Bonus Post: Jude and Peter

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Don Merritt

Why are Jude 4-16 and 2 Peter 2:1-18 so similar?

There are many parallel passages in Scripture, but these two are more than just parallel, they are almost the same, close enough anyway that this deserves a look.  Over the centuries there have been many theories and discussions among scholars of various doctrinal views, and while I’m happy to let them speak for themselves, I guess I should toss my thoughts out for your consideration, and then let you decide for yourself what you think.  If your ultimate conclusion is something like “Who cares? I’ll just study His Word and do my best to be like Jesus” then you are probably wiser than the scholars…

It would seem to me there are four reasonable possibilities for this similarity:

First this could just be a coincidence.  Jude and Peter both wanted to address a similar problem and came up with almost the same discussion. Maybe God inspired them both to write the same thing… We should probably not assume that inspiration is quite the same thing as dictation, however.  This really isn’t likely when you consider how close the two passages are.

Second.  Jude and Peter could both have taken this material from a third document. Say for instance that Bob sent them both the same letter, and then each one re-wrote it and sent it to their friends.  If something like that happened, Bob’s letter is nowhere to be found, and have you ever heard of Bob?  (OK, I made that one up, but you get the idea) This scenario strikes me as pretty unlikely, especially since it would have made up nearly all of Jude’s letter.

Third. Jude could have read Peter’s letter and adapted 2:1-18 into his own letter; quite a few scholars like this one.  However, it is unusual for one writer to adapt something from another writer and shorten a passage in the process; they usually expand on the original.  Having some practical experience in this area myself, I can attest to the fact that unless the original is excessively wordy, that’s hard to do.

Fourth. Peter could have read Jude’s letter and expanded on it in his second letter to fit a slightly different situation.  I’m not a betting man, but if I were, this would be my choice.

 

I flipped through a few respected commentaries on this topic before I banged out this post, commentaries from more than one doctrinal view, and I was amazed at how certain commentators will announce to their readers that such and such is an obvious fact as though they knew the answer for a fact; such confidence!  The only problem with this is that they don’t know it for a fact; no one does.  If you are a “regular” Christian, and by that I mean a “non-academic” Christian, as opposed to one with a wall full of degrees from seminaries, I have a valuable tip for you, ready?

Beware commentators, preachers and teachers who always “know” every answer and who cannot or will not admit that sometimes they are going with their best guess!  The truth is that there are some little issues, such as this one, that we just don’t know for certain.

No extra charge for the tip, it’s your lucky day!

I’ll post another “Bonus” topic tomorrow.

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Woe!

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Don Merritt

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Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

Jude 11

Jude has been giving his readers a strong warning about false teachers in their midst, and in the process of doing so, he has made the case that these teachers are in danger of severe and lasting consequences; destruction, in fact. Here in verse 11, Jude turns up the heat another notch, using three more Biblical examples to illustrate his point.

The word “woe” is used many times in the Old Testament to indicate God’s judgment. In the New Testament, Jesus uses it in the same way in Matthew 11:21; 23:13-32; and Luke 11:42-52. Woe = judgment.

The first example in this verse is that of Cain.  This is particularly interesting in that we don’t usually associate the story of Cain in Genesis 4:1-16 as an example of a false teacher.  It’s hard to say exactly what Jude was thinking, but there are a couple of possibilities that come to mind.  By the first century, there was a strong Jewish rabbinical tradition that identified Cain as the first heretic, as discussed in the writings of Philo (20 B.C. – 50 A.D.). In this tradition, Cain’s way is portrayed as one of selfishness and sensuality.  It is also possible that Jude was thinking of Cain here as an example of one who brought harm to his brother, as he has portrayed the false teachers as men bringing harm to their brethren.  It is important for us to note here that heresy is much more than a sincere error in understanding. As was the case with Cain, it is the willful and deliberate disobedience of God with very harmful consequences to others.

The next example mentioned is Balaam’s error. This comes from Numbers 25:1-3; 31:16. Jude’s false teachers, like Balaam, have claimed to be prophets (“dreamers” v. 8) have led others into sexual immorality (vv. 4, 8)  and out of their own greed have rushed into error, committing idolatry by denying Christ (v. 4).

