Other Letters

This letter is addressed from Jude, a servant (slave) of Jesus and a brother of James. James is very likely the half-brother of Jesus, so by extension Jude is also a half-brother of Jesus. There is no evidence Jude was a believer in Jesus until after His death and resurrection.

Portions of Jude’s letter are very similar to portions of 2 Peter. One of the purposes of both letters was to strongly condemn false teachers and false teachings. The false teachers were teaching that Jesus did not come in a true human form, but just seemed to be doing so. They were promoting certain sexual perversions and immorality to satisfy their own greed and lust.

The empty messages of the false teachers included dangerous teachings about spiritual beings. The false teachers did not realize the seriousness of their slander. Jude reminded his hearers that the apostles warned of false teachers who would divide the Christians in an effort to get personal benefit.

Jude’s recommendation was for Christians to protect themselves by clinging to the truth and to the Holy Spirit. He wanted the strong Christians to be merciful to the weaker ones by teaching truth and snatching them from destruction. They should do all this through the power of God and Jesus.

Any reader of Jude or 2 Peter comes face-to-face with the fact that spiritual matters are far too important to treat casually. The penalties for treating such things incorrectly are not just hurtful; they’re deadly.