CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Jude 1:3. Common salvation.—It does not immediately appear why he uses this epithet “common.” He may only mean, “this salvation which is a matter of common interest to us all.” The best MSS. read, “of our common salvation”; of those things which pertain to the salvation of us all. It is suggested that Jude may intend to distinguish between the “faith,” or “salvation,” which is common to all, and the “knowledge” which was claimed by false teachers as belonging only to a few. Faith once delivered.—Faith is objective—the substance of truth offered to faith. It is assumed that this is well known, and stands within recognised limitations. It was not then embodied in a creed; and we cannot with certainty declare its contents. The apostle Paul frequently refers to a well-known and clearly-defined setting of the primary Christian verities (2 Timothy 1:13-14, etc.). Saints.—Such they were in their calling; and such they were by their separation through belief of the Christian truth. There is special significance in the term “saints” here, because Jude has in mind those who were disgracing the Christian profession by moral licence. He means to suggest a contrast.
Jude 1:4. Unawares.—Finding their opportunity in Christian unwatchfulness. Mischievous teachers get into Churches under false pretences. Of old ordained.—Reference is to previous prophetic intimations and warnings, and not to Divine decrees. The sentence has been well rendered thus: “who were long ago before marked out as on their way to this condemnation.” “Ordained” means “written down,” or “written up”; the “metaphor may come from the practice of posting up the names of those who had to appear in court for trial.” προγεγραμμένοι εἰς κρίσιν. Condemnation.—The denunciation which follows. Their “ungodliness” is seen in the two things which most distressed the later Christian writers:
(1) the association of the Christian profession with sensual indulgences; and
(2) the teaching of perilous error concerning the person of Jesus Christ. In “Lord God,” the name “God” should be omitted. Only one person is meant. “Denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Jude 1:3-4
Jude 1:3. The Common Salvation.—It appears that the mind of the apostle was moved, in the first place, to write concerning salvation generally; but on reflection he was constrained to write on one particular aspect, bearing on the temper of the times. The brevity of the epistle testifies that only one special aspect of religion is set forth. It was in view of the general defection among Christians, then so prevalent, he was earnestly moved to write. The case was urgent, as we learn from ἀνάγκην ἔσχον, arising from the necessity of contending earnestly for the faith—ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι. The description given in the epistle of the declension of some, and the false teaching of others, fully sets forth the earnest hope the apostle felt, that a few lines from him might serve the good purpose of conserving the true faith.
I. A designation of the gospel.—“Common salvation.” The gospel had an interest for all. Its integrity was a matter which affected all. Nothing could be of more importance than the general concern which all ought to feel in the matter of the purity of the teaching which was intended to set it forth.
1. Salvation is the great need of all. It supplies a universal want. It reveals clearly the great subjects which have agitated human thought in every age—God, the soul, moral accountability, and futurity. It also leads mankind to the fountain of blessing—God in Christ Jesus. If life is to answer any special end, and if the soul of man is to attain to any particular satisfaction and happiness, the gospel is as great a necessity to the mind as air is to the body.
2. Salvation is a provision for all. It touches the case of every one. There had been a Jewish exclusiveness even on the part of the apostles; but they were taught to “call no man common or unclean,” and that “God is no respecter of persons.” The gospel is free to all, whether Jew or Gentile, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, or free. The gospel, like the sun, is God’s great blessing to all men of every clime and time. Jesus is the “Son of man,” to designate the universality of His mission. He is come to seek and to save the race of man.
II. The sacred trust.—“Once for all delivered unto the saints.” The gospel is in the custody of the Church. 1. The integrity of its doctrines. Those to whom the Spirit has revealed the truth alone can transmit it to posterity. If inspiration has ceased, illumination continues. The gospel as a revelation from God is also taught by Him.
2. The purity of its ordinances. Truth must have forms as channels of transmission. Sacraments and spiritual exercises are essential to the spread of the gospel and the growth of piety. However free Christianity may be in its spirit, it prescribes forms and rites for the welfare of the Church. 3. The consistency of its professors. To walk in the light is the duty of every believer. Christ has ordained that infractions of the laws of His kingdom should receive attention and be visited with discipline. The fruitless and rotten branches must be taken away. The Church has authority to deal with matters of internal order, and also the conduct of its members in the world. The affairs of the kingdom of Christ are now administered by the Church, until He comes.
