Jude comes in very Hebraic form. In fact some of the language Jude uses echoes much of what is found in Hebrews 6 & 10. There are warnings to deliver men from the edge of death ( Jude 23) as Hebrews does. One of the questions raised in such occasions is whether Jude’s warnings like Hebrews are sent to Christians or whether it is merely hypothetical. If hypothetical, the warning itself serves little purpose. If, in some way, a covenant member cannot lose his status, the warnings of Jude and Hebrews and other places are null and void.
These warnings are given so we should not drift away. The idea behind a warning implies that some of you may let something slip from your grasp without realizing it; like a ring on your finger. This is why the author says that some will doubt the message of Jesus, and we are going to have to help some people by snatching them from fire. We will have to look at them and say, “Hey, this about your deliverance; you are being led astray by zealots and rebellious people. Don’t neglect such a great salvation.”
Perhaps it is helpful to stop here and make two observations on biblical warnings, so the message of Jude is not misunderstood. The first observation is that this is a covenant warning to God’s covenant members. This is not a warning to those outside the church. Those outside the church already neglect such great salvation. This is a real warning to those members who are covenanted to Christ. They have the benefits of Christ as Judas did, but yet some of them abandon the faith.
The second observation is that we do not need to compromise our convictions to believe this. Those elect to eternal life “cannot be separated from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” We affirm both of those realities. We need to fit the Bible into our theology, not our theology into the Bible.
These are real warnings to the people of God. You may have grown up in the Church, you may have been baptized into the Church, you may have received the benefits of the Church as a covenant member, but the question for you today is: “Are you slipping away, are you drifting far apart from the Church and her Messiah, are you neglecting the message of salvation, are you affirming Yahweh in your life, are you living as one who has been marked by the waters of baptism? Are you building yourself up in the most holy faith, keeping yourselves in God’s love? Take heed! Listen and cling to Jesus!
Everything Jude tells us in the opening two verses is everything we need for the rest of our lives. Strange lessons and symbolic ideas will fill your hearts with wonder as you read Jude, and may this wonder keep you from stumbling, so that mercy, love and peace be multiplied to you as we embark in this journey into Jude.
