See 1:1-4 and then my comments below.
1:1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
1:2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
1:3 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.
1:4 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 Christ.
Jude identifies himself in two ways.
1. A bondservant of Jesus Chirst.
2. And, secondly, the brother of James.
He tells us who he was writing to. It was to those who had been sanctified by God, and preserved in Jesus Christ. Both of these are true of every Christian.
1. They are sanctified, and are being sanctified. ( Or set apart. It happens at the moment of salvation, and then continues as we abide in the Word of God)
2 They are preserved, or being preserved. Or attended to carefully by God. He is keeping an eye on His children. He is holding fast to them. He is keeping them in Christ.
He then greets his readers with a familiar prayer. Praying for three things to happen in their lives.
Grace, peace and love be multiplied to you. These only come from God. But are then expressed through the lives of the recipients. His favor to us, His peace and His love. They are as Jude says, and prays for to be multiplied, or increased. What a wonderful truth for us, that in Christ, God will give us more and more of these things. Peter tells us, they are multiplied in our growing knowledge of Jesus Christ. That is, as we abide in Him, and walk with Him, and order our lives according to His Word, we mature, we grow, and so do His these blessings.
Now, onto the issue of our faith and why it's important to have it, and to hold on to it. ( faith here is a ref to the body of Gods' truth that makes up what we believe in, in the Holy Bible. It's often referred to as "the faith" Or the content of the truth that God has given us. So, now he begins his message in earnest.
He calls his readers, "beloved" my how these Biblical writers used and loved this word.
He explains that while he was penning his letter to them, ( it was going to be about "our common salvation" he found, or was moved by God to switch gears as it were, and to share an exhortation with them......and, that was that they should "earnestly contend for the faith etc, " Or be very diligent to hang onto, to keep the faith, not let it go etc.
He tells us that the faith was once for all delivered to the saints. In other words, when God gave us what we call the Scriptures, the Holy Bible, He gave us what He wanted to, and did not leave anything out that He intended to give, and gave it in such a way, that there would never be a need to modify it, to remove it, or to try and explain it in some way that is different then from what it clearly means. God meant what He said, and He said what He meant. And, thus we are encouraged to keep it simple, and to keep it, to hang on to it, and not let anyone, or anything try to take it away from us, those who have been set apart to God.
Here's a problem, and it's been a problem, and is now a problem, and will be a problem right till the end of time as we know it.
It's the problem of men creeping into the church, without anyone noticing them, and ( while not news to God, or unnoticed by God ) they none the less, are those who take God's wonderful grace, and try to turn into something that is both lewd, and denies the Lord God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
They want to change what God has said. They want to replace God's Word with their own. They want to transfer out, and transfer in. Remove and replace is their agenda. Into what?
Into a lewdness and a denial. Lewdness, means, immorality, and deny, means to disown.
We will look at all of this in greater detail over the next few days.
But, for now, to remember, You are set apart to God if you have come to faith in Christ. And, in this letter God is explaining how important His Word is, and what Christians ought to do with His Word in their lives, on an on-going basis, and why.
Blessings of grace to you.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia
