The Epistle Of Jude Pastoral Warning & Admonitions R2

Contending for the Faith

Once Delivered

Against Enemies Inside the Church.

The Epistle of Jude: Pastoral Warning &Admonition

The Epistle of Jude: Pastoral Warning & Admonition

Bible StudySunday Evening Service 05/07/2006

Birmingham Baptist Church

Pastor: Rev. Stephen H. ThompsonGuest Speaker: Joseph David Rhodes, M. Div. student

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary


[Thesis]: Neither Heresies nor False Profession of the Gospel is anything new. It began even when the Church ofJesus Christ was relatively young, almost in the shadow of the Apostles. The Epistle of Jude records the warnings and admonition of one pastor in the second generation of

Christ-ians. But this short letter, Divinely inspired and preserved inthe sacred canon, which spoke powerfully in the latter de-cades of the first century, can and still does address us evenin the 21st century A.D.


Strange Attacks on The Gospel

in the Last Two Centuries:

The Book of Mormon (1830s) [ Joseph Smith ] The Origin of the Species (1859) [ Charles Darwin ] The Secret Doctrine (1888) [ Madame Blavatsky ] Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ (1907) [ Levi Dowling ?] Mein Kampf ( 1928) [ Adolf Hitler ] Brave New World (1932) [ Aldous Huxley ] The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics (1958)

[ Jean Doresse ] The Phenomenon of Man (1959) [ Teilhard De Chardin ]


Strange Attacks on The Gospel (Late 20th Century):

The Quest for the Historical Jesus ( E.T. , 1906) [A. Schwiezter]

The Scrolls from the Dead Sea ( London: Collins, 1955) [ A. Powell Davies] The Authentic New Testament ( London, 1956) [ Hugh J. Schonfield ] Jesus of Nazareth: The Hidden Years ( London, 1962) [ Robert Aron ] The Passover Plot ( New York: Bantam Books, 1966) [ Hugh J. Schonfield ] The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross ( Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1984 )

[ John Allegro]

Holy Blood, Holy Grail ( New York: Doubleday, 1982). [ M. Baigent, et al. ] The Last Temptation of Christ ( Paramount Studios, 1988). [ N. Kanzantias, & M. Scorsesse] The Da Vinci Code ( New York: Doubleday, 2003) [ Dan Brown]


In his Daily Study Bible Series devotional commentary, William Barclay has well stated: “. . . For the great majority of modern readers reading the little letter of Jude is a bewildering rather than a profitable undertaking.”

After noting most people’s acquaintance with the doxology (vv.24-25), he adds, “. . . when we understand Jude’s thought and dis-entangle the situation against which he was writing, his letter be- comes of the greatest interest for the history of the earliest church and by no means without relevance for today.”1

1The Letters of John and Jude. The Daily Study Bible. Revised Ed. (Phila-delphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 157.


For many centuries Jude has received only cursory attention. In the later20th century one Bible expositor wrote that Jude was “ the most neglect-ed book in the New Testament.”2 And likewise, Richard J. Bauckham declared: “ No NT books have been more neglected than Jude and 2 Peter. Most of the conventional scholarly opinions about them derive from a past era of NT scholarship. This commentary is therefore an at-tempt to drag the study of these two books into the 1980s.”3

2Douglas J. Rowston, “ The Most Neglected Book in the New Testament,” NTS 21(1975): 554.3Jude, 2 Peter . Word Biblical Commentary ( Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1983), preface to the book.


Yet, in recent times Bible scholars and theologians, in the light of attacks on the Christian faith from both without and within the Church, have begun to look at Jude once again.

Interesting comments from John Elliot, a Lutheran pastor and theology professor ( Augsburg Commentary, 1982).

Martin Luther, as a young Reformer, had some doubts about James and Jude as “ epistles of straw” ( but he later recanted and recommended them).

Daniel Wallace ( Greek professor, Dallas Seminary) and the possible historical ambiguity of Jude 1 ( See NKJV and HCSB translations)


I. The Authorship Question ( VIP !!!!!!!)

Is Jude’s epistle genuine or pseudepigraphical ?

