The True Faith - Jude 1-3
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we came to a convenient place to take a break in the book of Genesis. So, for the next several weeks we will be in the book of Jude, then on November 20 we will celebrate Village Missions Sunday and then finish the book of Jude the following week and that will take us into the month of December and we will focus on the incarnation culminating on Christmas Day which falls on a Sunday this year. In the new year, we will return to Genesis and finish up the book with the life of Joseph.
This morning we will begin Jude and it will mainly be by way of introduction as we look at the first three verses. This book that is sandwiched between 3 John and Revelation is truly a book for our day, but it is a much-overlooked book. If I were to take a poll in our church, there would most likely be a group of people who have never read the book of Jude. If you haven’t, I would encourage you to read it this week so that you are familiar with it as we go through it. The purpose of the book of Jude is to warn the church of apostasy, apostasy is a turning away from the true faith, the book warns of false teachers who are in the church and what we need to do about it, and how we can recognize these false teachers. Jude begins his book by identifying what true faith is and he gives us three elements of true faith, the first is our standing with God, the second our blessings from God, and the third our standard, the doctrines of our faith. Let’s pray and then get into the book.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to the book of Jude, it is the book right before Revelation and it is only a page long so it is easy to miss. We will read verses 1-4, but only be looking at the first three this morning. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Jude 1-4,
“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.” (Jude 1–4, NASB95)[1]
OUR STANDING (Jude 1)
Jude opens this letter by identifying for us who he is. The name Jude is neither Greek nor Hebrew, but a name chosen by the Bible translators to distinguish this man from others with this name in the Bible. In Hebrew, the name is Judah, and in Greek the name is Judas. So, the first thing to understand is that this man was called Judas and he was the brother of James. James was a half-brother of Jesus and the leader of the church in Jerusalem and the author of the book of James. This seems to be the most probable James that is the brother of Judas because his name would have been known in the early church. In Mark 6:3 we read the names of Jesus’ brothers, the sons of Joseph and Mary, Mark writes what the people of Nazareth were saying about Jesus, “’Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at Him.” (Mark 6:3, NASB95)[2] In this verse we have the names of James and Judas and this Judas seems the most likely to be the author of this book. He does not identify himself as a half-brother of Jesus, but as a bond-servant or slave of Jesus Christ. The brothers of Jesus did not believe in him during his earthly ministry, but when they saw Him after His resurrection then they believed in Him and Judas saw the relationship with Jesus that was purchased on the cross as more important than the fact that he was a physical half-brother of Jesus and he believed in Him and devoted his life to serving Him.
Jude then describes for us who he is writing to and in this description he gives us the first element of true faith and that is our standing with God. First, he states that this letter is to those who are the called. Many believe that they chose to believe in Jesus Christ, but the Scripture is clear that you were called, you were chosen by God before you ever decided to believe. God called to you first and you responded in faith. Romans 8:29-30 says, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29–30, NASB95)[3] Did you know that you were called by the Savior, He desired you to be a part of His family and He called you and you responded in faith by believing that His death and resurrection paid the full price for your sin and you were justified before God, the justice of God has been satisfied, your penalty for sin has been paid and you are declared righteous in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and one day you will be glorified, you will have a glorified body like that of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is such a sure thing that Paul in these verses in Romans describes it as if it already happened. Know for sure that you are the called by God and He called you to the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. If we know who we are in Christ, then our faith cannot be shaken.
Next Jude describes our standing in God as being the beloved in God the Father. We are His beloved sons and daughters that He has brought into His family, that He has made His own. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world, speaking of mankind as a whole. He loved them so much that He sent His only begotten Son as His love gift, His Son died so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. That is God’s unconditional love for the lost. But Jude is saying that we are the beloved in God the Father. This is speaking of the love that a father has for His children. Many today want to say that we are all God’s children and in the sense that God created Adam and Eve and the rest of us descended from them we could be called God’s children. But when Adam and Eve sinned we became children of the evil one, and to become a child of God we must deal with our sin and that is dealt with by believing that Jesus died for our sins. John 1:12 tells us, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” (John 1:12, NASB95)[4] This is the only way that we can know the unconditional love of the Father. As a father of three sons I love them unconditionally, my love does not change based on what they do or how they act, I love them because they are my sons. I can be disappointed by how they act, or I can be proud by how they act, but this does not change the fact that I love them. As God’s son or daughter, He loves us no matter what, that love does not change based on how we act, or what we say, or think. Those things may grieve God’s heart, or please Him, but it does not change the fact that He loves us. Never forget that you are the beloved in God the Father.
In describing our standing with God, Jude describes us as being kept for Jesus Christ. Notice that the Scriptures says we are kept for Jesus Christ, not kept in or by Jesus Christ. We are the trophies of His grace and we are kept for that day when we will spend eternity with Him. In Isaiah 53 the chapter that describes the suffering of the Lord Jesus we read in verse 10, “But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.” (Isaiah 53:10, NASB95)[5] This verse is speaking of Jesus being crushed and offering Himself as a guilt offering, and if He does this He will see His offspring. Who are His offspring? Those kept for Him, those who are His offspring by faith in His work for us on the cross. Jesus said this about those who would be kept for Him in John 10:26-30, “’But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’” (John 10:26–30, NASB95)[6] If we are called, if we are the beloved in God the Father we are kept for Jesus Christ in His hand and the Father’s hand, we will never perish and no one can snatch us from the hand of the One who holds us. This should encourage you to know that God is keeping you, He is watching over you, He is caring for you. As those who are kept for Jesus Christ, nothing happens to us by chance because God is keeping us. We are kept for eternity in the safety of the hand of Jesus and wrapped around His hand is the hand of the Father. Our standing in God is sure.
