Category: Jude

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Jude 1: 3 — Battle Call

Silhouette of a man playing a trumpet against the sky.

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

There are three things I stand on as essential beliefs regarding the Bible:

  1. I firmly believe that God is the author of all Scripture.
  2. I believe Scripture is written the way God wanted it written.
  3. I believe that all the hands that have touched the book over the years have been guided by God.

These are my personal beliefs. They are based on a lifetime of searching for God. I see no contradiction between what I believe and the Bible as it has come down to us through the ages.

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Jude 1: 2 — Form

A clay pot is formed on a potter's wheel.

Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

There is a very pleasant formality in the form of letters in the first century. The writer introduces who they are, and acknowledges the person or peoples they are writing to. They say something nice.

In this case, Jude offers mercy, peace, and love.

These are not random words pulled out of thin air. They are three things that only God can give and that humans need to survive.

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Jude 1:1c — A Hard Thing

Detail of a stone wall.

…who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

As we begin our study of Jude’s letter, he tells us who he is and who he is writing to. The people he writes to “have been called” by God to walk in light and mercy. Today he adds that they are “loved in God the Father.” (NIV)

The Greek in this instance is either difficult to translate or it reflects an idiom that was common in Jude’s day but is not common now. The English Standard Version (ESV) translates the Greek this way: “…beloved in God the Father….” This formulation makes more sense to me than the NIV in this case.

Unless a person knows Greek, it is a good idea to explore different translations when a passage is difficult for you. This Bible website allows you to see all the available English translations at once.

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Jude 1: 1b — Six Little Words

Picture of handwritten letter

To those who have been called…

The second mystery of Jude’s letter is found in these six little words: “To those who have been called.” What does he mean by “called,” and who are these people who have been called?

To answer the question of what it means to be “called,” let’s turn to Peter’s first letter:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

— 1 Peter 2: 9-10

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