Inductive Study: Jude 3

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude 3

Dear Heavenly Father, please encourage me in my study today.  Help the Word live in me so I can be a man of God.  Please keep me humble.  Encourage my wife and kids and help us all to do Your will.  In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

The book of Jude now transitions from the greeting into the beginning of the letter.  As we discussed previously, the book of Jude is warning to the church about false teachers and beliefs.  The Scripture today begins that exhortation.  To bring deeper understanding to the text, let's examine some key words.  In some Bibles, there will be little footnotes identifying companion or similar verses to the one being studied.  As we study these key words, we'll also review the referenced verses.

"Diligent" in the Greek is spoude which means enthusiasm, earnestness, swiftly, haste.  In the NASB translation, "every effort" is used instead of diligent.   In the NLT, NIV, and ESV versions, they use different forms of eager which are eagerly planning, very eager, and eager.   Jude made every effort, eagerly planning to write to the church swiftly with earnestness and enthusiasm about salvation.

"Common" in the Greek is koinos which means shared in Jude but in other parts of the Bible it means unclean, ordinary, stripped of specialness, reducing what God calls special.  The only other time koinos is used for shared is by Paul in Titus 1:4 which states "To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior."  It's interesting that Paul uses the same greeting in Titus as Jude uses, "Grace, mercy, and peace."  With great eagerness, Jude writes to the church about their shared salvation, the same salvation provided by Christ.

"Salvation" in the Greek is soteria which means deliverance, preservation, safety, rescue out of destruction, that which conduces to the soul's safety or salvation, unto the attainment of salvation. Jude writes about the salvation that we share, God's rescue which delivers believers out of destruction and into His safety.

"Necessary" in the Greek is anagke which means constraint, compulsion, there is a need to.  It is the cognate of two words.  One that means "arm" and the other which means "a bent/uplifted arm poised to meet a pressing need."  It is imperative for the church to address the immediate need to root out false teachings.

"Exhorting" in the Greek is parakaleo which means entreat, admonish, comfort, invite, beg, encourage, console, urge, appeal.  From the word para which is "from close behind" and kaleo which is "to call."  The word gives a sense of believers offering up evidence that stands up in God's court.  Jude is urgently appealing, begging them to understand and act on the words in this letter.

"Contend earnestly" in the Greek is epagonizomai is made up of two words.  Epi which means focused on and agon which means a contest, competition.   Jude is urgently appealing, begging them to stuggle against whatever is not faith in God.  There are several companion verses for this word that will bring even deeper meaning. 1 Timothy 6:12 states "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 2 Timothy 4:7 states "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."  Luke 13:24 states "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able."  1 Corinthians 9:25 states "And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown."  And finally Philippians 1:27 states "Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel."  We must battle daily against the world.  We must fight with our faith to be witnesses of the light.  We stand up in this world not for worldly gain, but for God.  We earnestly contend for God.

 

"Faith" in the Greek is pistis which means faith, trust, confidence, fidelity, gift of God, can't be produced by man, persuaded, come to trust, distinct from human belief, guarantee, to know God's preferred will.  John Calvin wrote that Faith is always the work of God and involves hearing His voice – whereby the believer lays hold of His preferred-will.  In Scripture, faith and belief are not exactly the same.  Faith is a work of God and never the work of man.  Belief is an action of man.  Therefore, Faith is beyond and greater than belief.  Romans 14:23 states "whatever is not from faith is sin."  Hebrews 11:6 states "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."  Believe in this verse is pisteuo which is persuading oneself (human believing) contrasted with being persuaded by the Lord (faith believing).  Faith is beyond belief.  We believe in Jesus Christ's work on the cross.  We have faith that God saves.

"Once for all" in the Greek is hadax which means once more, never need repetition, perpetual validity.  "Delivered" in the Greek is paradidomi which means hand down, hand over, pledge, entrust, commit, to give over to one's power.  "Saints" in the Greek is hagios which means set apart by God, sacred, different, distinct, distinguished, pure, sinless, upright, exclusively His.  This faith never changes and is always true and valid.  This faith is committed to those different than this world, set apart by God, who are exclusively God's people.  Please make note, God's people are an exclusive group.  That flies in the face of today's preconceived notions that all are included, that there are many ways to eternal life, and God is wrong to exclude anyone.  Remember Luke 13:24, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able."

