Jude 1:1 by Precept Austin Commentary

Jude 1:1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: Ioudas Iesou Christou doulos adelphos de Iakobou tois en theo patri egaphemenois (RPPMPD) kai Iesou Christo teteremenois (RPPMPD) kletois: Jude = Mt 13:55, Mark 6:3 the servant = Jn 12:26; Acts 27:23; Ro 1:1; 6:22; 16:18; Jas 1:1; 2Pe 1:1 them = Jn 15:16; 17:17,19; Acts 20:32; 1Co 1:2; 6:11; Ep 5:26; 1Th 5:23; 1Pe 1:2 preserved = John 6:39; 10:28, 29, 30; 17:11,12,15; 2Ti 4:18; 1Pe 1:5 and called = Ro 8:30; 9:24; 1Th 2:12; 2Th 2:13,14; 2Ti 1:9; Heb 3:1; 1Pe 2:9; 5:10 CHRISTIANS ARE... CALLED BELOVED KEPT Jude (2455)(Ioudas) Heb = Yehudah. is translated Judas, Jehudah, Judah ( = Praise Yahweh), Jude. Judas misunderstood the popularity of Jesus (Mt 12:46). In his estimation, Jesus was a foolish enthusiast (Mk 3:21). Mt 13:55 clearly states that Judas and James, were also the brothers of Jesus. Before the resurrection of Jesus, he apparently did not acknowledge his Brother as the Messiah (Jn 7:3.) Vincent - One of the brethren of Jesus; not the brother of James the Apostle, the son of Alphaeus, but of James the superintendent of the church at Jerusalem. He is named among the brethren of the Lord. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3. Barclay Few things tell more about a man than the way in which he speaks of himself; few things are more revealing than the titles by which he wishes to be known. Jude calls himself the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. At once this tells us two things about him. (i) Jude was a man well content with the second place. He was not nearly so well known as James; and he is content to be known as the brother of James. In this he was the same as Andrew. Andrew is Simon Peter's brother (John 6:8). He, too, was described by his relationship to a more famous brother. Jude and Andrew might well have been resentful of the brothers in whose shadow they had to live; but both had the great gift of gladly taking the second place. (ii) The only title of honor which Jude would allow himself was the servant of Jesus Christ. The Greek is doulos and it means more than servant, it means slave. That is to say, Jude regarded himself as having only one object and one distinction in life--to be for ever at the disposal of Jesus for service in his cause. The greatest glory which any Christian can attain is to be of use to Jesus Christ. (Jude Commentary - William Barclay's Daily Study Bible) Bondservant(1401)(doulos from deo = to bind) (Click additional notes on doulos) was an individual bound to another in servitude and conveys the idea of the slave's close, binding ties with his master, belonging to him, obligated to and desiring to do his will and in a permanent relation of servitude. In sum, the will of the doulos is consumed in the will of the master. A bondservant is one who surrendered wholly to another’s will and thus devoted to another to the disregard of his own interest. Paul and Timothy were not their own but had been bought with the price of the blood of Christ. They were now the property of our Lord Jesus Christ and were His slaves exclusively. No man can serve two masters (Mt 6:24-note). Paul and Timothy had been slaves of Sin (see note on "the Sin") by their birth into Adam's likeness, but now they are slaves of Christ by their new, second birth. They had no will of their own, no business of their own, no time of their own and were acting for their Master, Christ; dependent upon Him and obedient to Him. Bondservant is used in the introductions of the epistles by Paul, James, Peter, Jude and John - Ro 1:1, Php 1:1, Titus 1:1, James 1:1, 2Pe 1:1, Jude 1:1, Rev 1:1 BONDSERVANT A Summary The doulos... • Was owned by and totally possessed by his master. • Existed for his master and no other reason. • Had no personal rights. • Was at the master’s disposal "24/7". • Had no will of his own but was completely subservient to the master. Paradoxically a bondservant of the Most High God is one of the most privileged, noblest professions in the world. Little wonder that notable men of God in the have always been called the servants of God. The illustrious list of names includes... Moses (Dt 34:5 Ps 105:26 Mal 4:4) Joshua (Josh 24:29) David (2Sa 3:18 Ps 78:70) Paul (Ro 1:1-note; Phil 1:1; Titus 1:1-note) Peter (2Pe 1:1-note) James (James 1:1-note) Jude (Jude 1:1 ) Prophets (Amos 3:7; Jer 7:25). Ideally believers (Acts 2:18; 1Co 7:22; Ep 6:6-note; Col 4:12-note; 2Ti 2:24-note). A businessman once asked his Bible study group, “How can you tell if you have a servant attitude?” The reply came back...“By the way you react when you are treated like one.” It’s not easy to find an attitude like that. But for a disciple, servant-hood is one of the keys to growing in Christ-likeness. Vincent - Brother of James = That Jude does not allude to his relationship to the Lord may be explained by the fact that the natural relationship in his mind would be subordinate to the spiritual (see Luke 11:27, 28), and that such a designation would, as Dean Alford remarks, "have been in harmony with those later and superstitious feelings with which the next and following ages regarded the Lord's earthly relatives." He would shrink from emphasizing a distinction to which none of the other disciples or apostles could have a claim, the more so because of his former unbelief in Christ's authority and mission. It is noticeable that James likewise avoids such a designation. Kept (5083) (tereo from teros - a guard or warden) (4x in Jude 1:1, 6, 13, 21 cf 4x in 2Pet 2:4, 9, 17; 3:7) means to keep an eye on, to keep something in view, to hold firmly, to