Finally, he cites Korah’s rebellion from Numbers 16.  Korah and his followers rebelled against Moses and God, and promoting self by resisting authority is a characteristic of false teachers. (cf. Titus 1:10-11; 2 Timothy 3:19; 3 John 9-10)  Korah’s rebellion was destroyed by God with fire, and Jude has certainly made the case that the false teachers he is opposing will be destroyed by God.

Cain, Balaam and Korah are all examples of rebellion against God, and all three caused great harm to their brothers. All three faced destruction, and Jude’s whole point is that false teachers were doing the same thing, with the same consequences in the church.  It’s a worthwhile exercise for us to ask ourselves who brought this judgment upon these people.  Today we sometimes hear people complain that God is way too vengeful, that He is not a loving God because He wants to judge people harshly, they might even say that He is a vengeful and angry God always on the lookout for someone to smite.

Such statements are nothing more than the devil’s lie!  Our God is most definitely a God of love; He IS love!  Did God lead people into rebellion?  Did God not warn that these kinds of things bring problems?  Did He not send prophet after prophet to warn the people in the Old Testament? Did He not send His Son to die for our sins to save us?  Who chose the wrong path, God or the people involved? Who refused to listen to reason, preferring to stick their middle fingers in God’s face in reply to His pleadings that they turn around and come back to His love?

It wasn’t God who chose the path of destruction, that’s for sure; it was the people with their fingers in the air who made all of the choices! Why is Jude going on so about all of this? Is it because he’s oppressive, repressive and intolerant?  Hardly! He was God’s agent bringing God’s warning and pleading with the people to come back to God’s love! Did he succeed?  I don’t know, I’d guess that some responded and others did not.  A more relevant question is this: What will we do?

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Powerful Stuff

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Don Merritt

RT 5-2015 313-LP

These verses are quite something; Jude has an interesting way with words!

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.

Jude 8

Our journey begins with connective language indicating that Jude’s opponents are doing the same thing that was being done in the previous verses, separating people from their relationships with God, as we saw in the last post. Please keep in mind as we continue, that the issue here for Jude isn’t so much that these people are doing improper things, but that they are encouraging others to turn their backs on their covenant relationship with Christ.

These dreamers (or on the strength of their dreams) is another interesting turn of phrase.  The Israelites were warned against prophets and dreamers who would lead them into rebellion against God. (Deut. 13:15; Jer. 27:9) It seems that these false prophets, based upon dreams were leading the people away from their covenant relationship, just as Jude is claiming about the first century false teachers.  Further, these people are “ungodly” and “pollute their own bodies” and do not respect authority.  This pollution is a reference to their immoral sexual practices.

They also reject authority.  The word rendered “authority” here is kyriotēs meaning “dominion, power, lordship” and is rendered “powers” in Col. 1:16 and “dominion” in Eph. 1:21. This is a reference to angelic beings, like those spoken of in Heb. 2:2 “message spoken by angels”.  In short, the “authority” they are rejecting is that of the angels of God who brought the Law to the people; the very morality they are flaunting in their behavior. These people are heaping abuse on the messengers of God Himself!

But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Jude 9

These people are so out of line in heaping their abuse on angels, they are doing something that the Archangel Michael wouldn’t even do to Satan. Jude is recalling a story that is not found anywhere in Scripture.  According to the early writings of Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Didymus, Jude found this account in The Assumption of Moses, a Jewish work dating from the first century that currently exists in fragment form.

Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

Jude 10

These characters slander what they don’t understand. I would think that a Christian of our age would understand exactly what is meant here, for we deal with that almost every day in the popular media.  What these characters understand by instinct, like any animal would, will destroy them.  Yes, they apparently understand sex, and their immorality will be their undoing.

There’s more fun dead ahead, see you next time!

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It’s Getting Serious

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Don Merritt

Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 5-7

Jude isn’t messing around in this letter; he gets right into his indictment of false teachers and frauds.  In this paragraph, he cites three Old Testament examples to make a point that his recipients had best not listen to these people.  There is an underlying premise in all of this that isn’t entirely expressed, at least not for a modern audience. The only “new truth” comes from false teachers. Their new morality is little more than an old immorality (cf. Galatians 1:9; 1 John 2:19-28)  If you are like most modern people, your defenses are up and there are warning lights going off in your head, but hang with me for a moment!

