Jude gives us a typical greeting in the first 2 verses, telling us who is writing and extending his good wishes in love to his recipients. Then he quickly moves to his purpose for writing:
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Jude 3-4
Although he wanted to write to them about the salvation we share in Christ, events have intervened. Notice the words he uses here, he felt “compelled” to write them to “urge” them to “contend” for the faith; words that imply a crisis of some sort. “Contend” comes from a word that would normally be used in either a military or athletic contest. Yes, there would seem to be a crisis at hand.
That faith he wants them to contend for is the faith that was “once for all” entrusted to “God’s holy people.”
This statement is reminiscent of John’s “as you have heard from the beginning” the message of faith had been given to them by others when they came to believe the gospel; it does not change. You could say that Jude isn’t going for any of the present-day notions of progressive revelation wherein the message changes or evolves over time. The gospel is the gospel, once and for all time.
There seems to have been certain people who have come within the church who have ideas about changing the message. We can clearly see two things from verse 4: These people wish to abuse the liberty we have in Christ to engage in immoral practices, and to deny Christ. At this point, they sound quite a bit like “antichrist” in 1 and 2 John, and you will recall that they were Gnostics.
There is always a tension between liberty and going too far. We have a great freedom in Christ, since the Law is gone and His laws are “written on their hearts.” Can you have one “law” and I another? Scholars have debated this for centuries! What really is the difference between “liberty” and “license”? In verse 4 it would appear that one field of conflict was that of sexual immorality, one that will be repeated in the verses that follow, and one that is very much under discussion in our day. Where is that line?
In recent centuries in Western culture, particularly in the US, that line was well-defined with lists of things you mustn’t do: “Don’t smoke or chew or go with girls who do” is one of the more amusing of these. I prefer another approach. Does an action glorify God? Does it build up His Kingdom, or will it tear the Kingdom apart? Apparently Jude felt strongly that the Kingdom was in jeopardy.
Next time, we’ll see where Jude takes this discussion…
Life Project Blog 
To me, Christian liberty is defined by the commandments of the New Testament.The commandment to love others was so much a part of that Gospel. To Paul, loving meant doing nothing that caused the little ones to stumble.
We are free to chose to make the way smoother for those who use our paths.
Using that freedom well frees us from having to spend so much time picking up and healing stumblers.
Finally, knowing where the boundaries are frees us from having to discover the consequences of crossing them ourselves.
It isn’t easy to make of list of New Testament commands that aren’t about love!
You said, “There is always a tension between liberty and going too far. We have a great freedom in Christ, since the Law is gone and His laws are “written on their hearts.” ” ~ For me, the liberty in Christ is this: I am free to be what God created me to be. Who can forget the day of being born again and the experience of cleansing of past rebellion. This liberty is freedom from the bondage of godlessness and the impartation of sanctifying grace. I am able to overcome temptation and to glorify Christ through obedience motivated by the Holy Spirit. As you say, our witness to the power of God may be tainted if we remain in the shallow harbors of faith, disregarding the challenge of enduring the deeper waters of mature Christianity. The Remnant is getting smaller as faith is tested.
I quite agree with you pn your view of liberty; it is a mature view. Sadly, few believers are mature in Christ.
I have often said that liberty is the fruit of self-control, while license is the abandonment of self-control.
That being said, since having overcome some habitual sins in my life, I no longer believe in “self” control, self-esteem, self-worth, &c. I rely now on “Spirit-control,” “God-esteem,” “Christ-worth,” &c. to give me victory over my habitual sins so that I experience liberty, freedom from self-bondage.
Amen!
This is an ongoing theme in the epistles. False shepherds and false teachers entering the different regions that had new churches seemed like a plague. I am glad that there were and are contenders of the faith! This is going to be an exciting journey of study.
Yes it is, and we won’t need to urge Jude to tell us how he really feels about them!
I love the slow pace and the detailed dialogue; thanks for the good job. vw
Thank you 🙂