Our position is “conservative” and is supported by the early “external” historical evidence: Allusions (possible and probable), quotes, and direct references in the late

1st century, 2nd, and 3rd century “ Church Fathers ” ( Clement of Rome, Barnabas, the Didache, Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria, etc.).

Direct mentions or quotes in the Muratorian Canon (ca. 170 A.D.), Jude 6 & 13 quoted in Athenagoras ( ca. 177 A.D.) Theophilis of Antioch (ca. 183).

By the early 3rd century Jude’s Epistle was universally accepted except in

the Eastern or Syrian Church ( which also rejected Catholic Epistles and

the Apocalypse ).


Notes on Bodmer Papyri & Internal Concerns

Bodmer Papyrus ( P66, P72-75 ). 200 A.D. (Cologny, Switzerland). Jude & 2 Peter are included in P72 .

Further ancient evidence from Tertullian, Origen, Didymus (the Blind), and Eusebius of Caesarea. (3rd – 4th centuries). [ Cf. Historia Ecclesiastica, II, xxiii; III. xxv ].

Most critics of Jude’s authorship marvel at it being genuine and

authoritative because of the use of apocryphal allusions to 1 Enoch and The Assumption of Moses in material in vv. 5-16.


I. The Authorship Question : Internal Evidence.

Please see the carefully researched conclusions on pp. 1-6 of the “ Authorship Handout ” by Professor Daniel Wallace, Canon Michael Green, and ProfessorThomas Schriener ( Southern Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky) [ footnotes 9-15 ] on Jude’s relationship to James, to the alleged New Testament pseude-pigrapha, and to the historical Jesus Christ of Nazareth. [ I think Jude wroteThe Epistle of Jude = I would say that I am 99.98 % certain ].

The other alleged “candidates” are virtually 100 % historically and literarilyimpossible as the author of this first century document – according to known facts.

Neither Jude’s self-description in v. 1 (“ the brother of James”) nor his writing in fairly excellent Koinev Greek make a close relative of Jesus from his family in Galilee unlikely or impossible. And we rest our case with R. Bauckham, M. Green, Donald Guthrie, Thomas Schriener, and Daniel Wallace.


II. The Date of Jude. Another Vexing Question

Here there are three broad views along the spectrum:

The three main dates proposed for Jude are:

(1) Sometime during the Apostolic age (c. 50s-60s A.D.); (2) Sometime in the latter part of the first century (80-100 A.D.)(3) During the first half (usually first two decades) of the

second century. (100-120 A.D.)

The second century views are based on radical critical NT scholarship and can be dismissed as unsupported speculations.


II. The Date of Jude. Another Vexing Question More Moderate Views of the Epistle’s Date:

1. On the higher end of the scale: Werner Kummel ( Introduction to the New Testament. E.T. 14th Edition, pp. 301-2) places it ca.95-100 A.D.: “ The most probable dating is around the turn of the century.”

2. Somewhere in the middle we find those such as Profs. William Barclay,J.A.T. Robinson, and Donald Guthrie. Guthrie places the book between 65and 80 A.D. (New Testament Introduction. [ Revised Edition, Leicester, U.K.and Downers Grove, Illinois, Intervarsity Press 1990 ], p. 908.) Robinson is specific: he argues for a date before 62 A.D. (in his Redating the New Testa-ment. [ Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976 ], pp. 197-8].


II. The Date of Jude. Another Vexing Question

3. The earliest date is that proposed by Richard Bauckham, who says about this letter, “ Its character is such that it might very plausibly be dated in the 50s, and nothing requires a later date.” ( Jude, 2 Peter. Word Biblical Commentary. [Waco, Texas: Word, 1983], p. 13.). D.A. Carson, Douglas Moo, and Leon Morris add, “ Sometimes it is urged that the words of verse 17 show the writer to be looking back on a past apostolic age and therefore the letter must be late. But we should not overlook the words, ‘ They said to you ’ (v. 18) which surely means that the readers had themselves heard the preaching of the apostles. The words argue for a comparatively early date.” ( An Introduction to the New Testament [ Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1992], p. 460 ).


