THE BOOK OF JUDE

PASTOR BOLA BELLO

THE BOOK OF JUDE

JUDE 1-2; GALATIANS 1:19

Jude introduced himself as the brother of James. Galatians shows that same James as the brother of Jesus. By extension, Jude was a brother of Jesus. He got to a point where he acknowledged his own brother as his master. The Book of Jude talks basically about apostasy in the early Church. Apostasy implies turning away from the truth. Many believers turn away without knowing it. Many who seek after new teachings get into heresy before they know what is happening because they are not circumspect. Apostasy is living in a manner contrary to the Christ. Many apostates put up a form of godliness and they deny the power of godliness through their lifestyles. Apostasy is a very subtle operation. Jude wrote to those who have been sanctified. Sanctification is setting apart unto a specific use. As believers, we have been set apart unto God.

I CORINTHIANS 1:2,30

There is a previous sanctification that took place ever before we were called into Christ. When we became believers, we simply journeyed to that place of sanctification that had been prepared for us previously. Every believer is equipped with wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. We have to journey to the point where we can be fortified. We need grace to win a place among those who are sanctified (Acts 20:32). Nobody has a monopoly of salvation. It is a salvation that has been given to all believers. Contention is required for the faith because people stopped journeying in the faith (Jude 3).

ROMANS 6:19

There is an ongoing sanctification. When we come into Christ, there is a constant need to yield our members as servants of righteousness unto holiness. In the process of journeying, we will encounter all kinds of temptations. We should never get to a point where we think we are invincible and the Devil cannot get us. We need meekness to journey in the path of sanctification. One way to overcome sin is to have confidants that we can own up to about our weaknesses; people that can counsel us and support us in the place of prayers.

II PETER 1:12

There is a future sanctification which is at the end of our successful journey. The faith requires diligence. We need diligence to always operate in the present truth. If we refuse to journey in the truth for every season, we will wither off. If we build monuments on a truth without paying attention to the dynamics of God, we will become statues. At a point in the Nigerian Church, the message of material prosperity was the present truth. Right now, we have to progress into the prosperity of the soul. Many people go about spreading the gospel of greed in the name of Jesus. They turn the grace of God into a means for making gains and living immoral lives. The faith is not about any man, it is about Christ. Any message that exalts man above Christ is heresy (Jude 1:4).

JUDE 1:5-12; II PETER 2:6

If the angels are not spared from judgement, how can mere mortals be spared. Grace does not prevent God from judging people that err. The way of Cain is the way of pride and lack of self control. The error of Balaam is uncontrolled appetite for material gain. The gainsaying of Korah talks about claiming to be what God has not made us. People with these ungodly operations are described as clouds without rain. They are trees whose fruits wither.