“The Just Shall Live By Faith”
New King James Version Written by: David Hicks
Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."
Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
“Articles of Faith”
(A Study in Jude)
Lesson 2- I Found It Necessary To Write:
Text #1:
Jude 1-2
“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:
2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.”
Bond Servant: Jude states in his opening remarks that he is a bondservant. There are many different types of servants and service in scripture. Service can be voluntary or involuntary, paid or unpaid, temporary or permanent. The difference between slave and servant is not always clear in Biblical writing as in modern understandings of slavery situations. However, what all of the models have in common is the existence of a superior to serve and a task of service to complete. This is the intent of Jude to those whom he is writing, for them to know that he serves the Lord Jesus Christ.
Called and Sanctified: Jude is writing to Christians. Christians are called by the Gospel of Jesus Christ ( I Thessalonians 1:5 ; II Thessalonians 2:14 ), they then become followers ( I Thessalonians 1:6 ). Being called by the Gospel, then becoming followers, equals election, sanctification, consecration, and beloved by God (which can be synonymous terms).
Preserved in Jesus Christ: In this simple statement the implication is that the continuous preservation of the believer, without regard to the time occupied in the accomplishment, is only guaranteed ‘ IN ' Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”
Text #2:
Jude 1:3-4 “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. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Comparison: As I mentioned in the introduction, there are numerous similarities to that of II Peter , each time we come across these similarities I will place the texts side by side under this prompt (‘ Comparison' ). Here in Jude's introduction we find just such a similarity, note:
Jude 1-3 “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:
2 Mercy , peace , and love be multiplied to you .
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.”
_______________________________________________________
2 Peter 1:1-3 “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness , through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,”
_______________________________________________________
• Commentary .
I Was Very Diligent: The term diligent here, comes from a word that means, “Thoughtful activity”. Here Jude says that he used it in writing this letter which indicates its importance, also his trustworthiness as an author.
Common Salvation: In Peter's second letter, he states that the Christians he is writing “have obtained like precious faith with us” (the Apostles of Jesus Christ – II Peter 1:1 ). This teaches us that God's great plan of salvation is a plan that is offered to all men regardless of status in life (Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, king, pauper, etc… Simply that God is not a respecter of persons!) See: Acts 10:34 ; Romans 2:11 ; Galatians 2:6 ; Ephesians 6:9 ; Colossians 3:25 .
Contend For The Faith: Here Jude states that those who are called sanctified and preserved ‘ in ' Christ, must face the foe , wherever the foe are meet.
Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Paul teaches Christians in Ephesus that they were to put on the whole armor of God. As he would go on to describe the individual pieces, we can see that they were all intended to be used by the soldier of Christ as he faces his enemies .
1 Timothy 6:12 “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.”
To young Timothy, the Apostle Paul charged that he “fight the good fight of faith” . Between this statement and that of Jude to “contend for the faith” , we must realize that the life of the sanctified is not a peaceful one (in the physical realm). This is because we are at war with the world and with those who love it, note:
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,”
2 John 1:9 “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
This is the conflict we must actively be engaged in. This conflict is not fought in hatred of people (but their sinful conduct), it is not fought with physical weapons (it is a spiritual war, as no one can take your faith from you unless you give it up), and it is not a war of physical borders.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
The conflict is fought by the power of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is fought in hope of repentance and knowledge of the revelation of Jesus Christ for salvation and it is expected that all those who have enlisted in the Lord's army contend for this faith !
Once For All Delivered: On that faithful night, after the Lord observed the Passover with His chosen (Judas going out to betray him), He began to divulge to the remainder of them that He would send them a Comforter (the Holy Spirit), that would guide and assist them in the great work of the kingdom, which He charged them with ( John 13:31-17:26 ). This Comforter would act on their behalf as a teacher, witness, guide, revealer, and a foreteller of things to come. More specific to the point at hand is that their work would be exhaustive, note:
John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth ; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
There would be no spiritual truths to be revealed, once the work of the Apostles was complete! Peter said that Christians of his time had been “given all things that pertain to life and godliness” ( II Peter 1:3 ). He continued by explaining to these Christians that it was contained within the prophetic word, which they would do well to heed ( II Peter 1:19 -21 ). Likewise, Jude concludes that everything we could possibly need has been given us once and for all (this would include future generations, which would dismiss the need for future revelation!).
It is this single faith, produced by the word of God, given once to these Christians and intended for all Christians that we must contend for. This is why we study in the context of its delivery and the applications we seek are universal for us, as it was for them.
Certain Men Have Crept In: In verse 4 , we see the immediate necessity for Jude to write this letter to these Christians. The fact that they crept in (under the radar, so to speak), shows that they cleverly disguised their intent until they could work from inside and do the most damage. This is their operation method, to disguise their deception in licentiousness by making them seem as though they operate within the guidelines of the favor of God. Jude calls them, “ungodly” , which explains that they actually work against God!
Since there is one faith, it was delivered once, and is only found in the prophetic word, the ungodly are all those who go outside of these guidelines to promote what they want (in so doing, deny God, and our Lord Jesus Christ and Their ability to give us all things that pertain to life and godliness). How important is it then that we contend for the faith once delivered (a rhetorical question)?
Comparison:
Jude 1:4 “ For certain men have crept in unnoticed , who long ago were marked out for this condemnation , ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
_______________________________________________________
2 Peter 2:1-3 “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you , who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them , and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle , and their destruction does not slumber .”
_______________________________________________________
Summary: The battle lines have been drawn. Both Jude and Peter are aware of the danger and it is now their job to enlist the soldiers of Christ in an effort to expel this threat. This becomes the theme for the rest of the letter. Jude will work diligently to expose these ungodly men that claim they may seem to have the best interest in the children of God, but because they blaspheme the word of truth, they only lead many to destruction.
We study the importance of these letters today because these ungodly men still exist today. Rather than teach the word of truth exclusively, they inject human wisdom, preying on the weak and those whom have not developed a true love of the truth!
If we think that we need something other than the word of God (entertainment, swelling words, etc… ), we need to assess what it is that our faith is truly based on!
Next: “ Three Examples of Community Sin ”