Jude - Introduction and Jude 1
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The Author of Jude
The author of the book was Jude, the brother of James. Both James and Jude
were the half-brothers of the humanity of our Lord, according to Matthew
13:55 and Mark 6:3. James was the Bishop of the Jerusalem church and the
author of the book of James. Both James and Jude wrote businesslike epistles
(books) rather than doctrinal expositions. James wrote of using faith in
everyday life; and Jude wrote warning against apostasy.
Indeed, Jude wrote of apostasy 'after the fact,' i.e., after the apostasy
had occurred and was spreading.
Both James and Jude were unbelievers (John 7:3-5) during the ministry of
our Lord on earth. It was not until after the resurrection that they accepted
the claims of our Lord, Acts 1:14; I Cor. 15:7.
Jude calls himself the brother of James and the servant of Jesus Christ.
This tells us that James was the older of the two brothers, and that Jude
attempts to take no advantage of his familial relationship with our Lord.
In other words, his physical birth as the half-brother of our Lord provides
him with no advantage, benefit or preference before God the Father.
Authenticity
Hermas, Polycarp, Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, Tertullian, Clement
of Alexandria and Eusebius all recognized the book of Jude as inspired by
God and as part of the Canon of Scripture. However, precisely where or when
the epistle was written is not known. It was written before 81 AD, because
Domitian assumed power in that year and no reference is made to his reign;
and after 66 or 67 AD, because it is apparent that Jude was cognizant of
Peter's epistles. Therefore, a date of 75 AD would be sufficiently apt.
Occasion of the Epistle
The epistle was written to warn and deflect an apostasy that had already
occurred, that of gnosticism. Gnosticism was a philosophy that took the
concept of the 'old sin nature' to the point of ridiculous. In essence,
gnosticism said that all substance and all material was evil. As a result,
gnosticism denied the creation of the world as from God, because the material
of the world made it inherently evil. Gnosticism also denied the incarnation
of Christ for the same reason: if He had a physical body, He would be evil
because His body was from material, and all material was evil. Additionally,
to attain anything remotely spiritual in an inherently evil body, the Gnostics
taught extreme asceticism and attempted purification of the physical body
through privation. And more, because the physical flesh was permeated by
evil, morality was perceived as impossible, and thus lawless confusion was
affirmed.
Outline
The outline of the book of Jude is quite simple, and is as follows:
1. The introduction -- verses 1-3.
2. A warning against apostate teachers -- verses 4-7.
3. Definition and description of apostasy -- verses 8-13.
4. The judgment of apostate teachers -- verses 14-16.
5. How to defend against the teachings of apostate teachers -- verses 17-23.
Jude 1
"Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those
who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus
Christ:"
"To those," refers to believers in Christ; and these believers
are further described as "called," "loved by God the Father,"
and "kept or preserved" in Christ. These three descriptions demand
that we view each classification so that we have a lucid understanding of
our status as believers.
The Divine Decrees
The following two definitions of the Divine Decrees are offered; the first
is technical, the second is non-technical. 1. "The decree of God is
His eternal, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all
things that ever were or will be -- in their causes, courses, conditions,
successions, and relations -- and determining their certain futurition."
[1]
The whole Plan of God the Father as designed in eternity past for mankind.
God's Plan for mankind is centered around Jesus Christ, I John 3:23, Eph.
1:4-6. "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son,
Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." (I Jn. 3:23).
And mankind's entrance into the Plan of God is based upon grace, i.e., God
does the work, we graciously are allowed to believe and enter the Plan.
This Plan takes into account all events and all actions, simultaneously.
This means that without denying the free will of mankind, indeed, the free
will of mankind is a part of the Plan, God the Father arranged a Plan so
complete that it includes purpose, provision, preservation and service for
all believers. In His Plan, God accomplishes certain objectives Himself,
i.e., directly. Other objectives He accomplishes through agencies such as
the Church, Israel, prophets, apostles, etc., i.e., indirectly. There are,
then, in God's Plan, wheels within wheels; however, they all form one, complete,
perfect, eternal, and unchanging Plan. God was aware of all the wheels within
the wheels in eternity past. There was never a time that He was not aware.
The Plan contains the concept of free will for mankind. The Plan does not
seek to force the free will of mankind, nor does it seek to place limitations
on the free will of mankind. "What is free is truly free." The
Permissive Will of God is that mankind have and use free will. God permits
this, knows this, and includes this in His Plan. And as He did in the Garden
of Eden, God cautions the free will or volition of mankind, but He never
forces it.
