1 Nov. Jude urges believers not to complain and blame others
"From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.
To all who have been called by God. God the Father loves you, and you have been kept safe in Jesus Christ:
Mercy, peace and love be yours richly."
"Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you about the salvation we all share. But I felt the need to write to you about something else: I want to encourage you to fight hard for the faith that was given the holy people of God once and for all time."
"Some people have secretly entered your group. Long ago the prophets wrote about these people who will be judged guilty. They are against God and have changed the grace of our God into a reason for sexual sin. They also refuse to accept Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord...”
"These people complain and blame others, doing the evil things they want to do. They boast about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want."
"Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said before. They said to you, 'In the last times there will be people who laugh about God, following their own evil desires which are against God." These are the people who divide you, people whose thoughts are only of this world, who do not have the Spirit."
"But dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the Lord Jesus Christ with his mercy to give you life for ever."
"Show mercy to people who have doubts. Take others out of the fire, and save them. Show mercy mixed with fear to others, hating even their clothes which are dirty from sin."
"God is strong and can keep you from falling. He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you and can give you great joy."
"He is the only God, the One who saves us. To him be glory, greatness, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord for all time past, now and for ever. Amen."
(Jude 1:1-24)
The Letter of Jude was written by Jude, (‘Judah’ in Hebrew; ‘Judas’ in Greek) the brother of James – one of the brothers of Jesus (see Mark 6:3) who initially misunderstood the nature of Jesus’s teaching (see John 7:2-5). He later became a leader in the Jerusalem church shortly after Jesus’s death and resurrection in 30AD (see Acts 1:14).
It was written in c.65AD, at about the same time as Peter’s two letters. Its precise readership is unknown, but it was probably written to Jewish Christians in Asia Minor who had fled Jerusalem because of persecution by Jewish nationalists.
The letter was written to combat false teachings that were leading some believers into immorality – a subject similar to that of Peter’s second letter (which, some believe, built on the warnings given in Jude’s letter).
Jude begins by sending greetings to “all who have been called by God” and are kept safe by Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:1)
Jude says he was going to write about salvation, but has decided, instead, to warn his readers about false teachers who “have changed the grace of our God into a reason for sexual sin” (Jude 1:4).
He gives Biblical examples of people who turned away from God and were destroyed (see Jude 1:5-7) – those who were rescued from Egypt but turned away from God (see Numbers 14:26-30), rebellious angels (see Matthew 25:41), and the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 19:1-20).
In the same way, Jude says, false teachers will be punished for their immorality (see Jude 1:8-13). They are as guilty as Cain (who murdered his brother Abel – see Genesis 4:3-8), as greedy as Balaam (who prophesied for money – see Numbers 22:1-35), and as rebellious as Korah (who rebelled against Moses and Aaron – see Numbers 16:1-35).
Jude reminds them how the apostles warned that people who follow “their own evil desires” (Jude 1:18) would cause divisions in ‘the last days’. He urges the believers to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit as they wait for the Lord Jesus to give them “life forever” (Jude 1:21).
He then closes with a benediction: “God is strong and can keep you from falling … To him be glory, greatness, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord for all time past, now, and for ever.” (Jude 1:24-25).
The photo shows a Roman gateway at Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia - the region where Jude wrote to Jewish Christians.
You can read more from the Letter of Jude @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/the-letter-of-jude-to-th…/