Chapter Three - Verses 2-4
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Like most epistles found in the Bible, the Book of Jude begins with the name of the author and then identifies the letter’s recipients, namely all believers. He refers to believers as being called, loved by the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. Jude then follows with an incredible, if not unusual, blessing, “May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.” (Jude 2, ESV) It is unusual in several ways, first it is the only time these three words are used together in the Bible and secondly each of these are already attributes of being a true Christian. We often glance over or quickly read the blessings each epistle writer offers; we should take the time to explore and not speed read.
The first term Jude uses in his blessing is ‘mercy’, so let’s start by asking the question, is mercy important? I can hear everyone responding, “well yeah!” Okay, why is it important? To answer that, we may need to review the basic definition, mercy is NOT getting what we deserve (as compared to ‘grace’ which IS getting something that we DO NOT deserve, see verse 4 below). As sinners we deserve (because God is a just God) eternal damnation and suffering, but instead of being condemned, Jesus removed hell from being our ultimate destination. Through mercy we begin to see God’s love for us. As Christians, Jesus also wants to see mercy practiced in our lives. We need to demonstrate the same love Jesus has for us to others. Jesus desires mercy, a heart that wishes to follow Him, instead of blind or heartless obedience like that found in religion (read Matthew 9:13; 12:7-8; Hosea 6:6).
Next, Jude calls out peace, the word essentially means security and safety, but for a Christian, peace encompasses everything we do. It is the shell or shield in which we live in. If we live with our “shields up” (thank you Gene Roddenberry) we know that God will handle any situation we may find ourselves in. The last word of the blessing is ‘love’ (agapē) the unconditional variety that only God can provide. Even though we have seen the first two words used together in several epistles (see Galatians 6:16; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4 and 2 John 3), we should ask why this unique combination? Since we are called, loved and kept we have already received and continue to receive, mercy, peace and love. Perhaps Jude is calling us to be the conduit of these God-empowered attributes to share with others. Have you ever asked yourself if you are a source of mercy, peace and love to others? What would your answer be?
3 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.
While most of the epistles in the Bible include the author’s name as well as identify the recipient, not many clearly identify the purpose of the letter as well as Jude does in the following two verses. He first tells us what he originally planned on writing about, but then changes his mind. He initially wanted to write about our common (Greek word ‘koinos’) salvation. He is not saying that our salvation is ‘ordinary’ since there is nothing ordinary about what Jesus did for us, he is simply referring to something all believers have in common (although we really have no idea what he had in mind). Instead he said he found it necessary to write to believers regarding the need to contend for the faith. The word he chose that is translated as ‘necessary’ implies that circumstances were such that required immediate action or as we might say today, “I was pressed into action.”
Jude was aware of a dangerous trend within Christianity that required believers to not only take notice but also to take immediate action. He saw the need for Christians to stand up and contend for the faith, a plea that is as important today as it was when Jude wrote these words. The Greek word translated here as ‘contend’ (epigōnizomai) is used only once in the Bible and is derived from the Greek word ‘agōnizomai’ which is often translated ‘fight’ (see 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7). Jude is saying we are to fight anyone that opposes God’s truth, including anything that teaches an alternate gospel or offers a different direction other than towards Christ (see 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15; Galatians 1:6-10; 1 Timothy 1:3). We are to earnestly defend our faith and God’s truth, which includes pointing out any errors from poor or inaccurate interpretations as well as identify any potential issues that may pervert the Word of God.
Jude continues in his verse that the ‘faith’ (the gospel story) was once for all delivered to us, the saints (all believers, in the Bible we are considered “holy ones” or ‘saints’). I like the Greek word Jude used here that is translated as ‘delivered’ as it implies something that is handed from one person to another, passing these things on to others often verbally, as Paul would remind us that, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17, ESV)
4 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.
Now in verse four Jude zeros in on the problem, “For certain people have crept in unnoticed…” (ESV) The phrase the ESV uses to translate the Greek word ‘pareisdyō’ is a perfect description of someone who, desiring to remain stealthy and quietly enter without undue notice, creeps into a church or perhaps a Christian’s life. Jude says they were long ago condemned (God knew from the beginning of time who would be against Him, see 1 Peter 2:6-8). Jude also calls these unfavorably-judged individuals, ungodly people (see Galatians 2:2-5 and 2 Peter 2:1-3) who pervert the grace of our God. The Greek word ‘metatithēmai’ (translated here as ‘pervert’) can also be translated as ‘exchange’ or ‘change’. If God’s grace is changed or perverted in any way, it doesn’t take a scholar to see that it could change the way people see and understand God. We need to remember that religion is man’s attempt to reach God, fortunately for us Jesus provided the way, in simple terms, Christianity is about a relationship. Since grace is a free gift that we do not deserve (see definition above), many people attempt to earn their salvation by adding some procedure or process (also known as ritual) in their lives, thus perverting God’s grace. Jesus did all the work, do not let any ritual, tradition or any other ‘process’ interfere in your relationship with Jesus or cause you to take your eyes off Jesus.
It is interesting to note that the Bible clearly teaches that some of the church’s greatest challenges will come from within the church. For example, in chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation we see that five of the seven churches that received letters dictated by Jesus, point out problems from within the church (Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea). Plus, we read about how Paul, James, Peter and John all wrote about the problem of external influences coming into the church and now we can add the Book of Jude to that list.
How do ideas, teachings, perversions and other heresies enter the church or a Christian’s life unnoticed? One sure way is by appealing to our “dark side” through our humanity, namely our sinful and lustful side of life. Jude says they, “pervert the grace of God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 4b, ESV) They deny that Jesus has any authority. It is interesting to see how this epistle follows 2 and 3 John. In 2 John we are warned to be careful who influences the church as well as our families and in 3 John, the author tells us that we need to make sure that we are not incorrectly taught or influenced ourselves. Now here Jude shows us just how pervasive these seemingly random, but are actually well-organized efforts against God and His people, really are. We are still facing many of the same issues, plus many others today.
Let’s review these two verses again, “Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 3-4, NLT) In this translation Jude says these, “worms” go largely unnoticed (unchecked or at least not challenged) in our lives, here are some ways these ideas or ‘worms’ can get into our lives:
While none of these on the surface look like bad things, we can easily see how each can be used to slowly erode the truth of God, preventing or at minimum slowing down Christendom’s ability to perform outreach. Even as Christians we often can take a cavalier attitude towards those things we do, because the rest of the world does them, we need to wake up and take notice! Just as unhealthy lifestyles don’t necessarily become a problem right away (such as eating the wrong foods, not exercising, not flossing our teeth, etc.) appealing to our worldly desires or thinking we’re spiritually invincible, can and often will take our eyes off Jesus.
At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, as I am sure you have noticed that I have used several “entertainment” references in this lesson and now I want to quote a line from yet another potentially harmful influence (just kidding), we are to, “never give up, never surrender!” (a quote from the movie, “Galaxy Quest”). Seriously, we are to never back down from God’s Word or stop modeling what a Christian stands for. The world needs to see Christianity in action (not just hear about it). We are to be, “as Christ” to those God places around us, we can’t do that if our beliefs are compromised. Simply put, we need to stop allowing the worms into our lives and get off the “slippery slope” of tolerance and compromise.