Jude mentioned in verses 3-4 that there are people in his readers’ midst who are trying to pervert the gospel message they have been entrusted with, just as John told his readers that they should hold to the gospel teachings they heard in the beginning and Paul also gave to his readers similar warnings.  So, if someone comes up with a different gospel, then it can’t be right, for the gospel is “once for all”.   Leaving the gospel behind, along with the teachings of Christ will have certain consequences; Jude begins to make his case here with three examples from the past:

The first example comes from the story of the Exodus. God saved the people from Egypt and delivered the promised land to them, but they were too afraid to enter it.  Only Joshua and Caleb entered the land ultimately, for God led the people through the Wilderness for the next 40 years in punishment for their disobedience. You might recall that this same example was used in Hebrews 3 and 4 to make the same point.

The next example is that of angels who rebelled against God. They fell from their high position and await their doom.

Finally, he uses the example of Sodom and Gomorrah where the people turned their backs on God’s ways and fell into immorality, the result apparently of a “new truth” discovery.  They lost their relationship with God and were consumed by His judgment.

I would like to call to your attention something that might not have occurred to some: In each of these three cases, those involved turned their backs on a relationship with God that they had.  The Israelites refused to accept the promised land, a covenant promise God made to Abraham and his descendants who turned their backs on the covenant when they refused to enter.  The angels mentioned had a high place in heaven, but they turned their backs on this relationship when they decided they would take God’s place.  The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had favor with God until they turned their backs on Him and decided that they would decide what is right and what is Wong.

Do you remember how verse 4 ends? Here’s the whole verse, pay special attention to the end:

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’s point is that these teachers with their “new truth” are trying to make the people deny Jesus Christ by their actions which would amount to a repudiation of their covenant relationship.  In Scripture, this is always a very big deal! In life, it is the way to destruction.

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Away We Go!

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Don Merritt

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…

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Photo of the Week: September 30, 2015

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Don Merritt

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An Introduction to Jude

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Don Merritt

Jude is a strange little letter, nestled between 3 John and Revelation. It is seldom quoted, and sermons and studies of it are rarer still. It could be that it is neglected because of its size, only 25 verses, or its location, or because it is so similar to 2 Peter 2.  A more likely reason could be that it is just strange.

We don’t know for sure who wrote it, nor can we be certain of when it was written, nor can we quite understand some of its quotations, but we do know why it was written, for it was written to warn against false teachers.  We will consider these unanswered questions as we continue through it, and we’ll begin with author and date right here and now.

Who was Jude?

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James

Jude 1a

Jude and Judas are forms of the name Judah, and we know Judah was one of the sons of Jacob and one of the tribes of Israel.  There are four men mentioned in the New Testament named Jude or Judas who could be the author.

1. He could be Jude, brother of Jesus. Mark 6:3 lists four brothers of Jesus, including Jude and James.

2. Judas son of James is mentioned in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13; this guy was an apostle. Some have suggested that the Greek is a little tricky and he could be the brother of James rather than the son of James, but personally, I don’t think so. Even if the Greek was tricky, the author of Jude doesn’t say he is an apostle; in fact he speaks of the apostles in v. 17 as though he weren’t one of them.

3. Judas Barnabas is mentioned in Acts 15:22 and maybe he was a “brother” of James in the sense of a brother in Christ rather than as a literal physical brother. That idea seems unlikely since “brother of” in the Greek appears more of an identification used to identify a literal brother.

4. Judas of Damascus from Acts 9 is the other one, but it would seem that he is way too obscure to have written an authoritative letter to a church, and oh, by the way, was he even a believer?

With these choices, it seems to me that our author must have been a half-brother of Jesus and brother of James. Some have also suggested that “Jude” could be a pen name for someone, but for me that involved way too much speculation to be considered, unless someone can find some evidence somewhere.

When was this written?

Beats me!  If we are right about which Jude wrote it, then it must have been between 55 and 80. Since he identified himself as the brother of James, we might think it would have been within James’ lifetime, so that narrows it down to 62 or before. Some have even suggested it might have been written in the second century by an entirely different Jude.  I doubt that, but the truth is we really can’t be certain.