The Christian life will not be easy.  You will have to fight for it.  However, be encouraged.  If you believe in Jesus Christ's work, you have been rescued by God from destruction into eternal life.  This rescue is permanent and valid.

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I was compelled to write to you [urgently] appealing that you fight strenuously for [the defense of] the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints [the faith that is the sum of Christian belief that was given verbally to believers].

Amplified Bible

W.O.R.D. Worksheet

Inductive Study: Jude 2

May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Jude 2

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you will keep me humble and encourage me to study your Word.  Remove all distractions from my life.  Help me to focus on Scripture even when the verse is short.  Please bless my family.  In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Last week, we studied the first part of Jude's greeting.  Jude identified himself as a willing slave to Jesus and brother of James.  We also found that Jude wrote the letter for the elect, the called, the believer.  Let's study the closing part of the greeting by examining the individual words.

"Mercy" in the Greek is eleous which means pity, compassion, covenant loyalty, clemency of God by salvation in Christ.  To understand this word more, we'll look at the English definition.  "Mercy" is compassion or forgiveness shown to someone by the person who can punish or harm that someone.  It is well within God's right and power to punish us for our sins, the things we do contrary to God's will.  However, through Christ who took our punishment, we are saved to those who believe.  1 Corinthians 1:21 states "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe."

"Peace" in the Greek is eirene which means peace of mind, health (welfare) of the individual, a common Jewish farewell.  Eirene is from the Hebrew, eiro, which means to join together in the whole, wholeness, exemption from the rage of war, harmony, security, prosperity, salvation, peace with God, rest.  To speak "peace" to someone was to include them as part of your group and to wish them rest, security, salvation.

"Love" in the Greek is agape which we have studied before.  Agape is a deep love that means benevolence, unselfish, love which centers on moral preference, to prefer, good will, love that embraces truth, embracing God's will.  We must pattern our life that embraces God's will, embraces His Truth, with unselfish ambitions.

"Multiplied" in the Greek is plethuno which means to increase to maximum capacity.  In the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, it uses "abundance."  The New Living Translation (NLT) uses "more and more."  In this verse, Jude is not only wishing us mercy, peace, and love but also those things more and more and more and more to infinity.

Through sin, we are at war with God.  The only way to end the war is by God punishing us for our sins.  However, there is Good News.  Jesus came to earth to live the perfect life and die while taking our punishment for sin.  It doesn't end there.  On the third day Jesus rose victorious over sin.  If we believe in what Jesus did for us, that our sin debt has been paid once and for all, we no longer live in sin and are free.  Believers (the church) owe nothing.  

Through this greeting, Jude has proclaimed a blessing to the church.  Through the compassion and forgiveness of God through the salvation provided by Jesus, this great mercy, the church is saved and at peace with God.  So church, to the maximum amount possible, mercy, peace and love.  Release your anxiety, rest in Jesus, live for God.

May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you [filling your heart with the spiritual well-being and serenity experienced by those who walk closely with God].

Amplified Bible

W.O.R.D. Worksheet

Inductive Study: Jude 1

Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

Jude 1

Dear Heavenly Father as I begin my study today on the remembrance of your great work at the cross, I'm humbled by Your grace and Your majesty.  I pray that I will continually grow in the love and knowledge of You.  Please help me to understand and apply Your Word. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

The book of Jude is a letter to the church. Like most letters, it starts with a greeting. Jude is the youngest of Jesus' half brothers. In his greeting, Jude mentions Jesus' oldest half brother, James, the leader of the Jerusalem church.  Jude mentions James because of his prominence in the church.  As we study Jude's greeting, let's examine certain words to see if it is more than a greeting.

"Jude" in the Greek is loudas which means Judah, Judas, Jude.  It's the Hebrew name Yehudah which means the praised son of Jacob.  In the Old Testament, Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham.  In Genesis 32:28, Jacob is renamed, "And He said, 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.'"  He would later have 12 sons (one of them Judah) that became the twelve tribes of Israel.    Judah is also the name of Israel's southern kingdom.

