Jude 1:1-4

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.  For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

It would be interesting to know what Jude would have written about our common salvation.  We can speculate that he would have written about how the Gospel unites both Jews and Gentiles through faith in Christ.  He could have simply written about salvation through faith in Christ.  What he might have written, we do not know.  We do know that he was inspired by the Spirit to write this letter about contending for the faith in light of the attacks that were being leveled on the Gospel.  In this introduction, Jude orients us to the purpose of his writing.

THE DISCIPLE OF JESUS: I love the way Jude starts out this letter referring to himself as the servant of Jesus and the brother of James.  That means that Jude was also the brother of Jesus.  These guys did not recognize their brother, Jesus as Messiah until sometime around His crucifixion and resurrection, but once they did, the were all in.  If he were striving to impress people, he could have played the name doping game.  Rather he simply wanted to introduce himself as all of us should be known as servants of Jesus.  We are under His authority and seek to accomplish His will.

THE DESCRIPTION OF FAITH: The faith that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ is precious and certainly worth contending for.  It is only by faith that we are called by the Spirit, beloved by the Father, and kept by the Son.  Faith unlocks the gifts of mercy, peace, and love that are multiplied in our lives because of the work of Christ on our behalf.  This faith in the Gospel of Christ is what brings about our “common salvation.”  This faith has been delivered to the saints and will not change.  It is a solid foundation on which our lives must be built. 

THE DANGER OF FALSE TEACHERS: Because our faith is so precious it comes under attack from false teachers.  These people strive to be subtle and creep into our midst and remain undetected.  False teachers don’t come with name tags.  Though it may be hard for us to identify them immediately; God knows exactly who they are and has condemned them to destruction and eternal punishment.  They have rejected Christ and are striving to use the grace of the Gospel as a means of promoting sinful living.  They are ungodly and want to pervert the message of Christ and His body.

APPLICATION: Never aspire to any title other than servant of Jesus Christ.  Cherrish the faith that we have and be eternally grateful for it.  Be vigilant to protect our churches from the subtle attempts to infiltrate and attack our faith.

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