tree), twice dead (they were dead in trespasses and sins before being saved, and now they have gone back on God and are dead again, i.e., twice dead), plucked up by the roots (they are not like the true tree planted by the waters);

¹³Raging waves of the sea (refers to the destruction caused by false doctrine), foaming out their own shame (false doctrine is like the foam or scum at the seashore); wandering stars (an unpredictable star which provides no guidance for navigation), to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever (refers to their eternal doom [II Pet. 2:4]).

¹⁴And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam (the Old Testament person of that name, the man who walked with God [Gen. 5:18-24]), Prophesied of these (the translation should read, Prophesied with respect to these false teachers of these last days), saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His Saints (is actually, His Holy ten thousands, which literally means an unlimited number; this quotation is taken from the Book of Enoch, which was lost for many centuries with the exception of a few fragments, but was found in its entirety in a copy of the Ethiopia Bible in 1773),

¹⁵To execute Judgment upon all (refers to Christ Judging the nations of the world, which will commence at the beginning of the Millennial Reign), and to convince all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed (the word ungodly is used four times in this Verse, telling us that the ungodliness is total; as well, all is used four times, which means that none will escape this Judgment), and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him (every ungodly statement against Christ will be addressed at that time).

¹⁶These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts (Jude has in mind men who cannot get enough to satisfy their lusts, and thus complain); and their mouth speaks great swelling words, having mens persons in admiration because of advantage (refers to showing respect of person; they use flattery for the sake of profit).

EXHORTATIONS

¹⁷But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ (actually refers to that given by Peter and others);

¹⁸How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time (refers to the last days, in fact, the very time in which we now live), who should walk after their own ungodly lusts (refers to charting a course which is not of God, but rather after the flesh; they have forsaken the Cross!).

¹⁹These be they who separate themselves (should be translated, these be they who separate; they have forsaken the Cross, purposely choosing another way), sensual (refers to that which is not of the Spirit, but rather of the flesh), having not the Spirit (refers to those who operate outside the Cross of Christ).

²⁰But you, Beloved (contrasts the Saints with the false teachers), building up yourselves (to build toward the finish of the structure for which the foundation has already been laid) on your most Holy Faith (Jesus Christ and Him Crucified), praying in the Holy Spirit (our praying must be exercised in the sphere of the Holy Spirit, motivated and empowered by Him),

²¹Keep yourselves in the Love of God (we are to see to it that we stay within the circle of His Love, which can only be done by Faith constantly making the Cross its Object), looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal Life (looking for the Rapture of the Church, with all of this made possible by what Jesus did on the Cross).

²²And of some have compassion, making a difference (the false teachers should be addressed on a case by case situation, referring to the fact that some have to be handled differently than others; some with compassion):

²³And others save with fear (this particular group needs to be dealt with directly and vigorously), pulling them out of the fire (the fire of destruction); hating even the garment spotted by the flesh (presents works of the flesh, which always characterize those who follow a direction other than the Cross).

BENEDICTION

²⁴Now unto Him Who is able to keep you from falling (as weve repeatedly stated, Christ is the Source of all things, but the Cross is the means), and to present you faultless before the Presence of His Glory with exceeding joy (the Holy Spirit will, at the appointed time, present us to the Father, and will do so with exceeding joy; this refers to the Believer standing blameless before the Judgment Seat, all because of Christ and what He did at the Cross [Col. 1:22; I Thess. 3:13]),

²⁵To the only wise God our Saviour (speaks of the Cross), be Glory and Majesty, Dominion and Power, both now and ever. Amen (every Believer will share in all of this, and do so forever; once again, all because of the Cross).