"Bondservant" in the Greek is doulus which means male slave, belongs to another, bond slave, has no ownership rights of their own, subject to, gives up wholly to another's will.   Jude is stating the he is a willing slave to Jesus.

"Jesus" in the Greek is iesous which means Joshua.  Joshua is the transliteration of the Hebrew term, Yehoshua or Yeshua which means "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh is salvation."  Yahweh is the proper Hebrew name for God which was thought to be so holy as not to be spoken.  In Exodus 3:14, God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” The phrase "I am" here is hayah which means "to become" which is the root of the Hebrew word, "YHVH" or Yahweh.  Salvation in the Hebrew is "yesha" which means deliverance, rescue, safety, welfare, victory.  Therefore, Jesus name literally means God rescues.

"Christ" in the Greek is christos which means anointed one, the Messiah.  A descendent of King David, the Messiah was chosen to lead the world and therefore save it.  The phrase "Jesus Christ" may be interpreted God saves was chosen to save the world.

"Brother" in the Greek is adelphos which means member of the same religious community, fellow Christian, brethren, from the same womb, blood relation, kinsmen.  Jude is from the same womb, had the same mother as James.

"Called" in the Greek is kletos which means summoned, to salvation, invitation, the elect, the chosen.  Jude is writing to believers in Jesus Christ, the church.

"Sanctified" means to be set apart, to be made holy.  However in this passage, it is the Greek word "agapao" which means take pleasure in, long for, esteem, live through Christ, doing what God prefers, welcome with desire, loved, beloved, dearly loved.  The New King James version uses "sanctified" to point out that God loves those set apart to live through Christ.

"Preserved" is the Greek word tereo which means kept, guard, watch over, held in custody, take care of.  Whereas God the father loves and culls us out of the world, God the Son guards and takes custody of us.

The concept of a "surname" or "last name" is a relatively recent historical development.  It evolved from a medieval naming practice called a "byname" which is a non-hereditary (not passed down from your father) surname given to an individual in order to describe them in some way.  A surname is based on an individual's occupation, area of residence, enshrining father's name, or describes the original name bearer in some way.  A byname would be used in situations where more than one person had the same name. 

Bynames were used in the Bible to help distinguish people with the same name. Judas Iscariot was a byname used based on Judas' father's home area.  Iscariot in the Greek means "man of Kerioth."  Judas Thaddaeus used a byname to describe him.  Thaddaeus means large-hearted or courageous in Greek.  As you can see, the bynames use similar conventions as surnames.  Then, why does Jude refer to himself as someone's brother or bondservant in the greeting?  James at this time was very well known to the whole church since he was the leader of the Jerusalem community of believers.  Jude perhaps mentioned James to give credence to his subject matter.  Being a slave to Christ is byname showing his character.  At the very beginning of the letter, James is pointing to Christ not himself.

Today, when we introduce ourselves, we provide our surname (our heritage), our job, and where we live.  Very rarely, do we describe ourselves as "Short," "Tall," "White," "Black," or as a slave to Christ.  However, people who we associate with may have descriptions for us.  Would they use a "byname" for us like "Christian" or would it be "hypocrite?"  We should strive to be the people to whom Jude is writing and how Jude describes himself.  We need to humbly bow our lives in service to Jesus.

Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, [writes this letter],  To those who are the called (God’s chosen ones, the elect), dearly loved by God the Father, and kept [secure and set apart] for Jesus Christ:

Amplified Bible

W.O.R.D. Worksheet

Inductive Study: Jude Overview

This week we'll start our study of the book of Jude.  Before we take a look at the book verse by verse, let's examine the background to Jude.

Dear Heavenly Father, help me to hear and understand your Word.  Remove distractions during this study.  Thank you for Your Grace and the Scriptures.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Jude is short for Judah in the Hebrew and Judas in the Greek.  Jude is not Judas Iscariot or the apostle Judas Thaddaeus.  He is the brother of James,  the half-brother of Jesus as stated in Matthew 13:55 "Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas.". Therefore, as the brother of James, Jude is also the half-brother of Jesus.  His parents are Mary and Joseph.  Jude believed in Jesus after the resurrection when his brother believed, 1 Corinthians 15:7 "After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles."  According to Acts 1:14, he waited with the apostles for the Holy Spirit, "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers."

