I hope you are enjoying this journey through the Bible. The goal is to spend daily time in the Scriptures, eventually reading the entire Bible, but at a pace that allows you to contemplate what you are reading. Yesterday, we read the book of Jude. I wanted to take the time for a few reflections on it.
The book of Jude is really a letter, written by none other than Jesus’ half-brother Jude advising us to be on guard against false teaching.
I love that Jude doesn’t point out his familial relationship to Jesus, but instead starts off by identifying himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:1). I feel like few on earth would have know Jesus better than his own brother, and I love to see Jude boldly proclaims Jesus as Lord.
As we have seen in other books, the early church was really dealing with false teachers. Many of the letters in the New Testament were written to bolster the faith of believers and to help them hold onto the Truth and discern it from the blasphemy of others.
In verse 3, Jude says we are drawn together by our “common salvation” (it is what we have in common, the salvation itself is uncommon and extraordinary). The faith has been “once for all delivered to the saints.” The faith has been established already and is not to be changed. Jude tells this to those he is writing so that they know not to believe those who are adding to or changing the faith they already know.
Jude brings his letter to a close by urging the recipients to take action in order to protect their faith. He says to keep in the love of God. He is asking that they be on guard, ready and watchful, so that they are not caught off guard by false teaching.
Jude ends with one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible:
We are not alone in the fight to keep the faith. God is also on guard, ready to keep us from stumbling. In the end, it will give Jesus great joy to present us blameless before God the Father because of his glorious sacrifice, our great salvation.
I’ll see you back here next Tuesday. Don’t forget we start Genesis on Sunday! And check out Good Morning Girls for more resources!
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