III. Examination of the Apostolic Age Date. Here there are two key facts & one related difficulty:

(1) Since Jude was the younger brother of Jesus, probably born between 4BC (E) and 10 AD (CE) it is unlikely he lived beyond the late 70s ( the most pro-bable reading of Matthew 13:55 & Mark 6:3.) So the late 70s is the terminus ad quem for his epistle.

(2) One early church father, Hegesippus ( recorded by Eusebius in his Historia Ecclesiastica, 3.19.1-20.8), narrates how Jude’s grandsons were brought be-fore Emperor Domitian in 96 AD., questioned about treason, and released. This suggests that Jude had died sometime before, probably in the 70s.

(3) The key consideration against a very early date for Jude’s epistle is that if Jude preceded the publication of 2 Peter, because of the near exact similarity of their material, a date for Jude before 65 A.D. seems to suggest that 2 Peter must be reckoned pseudepigraphical [ who, if anyone, “borrowed” from whom ?].


IV. Examination of the Early 2nd Century Date. A. Late Authorship and Pseudepigraphical Claims have already been exam-

ined previously (Slides 11-21), but chiefly, how can the early external at-testation be explained if the document did not come into existence until the second century ?

B. Two more arguments have been put forth by liberal and critical scholars to prove a date later than the 1st century. We have examined the first already, i.e., the references in Jude 3 and 17 which seem to indicate that the apostolic age is passed ( but cf. Jude, v.18 !). But the second argument is more subtle and it identifies the false teachers of vv. 4-16 with the second-century heresy of Gnosticism.

C. Not only has classical historian E.M. Yamauchi undermined the whole broad lib-eral and critical thesis of a Pre-Christian Gnosticism ( see his 1973 book by this title published by Eerdmans), he has shown it was not a 1st century force in the New Testa-ment (see bibliography/notes). Richard Bauckham states with conviction that Jude’s errorists “. . . cannot be called Gnostics. What is missing from their teaching is the cosmological dualism of true Gnosticism . . . In the absence of cosmological dualism, it is misleading even to call their teaching ‘incipient Gnosticism.’” (Jude, 2 Peter. Word Biblical Commentary, p. 12).

The Epistle of Jude:

Pastoral Warning & Admonition

V. The Occasion of the Epistle of Jude

Michael Green has flatly stated that the traditional view that the Lord’s younger brother wrote the book of has a good deal to support it and little to

militate against it.16

Professor Daniel Wallace has a very sophisticated argument for a specific date of 66-67 based on the premise that Jude used 2 Peter as his model and

was writing to a predominantly Gentile Church in Asia Minor.17

16The General Epistle of Jude: An Introduction and Commentary. In R.G.V. Tasker (ed.)Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (London: The Tyndale Press, 1968), p. 45. He also cites William Barclay, The Letters of John and Jude Daily. Daily Study Bible : “ It is simple and rugged; it is vivid and pictorial. It is clearly the work of simple thinker rather than a theologian. It fits Jude the brother of the Lord.” (pp. 202ff.)17“Jude: Introduction, Argument, and Outline,” pp. 4-6 and 9-11.



V. The Occasion of the Epistle of Jude

Wallace believes that Jude originally intended to write to the Church at Ephesus to encourage saints there to continue in the faith who have been discouraged by the recent martyrdoms of Paul and Peter.

Wallace further suggests that the original purposes for writing was altered (cf. Jude 3-4) when news of false teachers infiltrating into the church at Ephesus reached

Jude.18

18 “Jude: Introduction, Argument, and Outline,” p. 11 ( Internet, bible.org.) Wallace therefore agrees with Michael Green against other commentators who argue that some decades must have passed and the New Testament faith was crystallized and had been corrupted. Green says, “ A superficial view of the Epistle would pronounce it late, claiming that the orthodox and straight-jacketed conception of ‘the faith’ and the reference to the apostles as belonging to a bygone era, together with references to Gnosticism, stamp the Epistle with the marks of the second century.” Tyndale New Testament Commentary, Op. Cit., p. 46.


