Study of the Letter of Jude Part 6 - Verses 17-21

Beginning with v. 4 of his letter, Jude had been talking almost entirely about the false people who had “crept in unnoticed” into the churches to which he was writing and had caused all sorts of problems for these churches. Jude used very strong language to describe their “deeds of ungodliness,” rejecting the authority of God and His Word, and “perverting the grace of God into sensuality” (immorality, including passions of the flesh and sexual immorality), and “denying their only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” This is what these false people were like.

In contrast, beginning at Jude, v.17, and again at v.20, Jude wrote, “But you, beloved,…” He was now speaking again to and about those he was writing to at the beginning of this letter, in Jude, v.1-3 - the faithful believers who had been “kept in Jesus Christ” and needed now “to contend for the one true faith.” Jude called the believers to “remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Luke’s letter is short, and he gave only one reference to these predictions. I will give you many more and other related Scriptures. I would encourage you to look up at least some of them to see how often these concerns were raised and what other Scriptures say.)

These predictions were that “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions” (v.18) who were “worldly” (following only the sinful, physical world) and “devoid of the Spirit” (without and not listening to the true influence of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God). As a result, these people were also causing divisions within the church (v.19).

As you think about these verses, remember first that “the last time” mentioned by Jude in v.18 refers to any time from the coming of Christ and after that, up to the return of Christ on the last day. It does not refer only to the very last time, when Christ returns in judgment. Hebrews 1:1-2 calls the preaching and teaching and saving work of Jesus as part of the “last days.” Peter, at Pentecost, quoted the prophet Joel and said,”This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: In these last days it shall be, God declares, I will pour out My Spirit…” (Joel refers to Pentecost, but also to events that we usually associate with the final return of Christ. See Acts 2:14-21 and Joel 2:28-32.)

Note also that Jude, v.18, sounds almost like a direct quotation from 2 Peter 3:3, (read on in v.4-13, also) when Peter was also writing about “the last days.” As I mentioned early in our study of Jude, many think that Peter, as an apostle, made this prediction before his death, and Jude then quotes it just a few years later, as a fulfillment of what was now happening in the churches.

It could be that Jude wrote first and then Peter, but either way it was a growing problem in the churches, as more and more years went by and Jesus did not return and He didn’t seem to do anything about evil in the world, in the view of some. This was a problem that many other apostles warned about, too, even earlier: Paul, in Acts 20:29-32, 1 Timothy 4:1-2, and 2 Timothy 3:1-9. John wrote about such problems, later on, too, in 1 John 2:18-23 and 4:1.

There were also many warnings about people who go astray and cause divisions in the churches as Jude said: “it is these who cause divisions” (Jude, v.19). See, for example, Romans 16:17-18, and James 3:14-16 and 4:1-4. Jude also called these people “worldly,” “devoid of (without) the Spirit of God.” See what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 and 12:1-3 and Ephesians 6:17. People must have the Spirit of God at work in them, through the Word and Baptism to become and remain Christians. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:19.)

Again, in contrast, Jude said, “But you, beloved,” are “building yourselves up in the most holy faith” (Jude, v.20). By the grace of God, Christians are saved by faith, as a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Jude encouraged the believers, therefore, in this way, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, that leads to eternal life.”

The hope and strength of Christians is in what God has done and continues to do for us in the mercy and forgiveness earned for us by Christ. See Scriptures like 1 John 4:9-10 and Colossians 2:6-7. Our foundation is Christ Himself and His Word (Ephesians 2:19-20) and the Holy Spirit working through that Word (Ephesians 2:21-22).

Jude also encouraged the Christians to “pray in the Holy Spirit.” (See also Romans 8:15-17 and Ephesians 1:13-14, 16-18, and 6:18.) This is not some unique, special kind of praying using special language, as some say, but it is simply asking the Holy Spirit to pray with us and for us and guide us in our prayers, as we do not always know what to pray for and sometimes can’t seem to find the right words to say on our own. See Paul’s words about the Holy Spirit’s help in Romans 8:26-30, which leads us to greater confidence in God’s love for us and knowing that nothing we face can separate us from God’s love in Christ (Romans 8:31-39).

I don’t want to get too long, so will close with some more words, in summary, by Martin Franzmann, on what Jude was saying: “The people called by God and kept for Jesus Christ are not without defense. They have the apostolic Word and face the evil forewarned and open-eyed; they have the faith once and for all delivered to them as the firm foundation on which their house of life may be built; they have the Spirit to inform their prayers; they have the love of God to sustain them in the bright hope of the return of their Lord, the hope of eternal life. Thus furnished for defense, they need not fall prey to the divisions produced by worldly, unspiritual people” (NT Study Bible with Notes, p. 508).

Next week, we will look at the final verse of Jude and also focus on the fact that there is even hope, through God’s power, that some of the lost and straying people, even in the church, could be turned back to the Lord, as God’s people seek to be a witness for Him.