JUDE: PROTECTION FROM APOSTACY

I. God's Truths That Counter The Destabilizing Influences Of Apostasy

(Jude 1-3)

I. Introduction

A. Paul predicted that people in general would go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived as the world drifted further into apostasy, cf. 2 Timothy 3:13; 4:3-4. Rising deception naturally coincides with a drop in trust wrought by the effects of people who have been painfully deceived, and a lack in trust in society tends to break down human institutions, the bedrock of society itself.

B. The Epistle of Jude addresses the problem of apostasy (Jude 3b), and Jude 1-3 provides God's truths that counter the destabilizing influences of apostasy. We view them for our edification (as follows):

II. God's Truths That Counter The Destabilizing Influences Of Apostasy, Jude 1-3.

A. God provides us believers stabilizing truths to counter the destabilizing effects of apostasy, Jude 1, 3b:

1. God stabilizes us amid apostasy by the truth of the deity of Jesus Christ, Jude 1a:

a. Though he was the son of Joseph and Mary and thus the half-brother of Jesus Christ and full brother of James (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, "Intro. to the Letter of Jude: Authorship," p. 1782; Matthew 13:55), Jude clearly claimed no special classification by his earthly relationship to Jesus, but referred to himself as the slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, the leader of the Jerusalem Church, Ibid.

b. Such a clear implication to the deity of Christ by Christ's own earthly half-brother implied the need for all believers throughout history to view the Lord Jesus as fully divine and to be trusted as Almighty God!

2. God stabilizes us amid apostasy by the truth of the Father's permanent love, Jude1b:

a. The better manuscript reading is "loved" as opposed to the KJV's "sanctified" (cf. Bruce M. Metzger, A Text. Com. on the Grk. N. T., 1971, p. 725) in Jude 1b, and "loved" is written as a perfect passive participle (egapemenois, The Analyt. Grk. Lex. (Zon.), 1972, p. 184).

b. This word reveals the permanency of God the Father's love that securely stabilizes the believer as an object of His favor and care amid the destabilizing effects of apostasy that surrounds the believer.

3. God stabilizes us amid apostasy by the truth of Christ's permanent preservation of our souls, Jude 1c:

a. "Preserved" (KJV) translates the perfect passive participle teteremenois (Ibid., p. 402) from tereo, "protectively guard" (Ibid., p. 403), and this preservation is performed by Jesus Christ.

b. Thus, the permanency of Christ's preservation of the believer's soul from the loss of the spiritual salvation of the soul securely stabilizes him as an object of Christ's divine protection amid apostasy.

4. God stabilizes us amid apostasy by the truth of His calling of us unto salvation, Jude 1d:

a. God called us to salvation by the Gospel, the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1:16; 2 Thess. 2:14.

b. Thus, the reality of his salvation as being wrought by God through the power of God via the Gospel of Christ securely stabilizes the believer amid the destabilizing effects of apostasy.

5. God stabilizes us amid apostasy by the truth of His provision of an unchanging body of truth, v. 3b:

a. The word "faith" in Jude 3b is used in the sense of "the body of truths taught by the apostles," Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 919, and the Greek term for "once" in that verse is hapax, "once for all" in this context, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p .80.

b. Jude clearly indicates that the apostolic body of truth that had initially been given to the Church by the apostles was meant to be a FIXED body of truth throughout Church History, and realizing this fact helps us combat the many errant efforts in Church History that have tried to change or replace that body of truth!

B. God then calls us to use these stabilizing truths to contend in defense of His initial, fixed body of truth, v. 3a:

1. The KJV verb rendered "earnestly contend" translates the verb epagonizomai, "fight, contend" (Ibid., p. 281), and the phrase "for the faith" indicates the goal of this contention is to defend the body of truth, Ibid.

2. Thus, armed with the stabilizing truths of Christ's deity, the Father's permanent love, the Son's permanent preservation of the soul's salvation, the reality of one's salvation as wrought in the power of God through faith in the Gospel and the awareness that the body of apostolic truth that was initially committed to us is unchanging, we are to contend for the preservation of that body of truth.

Lesson: We believers must trust the truths God gave to equip us to counter the destabilizing effects of apostasy that we might contend for the defense of the fixed body of truth that the apostles initially committed unto us.

Application: May we trust God's stabilizing truths to be equipped to contend effectively for His fixed body of truth.