III. Special duty enjoined.—“Contend earnestly for the faith.” The Church is often thrown into times of particular difficulty, when its efforts are needed to defend its position in the world. The apostolic Church was early called upon to defend its doctrines and practices against false teachers. This is done:
1. By unswerving fidelity to truth. To hold fast that which we have is a duty we owe, not only to ourselves, but to the Church and the world.
2. By a bold confession before men of that which God has done for our soul. Men will be convinced of the efficacy of the means when they see the cure.
3. By being ready to give an intelligent reason for the hope which is in us. The defence of the faith on the ground of truth and justice is a matter that can be accomplished.
Jude 1:4. The Denial of the Divinity of Christ.—The reason is here stated why the apostle chose a particular line to write to the scattered Christians. The case was urgent, because the opposition came not from men who had openly denied the truths of the gospel, but from those who had privily crept into the Church, and were, in name, members of it. The danger was not from without this time, but from within. The use of the three verbs παρεισάγω (2 Peter 2:1), παρεισέρχομαι (Galatians 2:4), and παρεισδύω in the text, plainly shows a systematic conspiracy to subvert the truth. The bold opposition of persecution having failed, the evil one covertly introduced into the Church false teachers. The adroit use of προγράφω, which follows, indicates the impossibility of hiding the evil designs of these false prophets. St. Jude doubtless refers to the second epistle of Peter, and also to the warnings contained in the writings of St. Paul. The figure is taken from the practice of posting up the names of those who were cited to trial, with a description of their crimes. Every corrupter of the doctrines, and every disturber of the peace of the Church, is a marked man. On the notice-board of justice is written, “Wanted,” etc. The κρῖμα is fully described in the following verses. The force of μετατίθημι, which means to alter a thing from its original use, is brought out in the contrast between the grace of God and lasciviousness—the greatest abuse of the greatest favour. In the same way we get the full meaning of ἀρνούμενοι from μόνον δεσπότην καὶ Κύριον ἡμῶν. It was not a denying of the truths of the gospel in general, but the central truth—the Divinity and the Divine mission of Christ.
I. A great crime.—Never was there a time in the history of the Church when this crime should be guarded against more than at present. The days of intolerance are over, and the danger now is of relaxing all obligations as to the truth, and holding that every man is at liberty to believe and teach whatsoever he pleases. The sacred trust committed to the care of the Church is the “faith once delivered to the saints.” Why should men want to change the truth of the living God? Look into the text, and you have the answer.
1. Because the fear of God is not in their soul—“ungodly men.” When the helm is broken, the vessel will drift in every direction. Reverence for God is the first essential of faith in Revelation 2. Because to human appearance sin appears less hideous when committed in the name of religion—“turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.” This meant the abuse of that liberty which the gospel confers, and the committal of sin that grace might abound.
3. Because the authority of “our only Master and Lord” is against the licence they would afford the flesh”. Take Christ out of the gospel, and any use might be made of it; but give Him His place in the sphere of Divine truth, and the force against sin is irresistible.
II. An awful doom.—St. John in the Apocalypse sounds the warning in strong accents: “If any man shall add unto them,” etc. (Revelation 21:18-19). A few considerations will show that the punishment of those who pervert the truth, and teach so unto others, must be very severe.
1. It is a defiance of Divine authority. God is contradicted. When this is done, moral government is at stake.
2. It is the greatest wrong that can be done to others. If you do not know the way, say so; but to know the way and direct the man to go in the contrary direction is to cause him harm. To tell people that they are on the road to heaven, when it is known that they are going to hell, must be punished.
3. It is an offence against the love of God, who sent His only Son to make us good, and lead us to virtue.—W. P.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Jude 1:3. Doctrinal Contention.—As in war they will clear away the houses and the flower-gardens that have been allowed to come and cluster about the walls and fill up the moat, yet the walls will stand, so in all the conflicts that befall Christ’s Church and God’s truth, the calming thought ought to be ours, that if anything perishes it is a sign that it is not His, but man’s excrescence on His building. Whatever is His will stand for ever.—A. Maclaren, D.D.
Books of the Olden Time.—Who knows anything about the world’s wonders of books that, a hundred years ago, made good men’s hearts tremble for the ark of God? You may find them in dusty rows on the top shelves of great libraries. But if their names had not occurred in the pages of Christian apologists, flies in amber, nobody in this generation would ever have heard of them.—Ibid.