God's perfect Plan could not encompass everything unless He knew beforehand
all that would ever happen, or all that could happen. The Omniscience of
God knew all that could or would happen -- every possibility, every probability,
every fact. So, Omniscience is God knowing everything -- the possible and
the impossible. Whereas, Foreknowledge is that part of God's Omniscience
that recognizes only what is certain. But Foreknowledge does not make it
certain. In other words, just because God knows that something will occur,
does not mean that He made it occur. Now one more step, after He knows that
something will happen for certain, God Foreordains it, or determines that
it will happen. This means that God knew in eternity past that I would write
these words; as a result of this foreknowledge, He entered this fact into
His Plan (when God enters a fact into His Plan, it is called foreordination).
And once something is in God's Plan, it is under the title of Decrees.
Therefore, believers are foreknown, and the foreknown are believers. That
is, God knew you would believe (He did not make you, He just recognized
that you would), and that is foreknowledge; then God, because He knew you
were going to believe, entered you into his Plan , and that is foreordination;
and then He saved the facts with your name on it under the title Decreed.
Thus, God knew, God had a Plan, and He revealed that Plan.
Example: that Christ would hang on the Cross was decreed in eternity past,
but the human free will of Christ did not decide 'yes' or 'no' as regards
the Cross until he was in the Garden at Gethsemane, Matt. 26:39,42. "Going
a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father,
if it is possible, may this cup be passed from me. Yet not as I will, but
as you will.' He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is
not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will
be done.'" [2]
Note that in verse 39 our Lord establishes without a doubt that mankind
has free will: He acknowledges both the will of the Father and the will
of His Humanity. Hence, we see that the Plan of God includes free will.
Jude 1 also speaks concerning "those who are kept" or preserved
in Jesus Christ. The explanation of this phrase is that at the point of
salvation every believer is placed into union with Christ. This means that
every saint has eternal security. In other words, you cannot lose your salvation.
Eternal Security
Eternal security refers to the fact that once saved, always saved. Even
if you change your mind about Christ and salvation, praying that you no
longer want to be saved, you cannot not be saved. Why? Because of the following
reasons: Positional Sanctification, which is the believer being placed into
union with Christ at salvation, Rom. 8:38,39. "For I am convinced that
neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor
the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else
in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The Logical Reason, which is the a fortiori, or 'greater reason' of the
fact that God has already done the 'most' for the believer; therefore, it
follows 'with greater reason' that He will not deny the 'less,' Romans 8:32;
and Romans 5.
God's Hand, the representation of God holding the saints in His hands, Psalm
37:24; John 10:28. "I give the eternal life, and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of my hand."
The Essential Reason, which is the fact that God cannot deny His own perfect
Righteousness, which Righteousness was credited to the saints at salvation;
in other words, God cannot deny Himself, II Timothy 2:13. "If we are
faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
The Family Reason, which is that once born into a family, the saint is always
in the family, Gal. 3:26; John 1:12. "You are all sons of God through
faith in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:26).
The Sovereignty of God Reason, which means that God made a decision to save
mankind in eternity past, II Peter 3:9; Jude 24. "He is patient with
you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
By Reason of the Body, which is that all the parts of the body, no matter
how insignificant, are necessary to complete the body, Col. 1:18, I Cor.
12:21. And the saints are called the Body of Christ. "The eye cannot
say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet,
'I don't need you!' On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to
be weaker are indispensable."
By Reason of the Sealing of the Holy Spirit, which seal is a guarantee that
the believer will be delivered to eternity, II Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13, 4:30.
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with
a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance
until the redemption of those who are God's possession -- to the praise
of his glory."
The Reason of the Perfect Tense of the Verb, which is the 'intensive perfect;'
the intensive perfect is the existing result or "finished product"
of a past action. In other words, the saint believed in the past, and the
present result is salvation, Eph. 2:8. "For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift
of God." [3]
The phrase "to those who have been called" refers to the concept
of Election. Since this topic, in a secondary way, was covered in the discussion
of the Divine Decrees, and recently more fully in Elijah, it will not be
bared here.
Notes:
[1] The Integrity of God, Robert Thieme, M.Div., page 258, privately published.
[2] This exposition of the Divine Decrees is has its provenance in the scholarship,
both written and spoken, of Robert Thieme. The concept of the Divine Decrees
has been most thoroughly elucidated by Robert Thieme, and without this elucidation,
the above explanation would not have been possible.
[3] Doctrine of Eternal Security, originally compiled by Robert Thieme;
revised and altered by R.E. Radic, Th.D
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