I realize that this post is a radical departure from the way I’ve been covering books recently, but since this book is so obscure for most of us these days, I thought it would be good to look at some of its mysteries.  I’ll cover the other ones as we go along; next post will be more familiar to you!

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Final Thoughts on James

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Don Merritt

Old Testament Israel lived under the Law of Moses, very much a transactional system of law, violations, punishment and atonement. The great priority of that system was found in avoiding violations to curry God’s favor. Sacrifices were carried out continually to atone for these violations, but there was no permanent forgiveness, only the putting off of punishment; the concept of eternal life was not present in the Law. Then Jesus comes along and changes everything, so much so that the Jewish leaders refused to recognize Him as the Messiah and had Him put to death… and lo and behold, by doing so, He brought a superior sacrifice and established a superior covenant putting the cycle of law and violations to an end. With this, a new era was ushered in with that superior covenant in which sin could be taken away entirely and the gift of eternal life became effective.

Yet even in the early days of the church, there were those who attempted to bring the old system back into the picture, and Paul wrote the whole book of Galatians to combat them; a scathing rebuke is really what Galatians is, against the re-introduction of the Law into Christianity. A few centuries later when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Empire, it became a political necessity to force the Old Covenant into the church in order for Christianity to be a state religion, since the Law was the code of a theocracy and Christianity was not… and the battle began in earnest and is with us to this day between law and violation, and love and our response to it. Several of our Christian traditions are grounded in this legal approach to faith that should never have been there, and they see most things in terms of law and violation, resulting in what we would call today “legalism.”

I have neither the time nor the inclination to write a 50,000 word post to fully explain and document all of this, nor do I suspect you would read such a post if I were to write it, so let’s just cut to the chase: Do you define your identity in Christ in terms of Law or in terms of love and grace?

OK, perfect! Every one of you said love and grace… go ahead and admit it, I’m right.

That being the case, consider this one: Is the will of God for your life a list of do’s or a list of don’ts?

OK, you may not agree with me on much, but you must grant me this: I am the only human being in history who has read every single comment posted on this blog, not to mention a fair number that weren’t posted due to language. Since we agree that our identity in Christ is about love and grace, why do some send me lists of “don’ts”? (Aha, that’s how he can tell!)

The Ways of this World

In the world we live in today, almost every time something happens, somebody proposes a new law. If you turn back the clock 150 years, states were passing laws banning sodomy, now they pass laws to ban opposition to sodomy. Back in the day, they banned abortion, now they ban protesting abortion. They passed laws against civil rights for some people, and then passed laws to help those people. Somebody commits a mass killing and we pass another law that bans murder, as if the 20 already on the books were one short. And each time, somewhere, someone backed one of these stupid laws and claimed they got it from the Bible!

Did Jesus say any of this “legal stuff?”

Not exactly. Here is Jesus teaching:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37-40

As Christians, we live to a much higher standard than those living under the Law, for with us, it isn’t simply a matter of avoiding violations, for we respond to His love by loving our neighbor. If we really love our neighbor, nobody needs to tell us not to steal from them; it would be unthinkable! Nobody needs to tell me not to covet my neighbor’s wife, for that would be unthinkable. This is a vastly greater deterrent to ungodly behavior than another law!

James gives us some practical examples of problem areas that we might easily fall into and sends us back to the Master’s feet in prayer, both for ourselves and for one another. He tells us to be patient, to hang in there and take our problems, once identified to our Lord. This isn’t a list of “don’ts” it is the rule of love. If I harm my brother, I harm myself, and even worse I damage my relationship with my Lord whom I love above all else. Who needs a rule book?

Finally, please don’t accuse me of trying to condone sin, for when you do, I’ll know that you (sadly) still don’t get it.

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Summing Up

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Don Merritt

There are some misconceptions surrounding this book, and maybe that is why many modern-day teachers avoid it. Can Jesus be found in James? Well, let’s see… didn’t I write a “Bonus Post” on its connection with the Sermon on the Mount? Remember the chart? Every verse from James 1:2 through James 5:18 has a direct parallel in the Sermon on the Mount… and commentators say Jesus isn’t in James… that only leaves three verse without a direct parallel!