OUR BLESSINGS (Jude 2)
The next element of the true faith is the blessings that belong to those who are the called, the beloved, the kept. Jude reminds us of the blessings of mercy, peace, and love that are unlimited. Mercy remember is God withholding what we deserve. There are those who have said, if God will be just on that final day and give me justice I believe I will get into heaven. I do not want justice on that last day, I want mercy. Justice would condemn me to hell, mercy would be God withholding what I deserve. We encounter the mercy of God every day though we may not recognize it. It is in unlimited supply through Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Christ we also became the recipients of peace. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we are now justified before God, being covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we now have peace with God. We no longer stand condemned, we no longer come under His wrath, peace with God has been made through Jesus Christ. But our peace does not end there, Paul tells us that we can have the peace of God that transcends all understanding by bringing everything to God with thanksgiving and our hearts and minds will be guarded by the peace of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I know this peace multiplied to me in abundance when I bring my anxious thoughts to God. And again, unlimited love, love that purchased us and redeemed us from death, and love that keeps us each day. Paul wrote, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NASB95)[7] This is God’s love for us before we believed, then over just a few chapters from this one Paul writes, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, NASB95)[8] This is God’s multiplied love to us, nothing can separate us from it. Jude says may these blessings be multiplied to you and they are day after day, because they are the blessings of the true faith.
OUR STANDARDS, THE DOCTRINES OF OUR FAITH (Jude 3)
In verse 3 Jude begins to give us the purpose of this letter, he writes that he wanted to write a letter to us about our common salvation, a letter of encouragement concerning this great salvation that we have in Christ Jesus. He wanted to remind us again of what Christ did for us through His death and resurrection, how through faith in Him we no longer are dead in our trespasses and sins, but we are raised to new life, we become new creatures in Christ, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are given eternal life. These are the truths that Jude desired to write about, but he felt the necessity to write something else. This is an interesting phrase, he felt the necessity—the Holy Spirit was directing him about what he should write. Listen to the words of Peter and see if they apply here, he wrote in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20–21, NASB95)[9] Jude in his human will wanted to write about our common salvation, but being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. God spoke through Jude the words of this letter and of a necessity Jude had to appeal to us, his letter changed from one of encouragement to a letter of warning and exhortation. Jude says, “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.” (Jude 3b, NASB95)[10] The faith that Jude is referring to is the standards that we live by, the Holy Scriptures and the doctrines that have become what we believe. Jude says that we must contend earnestly for these, this book contains in it all that we need to live the faith, and it was handed down once for all Jude says. Be wary of anyone that comes and says I have a new word from the Lord, or a new revelation from God, because Jude says that we have all that we need, it was handed down to us once for all, there is nothing new to be added to it and nothing can be subtracted from it. What we have contained in these pages was handed down to the saints once for all time. Who are the saints, you and me and all those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Each generation has been entrusted with the faith contained in these pages and has guarded it and handed it down to the next generation, but as it was in Jude’s day so it is in ours, there are people seeking to undermine God’s Word, to discredit it, or add to it. Jude says we must contend earnestly for it, that it be pure and undefiled when we pass it down to the next generation.
This is one of the reasons I wanted to start the Sunday School program from Answers in Genesis that we are now using, it teaches us how to contend earnestly for the faith from those who would seek to undermine the truthfulness of the Bible. The Bible is trustworthy, the Bible is true and what we have can stand the attacks against it, what we must contend earnestly for is that we do not compromise or add what the world believes to what the Bible teaches. How do we contend for the faith once for all handed down to us, the saints? We must know what God’s Word teaches, which means that we must be spending time in God’s Word, we must be reading it, we must be studying it, we must be learning what it teaches. If we do not know it, we cannot contend for it. If you know what you believe then you will not be shaken from it.
CONCLUSION:
In these first three verses of Jude the author gives us three elements of true faith, the first is our standing with God seen in that fact that we are the called, we are the beloved in God the Father, and we are kept for Jesus Christ. The second element of true faith is seen in the unlimited or boundless blessing that are ours in Christ, the blessings of mercy, peace and love. Finally, the third element is our standard, the doctrines taught in the Scriptures that we believe and live by. Jude exhorts us to contend earnestly for the faith (the truths taught in God’s Word that was given to us once for all). As we will see next week, certain persons have crept into the church to undermine the truth of God’s Word and teach false doctrine, and for this reason we must contend for the faith, that it not be corrupted. How do we apply this to our lives, we must know what we believe, we must know what the Bible teaches and that requires work, just like anything we want to know we must work at it to learn it and become proficient at it. It is like learning to play the piano or any instrument, to do it well it takes years of diligent practice. The same is true of contending for the faith, it takes years of being in the Bible daily, reading it and studying it and learning from it. Paul understood this, he told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB95)[11] This is why I am excited about starting the Contenders Discipleship Initiative in January and I hope that many of you will enroll and begin this journey of becoming a life-long learner of the Word of God. I encourage you to get involved in Sunday School, or a Bible study, I have open evenings if you want to study the Bible let me know, I would love to get a group of men or a group of people together during the week to study God’s Word together so that we might learn to contend earnestly for the faith. If nothing else, make time in your day, every day, to read God’s Word. I appeal to you, the called, beloved in God the Father, kept for Jesus Christ, that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to you and me, the saints.
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[8]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[9]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[10]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[11]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995