Epistle of Jude
1 Sanctified and preserved are in the perfect tense: Christians are once and continually "set apart" and "kept." They
are kept for the return of Christ (see verse 21).
2 Believers who have sought God's mercy also receive peace ("inner assurance" and "stability") and love.
3 Beloved indicates the close relationship between Jude and his readers. Jude was evidently planning to write a less
urgent doctrinal letter but was forced by developments to pen this earnest exhortation. Jude conceives of Christian
faith as having a definite, unchanging, and unchangeable content.
4 Before of old ordained is probably not speaking of predestination in the sense of God deciding in advance that He
would condemn these men and so seeing to it that they sinned. Rather Jude recognizes that Scripture often predicts
the demise and judgment of any who flaunt God's will. The men in question are wrongly assuming that grace means
"no moral laws." They thus effectively deny the sovereignty and eternal moral lordship of both the Father and the
Son.
5 I will: Jude expresses the burden of wanting desperately to warn his readers. Jude sees Old Testament example as
extremely important for Christians (see Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11). The writer of Hebrews expands greatly on
a similar insight regarding Israel's demise in the wilderness (Numbers 14:28-35).
6 See Genesis 6:1-4. Jude here as below seems to make use of 2 Peter 2:4. The non-canonical Book of Enoch,
chapters 6-10, may also be quoted here or an oral tradition that is also in that book. His apparent use of
non-canonical writings does not mean he considered them to be on the same level as Scripture itself. See Paul's
references to secular writers, in order to make a point, in Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Titus 1:12.
7 See 2 Peter 2:6 and Genesis 19:1-29. Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned often in Scripture as examples of
God's severe judgment on sexual sin, in particular sexual perversion. From this verse and verse 6 immorality has
clearly entered the ranks of believers to whom Jude writes.
8 Jude describes the false teachers against whom he writes. Instead of God's revealed Word they pay attention to
their own vision or dreams. In doing so they lapse into immorality and insubordination, refusing to obey authorities
(whether angelic or perhaps apostolic) and even criticizing them openly.
9 Jude evidently refers to a Jewish tradition (preserved, according to ancient authorities, in a work called the
Assumption of Moses), according to which Michael the archangel refused to be provoked by Satan, who charged that
Moses was a murderer (Exodus 2:11, 12) and therefore undeserving of a proper burial.
10 See Philippians 3:19 and 2 Peter 2:12.
11 Cain's heart was not right before God (Genesis 4:1-12). Balaam led Israel to sin (Numbers 22-24; 31:8-16; 2
Peter 2:15; Revelation 2:14). Korah led a rebellion against Moses and thus against God (Numbers 16).
12 The feasts were probably the Lord's Supper gatherings. The same selfishness is seen in 1 Corinthians 11:20, 21.
12, 13 Both verses use vivid, picturesque language to depict the degeneracy of those who have crept into the church
(verse 4).
14, 15 Enoch: See Genesis 5:19-24; also Hebrews 11:5, 6. The prophecy Jude cites is preserved in the
non-canonical Book of Enoch 1:9. (See note on verse 6.) Ungodly repeatedly describes the actions and attitudes of
those whom Jude denounces,
16 Great swelling words means bombastic, arrogant language. In admiration means that they flatter others in order to
get what they are after.
17 Jude calls on his readers to recall apostolic teaching. Today this would mean especially the New Testament.
18 Examples of such apostolic warnings are found in Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 2 Peter 3:3.
19 They who separate themselves: Jude seems to have in mind their tendency to be schismatic or divisive, to set
forth heretical notions and then separate themselves and their followers from those who hold to apostolic doctrine.
But note that they get their start in the church itself (verse 4).
20 The antidote for error is not simply to pull back from wrong but also to be built up in what is right, especially
through clinging to God in prayer.
21 Here Jude stresses our role in being kept. In verse 1 he has already used a form of the same word, preserved,
most likely to denote God's own role and ability in "keeping" His children in His grasp. Jude expects a literal return of
Jesus.
22, 23 An important factor in keeping one's own faith active and vibrant is exercising it serving others. Even where
there is danger or extreme immorality involved, God calls on believers to mediate His love for the fallen and share the
gospel with the lost.
24, 25 Falling is literally a word meaning "stumbling." Savior here refers to God the Father but is often applied to
Christ (Titus 1:4; 2 Peter 3:18). In Old Testament thought there is only one God the Father. Many ancient
manuscripts have "through Jesus Christ our Lord" following "Savior." If those were indeed Jude's original words, it is a
moving tribute to the figure with whom he once shared childhood, and in whom he now places personal trust.