Does James really stress works over faith?  Now be careful before you say that he does, remember the parallel with the Sermon on the Mount! If you’ve followed these posts you have seen that James teaches that salvation comes by faith, and that as Christians we put that faith into action, which is exactly what Jesus taught. It is true that James hasn’t used the “magic words” of certain teachers who came along centuries later, but the essence is the same, for there is no conflict between faith and works, unless you manufacture one yourself.

Here’s What I Think…

James gives us a whole bunch of moral teachings and then places priority on our relationship with Christ through intercessory prayer for one another: Love in action. Jesus said that the whole Law and prophets were fulfilled in the command to love your neighbor as yourself; James demonstrated this principle in action. If you approach Scripture the way many theologians do, you are looking for proof texts to plug into your systematic theology chart, and you miss this treasure “hidden” in the book of James.

Some commentators have claimed that James is a legalistic book, are they right?

Personally, I don’t think so, but I can see why they say it.  There seems to be an impulse in some traditions to assert rules and even condemnation of others at every opportunity, and James gives these good folks a great deal of highly quotable material, as long as context isn’t an issue for them… and context in James isn’t as easy to identify as it is in other places. My real question relates not so much to James as it does to the impulse to make rules to hold others accountable to.

Here’s another way of saying this: Why is it that some Christians read the Scriptures and see faith in terms of ordinances and violations while others see love and our response to love?

Obviously I’m not the first to ask this sort of question, and just as obviously I won’t be the last to have a stab at it, if nothing else I hope to encourage you to give this a though or two. In the next post, I’ll share mine…

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James Closes His Letter

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Don Merritt

James 5:13-20

In concluding his letter, James speaks on prayer in the only passage in his letter that doesn’t have a direct parallel in the Sermon on the Mount. Actually, this is one of the strongest statements concerning the power of prayer in the entire New Testament, and if you are like me, it’s also one of the most challenging. Oh yes, it’s all well and good to read about the power of prayer, but we live in a “sophisticated” time of knowledge and science, and we are likely to find some of James’ comments quaint and folksy, but hardly 21st century! Yet, there it is, what are we going to do with it?

Verses 13-15 deal with trouble, happiness and sickness, and with trouble and sickness we are urged to pray, while in happiness we are told to praise.  Verse 15 is challenging for us: “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”  How are we to understand this? If you have been with me for a long time, surely you have an idea of what is going here… don’t you? Each of the books we have studied in the past tells us clearly to change our focus away from our earthly understanding and put it onto a heavenly understanding of things. Sickness is a physical affliction, and while that can be a very rough thing to deal with (persevere is a word that comes to mind) it is not the end game.

So often we have looked at things like this, and when the outcome, at least in physical terms, wasn’t the one we expected or hoped for, we let someone convince us that we didn’t have enough faith. Did it ever occur to anyone that our prayer wasn’t within God’s will for the person? I know this can be hard, yes I’ve been there too, but maybe God had a better plan for the sick person than leaving them here in this vale of tears.

Do we really believe that what we believe is really real?

If so, prayer isn’t about getting what we want from God, it’s about getting what God wants for others. Yes, that is a thought worth reflecting upon…

Notice that verse 16 begins with “therefore”

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

In verse 15, we saw that prayer would make the sick person “well”. The word translated “well” is also the word that is used for salvation. Even more interesting, the verse ends by saying their sins will be forgiven: “Therefore…” verse 16. This should be a familiar pattern for setting context by now, what is James actually teaching?  It would appear that the higher priority is on being healed from our sin, and oh yes, if the Lord wills it, from sickness too.

Verses 17 and 18 give us the example of Elijah as a great man of prayer, and then we come to 19-20:

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

James 5:19-20

Have you ever wandered off the path, maybe not even realizing it, and then you found yourself rather far afield of where you should have been in your faith? Well, I have! Whoever helps someone back from one of these wandering periods saves them from death and covers a multitude of sins.  I hope you will take special note of two things:

1. This is the last verse in this passage, summing up its contents. With this in mind, when James is talking about healing sick persons through prayer, what is he really getting at?

2. This is also the ending of the letter, summing up its contents: What is the letter, and all of this moral instruction here for?

To complete our tour of James, we’ll wrap this up in the next two posts tomorrow with some thoughts on the book’s message and application for us today, see you there!

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