THE BOOK OF JUDE is one of the shortest New Testament books (only one chapter) but, as the early church writer Origen said, “it is full of mighty words”.

Jude tells his readers in no uncertain terms to withstand false teachers and to hold fast to the apostolic faith.

NARRATIVE

Keep the fences mended

AS any pet owner or farmer knows, it is a chief purpose of animal life to get through fences. Rabbits will burrow under them, sheep will squeeze through them, and goats will eat them.

Jude wanted to write a letter or tract about the delights of the spiritual meadow in which the Church grazed, but instead he spends his strength telling his readers to stay within the fences which surround it: the doctrines “once for all entrusted to the saints” (v 3). The reason for his change is that some church members have torn down the barriers and others are in danger of falling.

They have impure motives and bad intentions. They have “secretly slipped in” like enemy agents in a government department, like wolves in sheeps’ clothing (Matthew 7:15). They look right, and sound right, but subtly undermine faith. They also encourage immoral conduct.

To counter them, Jude says we are to stay within the boundaries of faith previously laid down. Today, these are encapsulated for us in the creeds which are based on Scripture, and in the broad but definite boundaries of conduct outlined in the historic Ten Commandments.

In an age of moral relativism, there are many voices advocating practices and beliefs which are not genuine interpretations or fresh applications of unchanging truths, but denials or distortions of those truths. We are to resist them as Jude’s readers were to resist the false teachers of their time.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote that the breaking of barriers could be the breaking of everything. The fence of faith is not a prison wall to restrict our freedom but a guard rail for our benefit and safety. And human beings are not meant to behave like animals searching for greener grass.

TWO

Are unbiblical sources vehicles of God’s truth?

IT must be pointed out that Jude was rejected by some early Church leaders because he used books not recognised as authoritative Scripture and considered to be “unsound”.

He quotes from The Assumption of Moses (v 9); draws from The Book of Enoch (vv 6,8, 13-15), a bizarre work full of extravagant symbolism, and possibly from The Testament of Naphtali (v 6) and The Testament of Asher (v 8). These were all deemed as items of Jewish fiction.

Other biblical books quote dubious sources: Paul used Greek and Cretan writers (Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Titus 1:12). Old Testament authors acknowledged outside sources (for example, Numbers 21:14; 1 Kings 14:19,29) and Luke says there were many records of Jesus’ life (1:1-4). Jesus himself quoted an old wives’ tale (Matthew 16:3)!

Jude’s use of the Michael legend does not imply that it is true; all we can say is that he uses a familiar story to make a point about the false teachers.

This encourages us to take a robust view of biblical authority and inspiration. God draws on surprising sources. Many of the people whose story is told in the Bible and who were used by God were far from being “saints”. They were, in fact, pretty sinful! But, then again, we all are other than God himself.

So, the sources used for and quoted by the Scriptures were far from perfect too. But woven together under the direction of God’s Spirit the overall message of the scriptural writings became his. Use of other authors does not imply that all they wrote was right, inspired, or even helpful; only that what is quoted is now, in its context, the vehicle of God’s message.

– Note: The Podcast ends after Part I