Jude Chapter 1

At a Glance

  • The letter of Jude opens as a bold exhortation to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
  • The climactic call is to defend the faith with perseverance and to recall the Apostolic teaching about the lordship of Jesus.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Jude, traditionally identified as a brother of James and a relative of Jesus, writes to Christians in a precarious moment when false teachers threaten the integrity of the church.
  • - Contending for the faith against distortion: A call to vigilance and courageous defense of core gospel truths.

CHAPTER REFERENCE

Chapter Overview

The letter of Jude opens as a bold exhortation to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. The author names the core threat: certain men have crept in unnoticed, turning God’s grace into licentiousness and denying Jesus Christ. The opening frames the letter as urgent, rooted in the past acts of salvation—God’s deliverance of Israel in the Exodus—and the present threat of corrupt teachers who twist grace into moral license. Jude then launches into a vivid array of examples—fallen angels, Sodom and Gomorrah, and other figures from Scripture—as warnings that God’s judgment is real and that those who distort doctrine and morality will face divine consequence.

The climactic call is to defend the faith with perseverance and to recall the Apostolic teaching about the lordship of Jesus. The letter condemns those who defile the flesh, despise authority, and blaspheme dignities, contrasting them with faithful Michael who refuses to accuse Satan. Jude’s ferocious imagery serves to awaken the reader to spiritual warfare—truthful speech, moral integrity, and steadfast faithfulness as the church’s guardrails. The latter portion of the letter emphasizes practical exhortations: rejecting those who speak evil of what they do not understand, maintaining mercy with fear, and rescuing people from error with sincere zeal. Overall, Jude is a compact, hard-hitting sermon about the danger of compromised faith and the beauty of merciful, bold fidelity to the gospel.

Historical & Literary Context

Jude, traditionally identified as a brother of James and a relative of Jesus, writes to Christians in a precarious moment when false teachers threaten the integrity of the church. The genre is prophetic-pastoral exhortation, weaving together Old Testament examples and Jewish apocalyptic imagery to warn against moral laxity and doctrinal distortion. Jude’s rhetoric is brisk, imagistic, and punchy, designed to awaken conscience and mobilize action. The letter sits in the New Testament after the general epistles and before Revelation, contributing to a stream of early Christian literature that grapples with how to guard the faith in a hostile world.

Key Themes

- Contending for the faith against distortion: A call to vigilance and courageous defense of core gospel truths.

- Grace and moral responsibility: God’s grace is not a license to sin but a call to holiness.

- Judgment and accountability: Biblical examples illustrate how God judges those who rebel against Him.

- Spiritual warfare and the dignity of truth: Protecting the church from deceit and false teaching.

- Mercy and caution in salvation: Rescuing others with truth, yet mindful of judgment.

Modern Application

Modern readers can draw from Jude a clarion call to integrity in belief and life. It presses believers to distinguish genuine gospel freedom from libertine behavior that undermines moral and doctrinal foundations. In an age of rapid information and doctrinal pluralism, Jude’s insistence on addressing false teaching with discernment, courage, and mercy is highly relevant. The text also invites Christians to practice active mercy—rescuing others from spiritual deception—while maintaining boundaries to protect the church’s integrity. It’s a reminder that grace empowers holiness and truth-telling, not license.

Cross-References: 3-5 related chapters or passages

- 2 Peter 2 (warning against false prophets)

- 1 John 4:1 (testing the spirits)

- 1 Corinthians 5 (calls for church discipline and moral integrity)

- Ephesians 4:11-16 (building up the body in truth and love)

Recommended Personas

- Jesus (for the authority of truth and the seriousness of doctrinal integrity)

- Paul (for dealing with false teachers and ecclesial issues)

- Moses or an Old Testament exemplar (for the use of typology and warnings)

- A prophetic-like elder (for bold, corrective teaching)

Chapter Text

1

Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

2

Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

3

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

4

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

5

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

6

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

7

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

8

Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

9

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

10

But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

11

Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

12

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

13

Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

14

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

15

To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

16

These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

17

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

18

How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

19

These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

20

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

21

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

22

And of some have compassion, making a difference:

23

And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

24

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

25

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Discuss This Chapter with Biblical Personas

Explore Jude Chapter 1 with Biblical figures who can provide unique perspectives grounded in Scripture.

Ask Apostle PaulAsk MosesAsk King DavidAsk Jesus Christ
← 3 John 1Revelation 1 →