Influence of Strong Assertion.—The consciousness that Christian truth is denied makes some of you falter in its profession, and fancy that it is less certain simply because it is gainsaid. The mist wraps you in its folds, and it is difficult to keep warm in it, or to believe that love and sunshine are above it all the same. “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”—Ibid.
Contending for the Faith.—What do we observe as a fact in Christian Church history? This. Christian doctrine is evidently a great whole made up of many parts. What we seek to find is the harmonious fitting of the several parts, each being held in its proper proportions. But the Christian faith is subject to attacks on its several positions. The attacks have their special characteristics in each age. They should be met by the whole united force of the Church; the common foe met by a common resistance. There is, however, another process going on continually, as Christ’s truth is committed to the charge of weak men. Aspects of truth are in constant danger of being pushed to extremes; and important sides and aspects of truth are in constant peril of being neglected and dropped out of sight. And in this way the proportions of truth, the harmonious whole of truth, may be lost. So there is a continual, and ever-repeated call for the activity of those who will reaffirm the truth that is slipping from view, or qualify the truth that is getting exaggerated settings. That may be the good side of what may be misapprehended, and called heresy and schism. It may be questioned in what sense the whole Christian faith was “once for all delivered to the saints.” All revelations are wholes for the age to which they come; but they are not necessarily wholes to the after-ages of intellectual and moral advancement. The Mosaic revelation was a whole; but in prophetic times its deeper moral features came to view, and the Christian ages have perfected it, fulfilled it, fully realised it. It is a whole now which the Jews of Moses’ time could not by any possibility recognise. Perhaps we may affirm that finality can belong to nothing that bears relation to finite, but ever-unfolding man; and so we can never really look for more than a faith adequate to an age. If your mother’s name were defiled, would not your heart bound to her defence? When a prince is a dethroned exile, his throne is fixed deeper in the hearts of his adherents, “though his back be at the wall,” and common souls become heroes because their devotion has been heightened to sublimity of self-sacrifice by a nation’s rebellion. And when so many voices are proclaiming that God has never spoken to men, that our thoughts of His book are dreams, and its long empire over men’s spirits a waning tyranny, does cool indifference become us? will not fervour be sobriety, and the glowing emotion of our whole nature our reasonable service?—Ibid.
Right Dealing with Unbelief.—You may hammer ice on an anvil or bray it in a mortar. What then? It is pounded ice still, except for the little portion melted by heat of percussion, and it will soon all congeal again. Melt it in the sun, and it flows down in sweet water, which mirrors that light which loosed its bonds of cold. So hammer away at unbelief with your logical sledge-hammers, and you will change its shape perhaps, but it is none the less unbelief because you have ground it to powder. It is a mightier agent that must melt it—the fire of God’s love, brought close by a will ablaze with the sacred glow.—Ibid.
Defenders of the Faith.—This exhortation applies to our circumstances in this period of unsettledness in religious beliefs. It is claimed that the old “faith” has served its day, and some new faith must take its place. Our opinion is that instead of finding a new faith, we are on our way to a better understanding of the old one. We are concerned about the essential truths of Christianity, and willingly renounce the accretions and interpretations by which those truths have been overlaid and obscured. The indications of our modern unrest point to a change for the better.
I. What are we to understand by the faith which was once delivered to the saints?—It is defined as “the common salvation.” Not the doctrine of salvation, but the salvation itself; it is not a theory, but an experience. Faith is the means, salvation is the end. “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9). It was common to all the apostles. They might have particular methods, but they certainly had a general result in view. Salvation was the aim in their teaching. They became all things to all men, that by all means they might save some. This salvation is common to all men, and not a matter pertaining to a particular class. It is available for Jew and Gentile. It is for every one that believeth. The essential truths of Christianity, as contained in the New Testament, constitute the faith once delivered to the saints.
1. The faith is Divine in its origin. It is not a production of human philosophy, but the substance of a Divine revelation. The necessity for a Divine revelation appears in the fact that human opinions are so varied and contradictory. When my heart is burdened with the consciousness of guilt, and my soul cries out in its agony, “Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” I must have a Divine answer. I need to know God’s thought and purpose concerning a penitent soul. The gospel is the Divine answer to human need.