V. The Occasion of the Epistle of Jude Linking together the matter of date and occasion, Green fairly shows that the

acknowledged Pauline letters make it clear that the notion of Christian ortho-doxy was already well-established in the fifties of the first century (Cf. Romans

6:17; Galatians 1:8ff.; 1 Thessalonians 2:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6,14).19

While it is clear that Jude is a Jewish writer, it is not certain that his audience was, although it is possible that they were Gentile Christians or Hellenistic Jewish-Christians who knew Jewish intertestamental and apocryphal literature. Green states again that Wand, Harrison, and Guthrie are right in seeing Antioch

as a possible destination.20 He thinks it was probably a “mixed” church.

19Tyndale New Testament Commentary , p. 47.20Ibid., p. 48. Wallace, as we have seen, sharply disagrees and posits Ephesus as more

likely as the destination of Jude’s epistle. Later reception by the Fathers favors his view.


V. The Occasion of the Epistle of Jude Wallace’s argument that it was not Jewish Christians, but primarily Gentile believers to which Jude wrote, has four supports:

A. First, since the false teachers were antinominians, “None of their characteristics is prominent, if found at all, in Jewish Christianity.” [ See Guthrie, New Testament Intro-duction, p. 919]. He indeed argues that the “double fact” of antinominian false teachers and their sudden impact on the church argues quite strongly for a predominantly Gentile audience.21

B. Secondly, since v.3 mentions “ our common salvation,” Wallace follows the lead of previous scholars ( Chase, Mayor, et al.) for a mixed church.22

C. Thirdly, many scholars recognize a Pauline tone in phrasing of 1-2, 20, and 25.

D. Fourthly, if Wallace’s reconstruction holds water, Gentile rather than Jewishbelievers, would more likely fall prey to antinomianism and gross immoral conduct.

21/22 “Jude: Introduction, Argument, and Outline,” pp. 9-10. ( Internet, bible.org ).


VI. The Place of Writing or Provenance of Jude

If there is not a lot to go on as to the destination or recipients of the letter, there is even less evidence about where it was composed. Even Professor D. Wallace frankly acknowledges that “there is really no internal clue given as

to the place of writing.”23 However, he does reason through seven externalcircumstances, that following Peter’s death in Rome ca. 64. A.D. that Judemay well have come to Ephesus (previous to the Apostle John’s ministrythere from about 68-90 A.D.), and that he could have been living some-where between Asia Minor and Rome and sent his letter to Ephesus. As previously noted, he does not believe Antioch ( Syria) is a very probabledestination for the message. The New Testament itself pictures Jude as an “itinerant Jewish evangelist” (1 Corinthians 9:5) like Paul, who traveled among the Jewish diaspora and the Gentiles beyond Jerusalem. “ Our com-mon salvation” (v.3) suggests a mixed or even mainly Gentile audience

23 “Jude: Introduction, Argument, and Outline,” p. 8.


VII.1. The Text & the Sermon Proposition: Jude 1-4

3. Jude’s Two Letters to the Brothers (vv. 3-4)

A. Chief Purpose in Writing the Church: Contend for The One Faith ! B. Jude’s Special Exhortatory Purpose: - A Warning to the Church !!!

Sermon Analysis in Brief : In vv. 1-2 Jude has introduced James and himselfas servants, and hence, “true brothers” of Christ as well as brothers in a human way, “ according to the flesh.” Those to whom Jude is writing , however, also exhibit four indispensable qualities as Christ’s brothers: (1) they are loved by God the Father; (2) and, they are ones divinely called into the brotherhood of Christ by 3 Divine means: (a) God’s adoption; (b) God’s spiritual regenera-tion; and (3) God’s election or justification. Verse 2 simply reiterates the three-fold blessing of this Divine salvation and offers a prayer for its increase in their lives. Then in vv. 3-4, Jude explains his two intended letters to the brethren – the purpose of one being a general call and the purpose of the second a more

critical, specific exhortation to be warned !!!!!!!