Jude was written between 60 to 80 A.D. for Jewish Christians.  The book was written to instruct believers against False Teachers and dangerous tenets such as live in sin and still have the hope of eternal life.  These false teachers were believed to be the Gnostics.  They were a Christian heresy that combined the world's religions and started in the first century.  The Gnostics shunned the material world and embraced the spiritual world.  This could be accomplished through gnosis or knowledge by only the initiated.  Their religion was very complicated and used terms like divine spark and transcendence.

There is some debate whether Jude belongs in the Bible.  The concern is around the similarities with 2 Peter chapter 2, use of apocryphal books from the Septuagint, its brevity, and its structure (Jude doesn't include a thanksgiving greeting at the beginning or a personal greeting at the end). 

The apocryphal books are of unknown origin, suspect authorship, and not part of the Hebrew Bible.  In Jude 9, a citation is used from the Assumption of Moses.  In Jude 14 and 15, 1 Enoch is used however some scholars point to Deuteronomy 33:2.  Regardless, the citations are probably used as a cultural reference to help Jude prove his text.  Under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, the church found that the authority of God stands behind the letter of Jude. Since the letter was questioned, tested, and accepted, proves the strength of its authenticity.   I look forward to studying this text.

W.O.R.D. Worksheet

Inductive Study: Ephesians 5:2

2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Ephesians 5:2

Personal Mission - Be a man of God

Personal Vision - Lead like Christ, Walk with Christ, Love my wife and children in a way that they understand

Dear Heavenly Father, as I begin my study of the Scriptures today, please keep me focused on you.  Remove all distractions and help me see the depths of your Word. Help me understand how I should walk, live my life.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

We'll be wrapping up our discussion of walk, peripeteio, in Ephesians today.  Peripeteio means to conduct my life, regulate one's life, make progress, make use of opportunities, be occupied with.  Surrounding this verse, Paul tells us what to do and what not to do for our lives.  We must be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, and always giving thanks.  We must not be bitter, full of wrath, full or anger, filthy, speak evil, clamor (shout), engaged in foolish talk, and fornicators.  Let's examine the Greek meanings of the words in this passage.

"Love" in the Greek is agape which means benevolence, unselfish, love which centers on moral preference, to prefer, good will, love that embraces truth, embracing God's will.  We must pattern our life that embraces God's will, embraces His Truth, with unselfish ambitions.

"Given" in the Greek is paradidomi which means hand over, betray, deliver, abandon, delivered with close personal involvement, permit, allow.  Jesus allowed Himself to be delivered by God then abandoned to take our punishment for our sin.

"Offering" in the Greek is prosphora which means sacrifice, gift, present.  "Sacrifice" in the Greek is thusia which means offering, official sacrifice prescribed by God.  Jesus' gift to us is to be the official sacrifice required for sin.  "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him," 2 Corinthians 5:21.  Jesus is the lamb "without blemish," Exodus 12:5, for the Passover.  There are no coincidences.  His sacrifice was during the Passover, remembering God's deliverance.

"Sweet-smelling aroma" in the Greek is made up two words, euodia which is the odor of acquiescence (without protest) or satisfaction, well pleasing to God and osme which is savor (pleasant, enjoyed completely), diffused or emitted by life.  This last phrase, "an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma," is hearkening to the Old Testament, the commands of God as told by Moses in the Pentateuch, specifically in Leviticus and Numbers.  God knows that man will sin and provides a way of atonement, to be cleared of the wrong doing by sacrificing unblemished (perfect) animals.  This aroma first appeared with Noah in Genesis 8:21 "And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, 'I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth.'"

 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

Great is God's love that He would be our last, final required sacrifice for our wrong doings, sin.  This way is how we should live with that amount of love.  Emulate God by understanding Him through learning the Bible.  Be fully dependent on Him by knowing that we can do nothing on our own.  Live in a sacrificial love being kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, thankful, unselfish.

5 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; 2 and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

Amplified Bible

W.O.R.D. Worksheet