New Testament

Jude

Jude is a short, urgent letter calling believers to 'contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints' (), because ungodly men had slipped into the church, turning God's grace into a license for immorality and denying Jesus Christ (). Jude piles up examples of God's past judgment and vivid images of the intruders, then turns to the faithful with instructions and one of the Bible's best-known doxologies. It belongs in the Bible because it guards the church against teaching that uses grace as cover for sin, and it assures believers that God is able to keep them.

Author: 'Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James' (1:1), traditionally Judas the brother of Jesus and of James, named in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. Some scholars think the letter was written later in his name, while many accept him as the author; he humbly calls himself Christ's servant rather than His brother.
Audience: 'Those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ' (1:1), not further identified. Its heavy use of the Old Testament and Jewish tradition suggests readers familiar with Jewish teaching, likely believers of Jewish background or mixed churches.
When: Uncertain. If by the Lord's brother, probably between the 50s and 80s; the apostles' predictions are recalled as words spoken earlier (1:17–18).
Where: Not stated. Palestine or a region with a strong Jewish-Christian presence is often suggested, but this is a guess.
Genre: Jude is a letter, but most of it is a sermon-like warning built from Old Testament examples and pointed commentary: 'these men are...' follows each example. It is intense and pictorial, using images from nature (reefs, waterless clouds, fruitless trees, wild waves, wandering stars) to show the emptiness of the false teachers. Read the denunciation as serving the opening appeal (1:3) and the closing care for the faithful (1:20–25), not as an end in itself.

Shape of the book

Greeting to the Kept · ch 1Verses 1–2: Jude greets those called, loved by the Father and kept in Jesus Christ, praying that mercy, peace and love be multiplied to them.
Why Jude Writes · ch 1Verses 3–4: Jude meant to write about their shared salvation but must urge them to contend for the faith, because ungodly men have crept in and twist grace into license.
Judgment Past and Coming · ch 1Verses 5–16: Israel in the wilderness, the angels who abandoned their dwelling, Sodom and Gomorrah, Cain, Balaam and Korah show the fate of rebels, and Jude describes the intruders in vivid images and quotes Enoch's warning of the Lord's coming in judgment.
Instructions for the Beloved · ch 1Verses 17–23: Remembering the apostles' warning about scoffers, believers are to build themselves up, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep themselves in God's love, and show mercy to those who doubt or are in danger.
Doxology · ch 1Verses 24–25: Praise to the only God our Savior, who is able to keep believers from stumbling and present them blameless with great joy.

Themes

Contending for the Faith. The faith was 'entrusted once for all to the saints' (): a fixed body of apostolic teaching handed down, not open to revision by later teachers. Contending for it is not quarrelsomeness but faithful guarding of what was received.
Grace Is Not License. The intruders 'turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality' (). Jude shows that rejecting Christ's lordship in practice is as serious as denying Him in words, and that sexual immorality, greed and rebellion are not compatible with grace.
God Judges Rebellion. Jude gathers examples of judgment: Israel destroyed in the wilderness for unbelief (), angels held for judgment (), Sodom and Gomorrah (), and the ways of Cain, Balaam and Korah (). God's past acts guarantee His future judgment.
Kept by God, Keeping Ourselves. Believers are 'kept in Jesus Christ' () and are told to 'keep yourselves in the love of God' (), and God is 'able to keep you from stumbling' (). Jude holds together God's preserving power and the believer's responsibility, set against the angels who did not keep their position ().
Mercy Toward the Wavering. After the strong warnings, Jude calls for mercy on those who doubt, rescue of those near the fire, and mercy mixed with fear toward others (). Defending the faith includes reaching those who are wavering.

Where Christ is

Jude names Jesus Christ as 'our only Master and Lord' (), the one in whom believers are kept () and whose mercy brings eternal life (). In 1:5 the BSB follows manuscripts that say Jesus delivered His people out of Egypt, presenting the Son as active in Israel's history, while other manuscripts read 'the Lord'. Glory is given to God 'through Jesus Christ our Lord' ().

Our Only Master and Lord. Fulfillment. Jude calls Jesus 'our only Master and Lord' (), using titles of sovereign authority. Denying Him by living in license is denying the one Lord the Old Testament calls Israel to serve. (; ; ; )
The Lord of the Exodus. Echo, with a textual question. If 'Jesus' is the original reading in , Jude, like Paul, sees Christ present in the wilderness story (, ). Either way, the exodus pattern of rescue followed by judgment on unbelief warns the church. (; ; ; )
The Lord Coming With His Holy Ones. Promise. Jude's warning that the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones to judge () echoes Old Testament pictures of God coming with His holy ones (; ), which the New Testament applies to the return of Christ. (; ; ; ; )
Awaiting His Mercy. Promise. Believers wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring them eternal life (), and are presented blameless before God's glory through Him (). (; ; ; )

Reading well, key terms and common misreadings

Read it well

Look up Jude's Old Testament examples: Numbers 14, Genesis 19, Genesis 4, Numbers 22–24 and 31:16, and Numbers 16. Each picture depends on the original story.
Read 2 Peter 2 alongside Jude. The two share much material, and comparing them shows each author's emphasis.
Two of Jude's references, Michael disputing with the devil over Moses' body (1:9) and the prophecy attributed to Enoch (1:14–15), draw on Jewish traditions also known from writings outside the canon. Jude uses them as illustrations his readers already recognized; quoting a tradition does not make its source Scripture, just as Paul's quotation of Greek poets (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12) does not.
Do not stop at verse 16. The letter's goal is the instructions and the doxology of 1:17–25.

Key terms

Contend earnestly ἐπαγωνίζομαι (epagōnizomai) — To struggle or fight for something, a word from athletic contests (1:3). It appears only here in the New Testament.
Keep τηρέω (tēreō) — To guard or preserve. Jude plays on it: believers kept in Christ (1:1), angels who did not keep their domain and are kept in chains (1:6), darkness kept for the false teachers (1:13), and believers keeping themselves in God's love (1:21).
License, sensuality ἀσέλγεια (aselgeia) — Unrestrained indulgence, especially sexual (1:4). The false teachers treated grace as permission for it.
Entrusted, handed down παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi) — To hand over or pass on. The faith was delivered once for all (1:3), the language of passing on authoritative tradition from the apostles.

Easy to misread

Reading Jude as permission for harshness toward anyone with whom we disagree. Jude's targets are those who deny Christ's lordship and twist grace into license, and he ends by calling for mercy toward the doubting (1:22–23). Even the archangel Michael left judgment to the Lord rather than slandering (1:9).
Reading Jude's warnings as aimed at pagan outsiders. Jude says these men had crept in unnoticed (1:4) and were feasting at the church's love feasts (1:12). The danger he describes comes from inside the fellowship, under the name of grace.
Treating 1:6 as a full teaching on the origin of demons. Interpreters disagree whether it refers to angels connected with Genesis 6:1–4 or to an original fall of angels. Jude uses it simply as one example of judgment on rebellion.
Reading 'contend for the faith' as a call to fight over every secondary question. The faith Jude has in view centers on the lordship of Jesus Christ and the moral claims of grace (1:4).

Further reading: David Guzik, Enduring Word · Matthew Henry on CCEL · BibleProject overview video