VII.2. The Text & the Sermon Outline: Jude 1-4

I. The Purpose of the General Call to the Faithful:

“ Contend for the Faith…Delivered to the Saints Once for All ” (v.3).

Jude was writing about the “ common salvation” of himself & his hearers. (3a)

Jude was urging them to “ contend earnestly” for the One Christian Faith (3b)

II. The Special Horatory Purpose: “ Be Warned of Certain Men ”:

“ For Certain Men . . . . Have Come In By Stealth !!!” (v.4) Warning ! An Ancient Prophecy of Condemnation ( 4b) Warning ! Men Have Secretly Entered the Brotherhood Who Do Not Belong ( 4a) Warning ! These Ungodly Men Have Perverted the Grace of God (4c). Warning ! These Ungodly Men Deny Jesus’ Authority as Savior and His Deity (4d).


III. The Sermon Conclusion - Application !!!!!!!

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit;

21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy

with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make

you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory,

majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. ( Jude 20-25, NASB, 1977 )

20 u`mei/j de,( avgaphtoi,( evpoikodomou/ntej e`autou.j th/| a`giwta,th| u`mw/n pi,stei( evn pneu,mati a`gi,w| proseuco,menoi(

Translation: But you, dear friends, building yourselves up in our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

evpoikodomou=ntej build upon a foundation – present participle of evpoikodome/w

a`giwta,th| most holy, most sacred – the superlative of a}gioj. proseuco,menoi pray – present participle of proseuvcomai.

Continuous ongoing action is the intent here.

Here Jude is telling his people what every good pastor should tell a congregation set on by heretical attacks and seductive immorality three positive things Christians

need to do in response: [ SEE THE NEXT SLIDE . . . . . . . . . . ]




III. The Sermon Conclusion - Application !!!!!!!

1. Firstly, Jude is telling – admonishing- them –to do the follow-

ing two basic steps : [Faith, Prayer, (Preserverence) ].

Not to trust in those who deny Christ and pervert God’s holy commandments. Rather they should edify each other with or in “our one holy faith.” [ This is faith in “ objective sense” which Jude has already identified in v.3 !] If we help other souls to eternity, we must grow in faith (2 Timothy 3:14-17; Hebrews 5:12-14). Illustration: It takes more than the uniform to make a baseball player.

Not to forget to pray in the power and direction of the Holy Spirit ( Romans 8:26; Ephesians 6:18). Illustration: The Holy Spirit made Eric Liddell a great

runner and a great missionary to China because he honored the source of victory.

And in both cases it is to be an ongoing activity ! ( Verb tenses indicate).


2. Secondly, Jude is telling – admonishing- them – to pursue these: To keep themselves in the love of God ( v. 21a) thrhvsate , aorist imperative of threvw. [ “ to keep,” “to guard,” “ to watch”]. Jesus said, “As my Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” (John 15:9). John has also reminded us: “ Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10). We need to live in God’s love and in His Word ( Psalms 1:2-3). To live in the sphere of God’s love

is enduring peace in trial and security when all earthly supports fall away !

To expectantly wait for the mercy of Jesus Christ (v. 21b) pros-decovmenoi, “ await, expect, receive, welcome ” – the present participle of pros-decovmai. We live in this world, my friends, in light the eternal and indestructible

Kingdom of the risen Christ. He says: “ Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,

and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.” ( Revised Standard Version, Revelation 17b-18) .

3. Thirdly, Jude is admonishing his readers to adopt three responses which fit the pattern of helping three kinds of sinners or “back-sliders” [ pardon the word !]. This is true because he is calling for a Christian assault on the strongholds of Satan and dark slavelands of heresy. Although textual witnesses and Christian exegetes and grammarians disagree in some points about the reading of this text, we shall take it as another “triplet” which Jude has exhibited before in the text. Again, here three redemptive “assault and rescue” missions are laid out for the faithful recipients of the letter. These are three ways which Christ’s body seeks to cure itself of spiritual infection by false doctrine and by Christless living. Look again at vv. 22-23 !



The Epistle Of Jude Pastoral Warning & Admonitions R2

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