Hi James and Ellen,
Jude was penned to indict apostates. Judas is this letter’s writer. Judas was Jesus’ half-bro and James’ bro. Judas – in 65 B.C., penned this confrontational missive which was given the name of Book of Jude. 65 B.C. is over thirty years after Judas saw his half-bro – who was Jesus, unconscionably and inhumanely hung on and nailed to a cross until he died and three years after he saw his bro – who was James, indefensibly and callously thrown from a pinnacle of a temple that was in the city of Jerusalem and then clubbed to death because he did not die from the fall. Judas’ compatriots – who were known as Jews, were the ones who were responsible for murdering his half-bro and bro. Judas knew that his half-bro’s murder was instigated by scribes and Pharisees because of their jealousy of his half-bro’s growing popularity and that his bro’s assassination was incited by scribes and Pharisees who had become unsettled by the growing Christ-follower community of guys and gals that was in the city of Jerusalem. Through His life and what He taught, Jesus jumpstarted a new belief paradigm that soon led to guys, gals and kids who accepted as absolute truth Jesus’ teachings being given the name of Christians/Christ-followers. James – probably because of having been Jesus’ half-bro, took on the task after his half-bro’s resurrection and ascension into heaven of being the overseer of the Christ-follower fellowships and/or communities of guys and gals that were in the city of Jerusalem.
Your grandpaa thinks that by the time that he began circulating the circular that became called the Jude Book, Judas had had it with guys who were trying to undermine the new belief norm that his half-bro and bro propagated. Judas referred to these guys as being apostates. Guys who are apostates are false teachers or Gnostics. Judas used his Jude circular to warn his Christ-follower readers to be aware of apostates. An apostate teaching that was causing dissension within the emergent Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals was the teaching of a distorted licensing that involved each past, present and future sins of a guy or gal. Because the new belief paradigm affirms that all sins are forgiven by God once and for all at the moment when a guy or gal consciously makes the decision to acquiesce to being factual what Jesus taught, what Jesus brought about through His suffering and death on a cross and what Jesus defeated when He was resurrected from the dead, that a guy or gal who is a Christ-follower does not have to stop acting out. What these apostates’ misleading messaging was advocating was that immoral lifestyles are covered by God’s grace umbrella. During a recent devotional time that your grandpaa was leading with a team of high school Christ-followers, free will was mentioned leading your grandpaa to ask the high school age guys and gals who were participating in this devotional time if they had a handle on what free will is in their life context in today’s unfolding worldviews. One of the young guys – without hesitation, said confusion. The spirit of confusion that was used by apostates to foment over 1,950 years ago is still as active today as it was during Judas’ day. Young guys and gals today are being repeatedly subjected to a variety of indoctrinations that are programing them to embrace a spiritual worldview that rejects that there is only one way to nirvana but accepts that there are multi-ways, that whichever divine being is acclaimed via whatever intellectual path is taken will respond favorably with mercy to those who proactively subscribe to the traditions and teachings that are concurrent with the divine being and that the real god is id and that id is carving out a personalized world that is going to satisfy an ego’s physical and emotional drivers.
Judas in his single chapter Jude Book asserts that an apostate can easily be differentiated from a guy who is a Christ-follower. Judas’ personal observations are that an apostate will be a guy who is only concerned about himself while a Christ-follower guy will put the spiritual – and physical, needs of other guys, gals and kids before himself, that an apostate’s talk is not seen in his daily life actions while a Christ-follower guy’s lifestyle will be represented in his convictions, that an apostate’s claims cannot stand up to veracity backchecks while a Christ-follower guy’s story has been given to him by God – as God the Spirit, to recount, that an apostate’s feet are erratically directed by a Satan-planted imp while a Christ-follower guy’s feet are cemented in God-driven beliefs and that an apostate has the smell of shame – which is associated with sin, hanging over him, while a Christ-follower guy has the odor of perfume – which is associated with forgiveness, emanating from his feet. Besides using this letter that became canonized as Jude to take on the apostates who were infiltrating Christ-follower communities and/or fellowships, Judas let his readers know that he knew that it had been foretold that there will always be scoffers so . . . Judas concludes his missive by instructing all Christ-follower guys and gals to hold on to their faith and to help other Christ-follower guys and gals who were experiencing dire times in their faith. Judas’ doxology is your grandpaa’s favorite. Judas’ distilled message of hope in what God has done through His Son for the guys, gals and kids Who He foreordained to adopt as His own kids can only – to your grandpaa, leave a guy, gal or kid feeling safe and secure in the glory, majesty, power and authority that defines Who God is. Judas’ encouragement to you today is that you be intentional to do what it is that you sense God leading you to do to be in environs that will bring glory to His name.
Jude