A Look at the Epistle of Jude

Epistle – a letter, sometimes formal in nature.

            Jude was the brother of Jesus and James.  The one letter he wrote is brief and written to Jewish believers in Christ. Today we refer to these brethren as Messianic Jews. This was a term that originated during the 1960’s & 70’s and referred to those Jews who combined belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah with elements of Judaism and Jewish tradition.  Jude’s letter was written specifically to deal with the heretical false teaching that was slowly filtering into the churches. These teachings were leading some believers to turn away from the truth of the Gospel message. This is referred in scripture as the apostasy, or a falling away.

            Over the next several days I will take you thru the 25 verses that make up this letter. It’s important for us to keep strong in our faith and trust in God and oppose all heretic teaching.  Apostasy is serious business. Turning away from Christ is a path of no return.  It is considered a rebellious act and we know from Lucifer’s rebellion against God that rebellions never go unpunished. It is critical that we not drift away from a faithful commitment to Christ.

            We must understand that even the staunchest non-believer simply doesn’t know any better. He no doubt has major misconceptions about what Christianity is all about. Jesus understood this when we uttered the words, “Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing.” They are ignorant of the truth and possibly think of Christianity as a rigid list of do’s & don’t that must be followed. That is not true; being a believer in Christ in its simplest terms, is nothing more than allowing the Lord to live thru you. There is obviously a lot more involved that just that, but in a nutshell, that’s what it is.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing! rlkeller

Resource: American Heritage Dictionary; The Life Application Study Bible & www.biblegateway.com