2. The faith is adapted to man’s moral needs. Three truths force themselves upon our notice when we study man in his moral relations:
(1) The sense of guilt and moral weakness;
(2) the liability to temptation and trouble;
(3) the certainty of death and a future state. These exist in all men everywhere. These are the bases of moral needs, and to these needs the gospel responds. The faith responds to the sense of guilt and moral weakness. The fact and experience of sin are common to all men. In every land men are wrestling with the great problem, “What shall we do to be saved?” The gospel is the specific. “It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” This “common salvation” includes two things—deliverance and safety. It delivers from impending danger by a perfect pardon. It fortifies and strengthens the soul against the temptations of all evil agencies, so that it is enabled to stand in the glorious liberty of the gospel. The faith responds to the liability to temptation and trouble. All, irrespective of position or rank, are exposed to them. The only remedy philosophy offers is stoicism. The gospel discovers One who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. “Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Apart from this living Christ, one of the deepest needs of human nature is left unsatisfied. The certainty of death is also answered by this faith. Death and the problem of the future hang like a heavy pall over all heathendom. The religious and philosophical systems of paganism throw no light upon the darkness of the grave. But the gospel of Christ tells of Him who died and rose again as the firstfruits of those who slept, who has abolished death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. It inspires men with hope of immortality. It alleviates human bereavement and gilds the future with radiant hope. Blessed gospel! It meets the deepest needs of the human soul.
3. The faith is complete in its contents “once delivered”—i.e. complete. To it nothing can be added. New light, hidden riches, sweetest harmonies, may be found in it. Astronomy may discover worlds of light in the heavens, but it does not add to the universe. Every star was there before astronomers lifted their telescopes skyward. Astronomy may enlarge our knowledge of the heavens, and thrill us with new views of heavenly beauty, but it cannot create a new star. Music cannot add a new tone to the scale. The octave is the final measure of possible tones. Gifted musicians may combine the tones in new relations, and thus give the world sweeter song and more thrilling melody; but in all the witchery of music they will never reach beyond the octave of tones. So with the faith. Theology cannot add to it. The Bible will gain in interpretation, but no new principles can be added to its contents. The foundation of our faith is laid in final power away from frost and wave and storm.
II. To whom was the faith delivered?—“To the saints.” The term refers to character, not to official position.
1. Saints are the depositaries of the faith. Not councils, priests, or popes, but holy men are the trustees of this precious gift. The power and the safety of the faith are not in organisation, or popular favour, or political power, desirable as these may be, but primarily in the character of individual Christians.
2. Saints are the disseminators of the faith. Dissemination is the purpose for which the deposit has been made. Saints hold it in trust for the use and benefit of mankind. Truth must be incarnated before it can become an available factor in the world’s evangelisation. God incarnates the gospel in His saints. This incarnation is the secret of successful evangelism. The old prophets were mighty because their hearts were burdened with the “word of the Lord.” God put His great truths in their hearts, and they were transfigured by the glory of inward truth, and flamed and burned among men. The apostles were resistless evangelists because their souls were thrilled and dominated by the great revelations of Christ, and they could not but speak the things commanded them. The disciples, scattered by persecution, went everywhere. In all their flight they were flaming evangelists. So grew the word of the Lord mightily and prevailed.
III. What is our duty in reference to the faith?—“Contend earnestly,” etc.
1. We must hold to it experimentally and consistently. Not to the theory, but to the practice; not to doctrine merely, but to salvation as a blessed reality. The faith needs not swords to fight for it, but saints to live it. A holy life is the noblest defence of the gospel.
2. We must hold it with courage and resolution. The faith has had to contend for recognition in the world. In the beginning the Jew denied it, the Greek ridiculed it, and the Roman denounced it; but the saints contended for it in spite of all. So now it comes into conflict with the prejudices, selfish interests, and wrath of men. It requires brave, true men to stand by it. The age of chivalry is not yet past. Valiant knights of the Order of the Cross are needed now in defence of the old faith.
3. We must contend for it with simplicity and sincerity. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” etc. Not the weapons of the flesh, not the mere external aids that men are wont to use, not eloquence, learning, wealth, or beauty—these, though highly desirable, are not essential. Simple, sincere Christian lives are the irresistible argument for the faith. I do not undervalue apologetics. Its function is to defend the Bible and set forth the evidences of the Divine authority of the Scriptures. All honour to our “great apologists” for their literary work in defence of our precious faith; but I do insist that an earnest Christian, sincere in heart, true in conduct, pure in speech, and gentle in spirit, is the one unanswerable argument for Christianity. He is “the people’s Bible,” needing neither commentary nor apology. We are to be “defenders of the faith.” Paul’s saying ought to be the conviction of our heart: “I am set for the defence of the gospel” (Philippians 1:17).—W. Hansom, B.D., LL.D.