attend carefully, or to watch over it (watchful care - Jesus' prayer to His Father for His disciples - Jn 17:11). Tereo speaks of guarding something which is in one’s possession. It means to watch as one would some precious thing. The idea is to observe attentively and to retain in custody. Jude's readers are kept safe, guarded, watched over. The perfect tense indicates we have been and are in the present state of being watched, being kept safe from harm, being preserved. Tereo expresses watchful care given to someone, conveying a sense of security -- in this case we are being maintained by and for our Lord! Recall Jesus' prayer to His Father... “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep (tereo) them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. (John 17:11) Barclay - "The Christian is never left alone; Christ is always the Sentinel of his life and the Companion of his way." NET Note - Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It used national Israel times (Isa 43:10) but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (89.3" class="scriptRef">Ps 89:3; cf. 2Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.” Jamieson - Jude, beforehand, mentions the source and guarantee for the final accomplishment of believers‘ salvation; lest they should be disheartened by the dreadful evils which he proceeds to announce [Bengel]. Henry - Believers are preserved from the gates of hell, and to the glory of heaven. Ironside - Whatever may be the difficulties of life, however great the trial of our faith, in the love of God we are preserved by the One who has saved us. He it is who, “having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). Were it not for His preserving grace not one saint would persevere. “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). There is no ground for self-confidence, or fleshly elation. Such grace calls for reverent and adoring gratitude, and a walk that corresponds to the lovingkindness lavished on creatures so unworthy. (Jude - Ironside's Notes) Tereo describes God's guarding the fallen angels (Jude 1:6) and "these men" (Jude 1:12, 13) for judgment, but He is preserving His own children for glory. Meanwhile, He is able to preserve us in our daily walk and "keep (verb phulasso) us from stumbling" (Jude 1:21) The called (2822) (kletos from kaleo = basic meaning is to call - see amplification below. See study of related word klesis) is a "verbal adjective" which is sometimes used as a verb and sometimes used as a noun referring to believers. Literally kletos means invited or welcomed and was originally used to designate those invited to a banquet. In the NT kletos is generally used of one who has accepted a calling or an invitation to become a guest or member of a select group. Believers have been invited by God in the proclamation of the Gospel to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom through Christ. The idea is they have been invited by God through the proclamation of the Gospel to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom. As used in the epistles "called" is synonymous with "chosen" -- specifically called is used by Paul and Peter and John (Rev 17:14) to identify those who have received and have accepted the divine call of God to salvation. Barclay - Kaleo has three great areas of use. (a) It is the word for summoning a man to office, to duty, and to responsibility. The Christian is summoned to a task, to duty, to responsibility in the service of Christ. (b) It is the word for summoning a man to a feast or a festival. It is the word for an invitation to a happy occasion. The Christian is the man who is summoned to the joy of being the guest of God. (c) It is the word for summoning a man to judgment. It is the word for calling a man to court that he may give account of himself.The Christian is in the end summoned to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The called are those who have been summoned by God, called... according to His purpose (Kletos - Ro 8:28-note) to salvation (Kaleo - Ro 8:30-note) saints by calling (Kletos - 1Co 1:2) both Jews and Greeks (Kletos - 1Co 1:24) having been called (kaleo) "with a holy" calling (klesis) (2Ti 1:9-note) heavenly calling (klesis) (Heb 3:1-note) out of darkness into His marvelous light (Kaleo - 1Pe 2:9-note) to walk worthy (Kaleo - Ep 4:1- note) by grace (Kaleo - Gal 1:6) not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles (Kaleo - Ro 9:24-note) through the "gospel" that we "may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Kaleo - 2Th 2:14) and be brought "into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Kaleo - 1Co 1:9) and return in triumph "with Him" at the end of this age (Kletos - Re 17:14-note). These magnificent truths on "called" should cause all the "called of Jesus Christ" to cry out "Glory!" Vincent on Brother of James -That Jude does not allude to his relationship to the Lord may be explained by the fact that the natural relationship in his mind would be subordinate to the spiritual (see Luke 11:27, Luke 11:28), and that such a designation would, as Dean Alford remarks, “have been in harmony with those later and superstitious feelings with which the next and following ages regarded the Lord's earthly relatives.” He would shrink from emphasizing a distinction to which none of the other disciples or apostles could have a claim, the more so because of his former unbelief in Christ's authority and mission. It is noticeable that James likewise avoids such a designation. Spurgeon - He does not say, “and brother of our Lord,” for we know that James and Judas were both of them among the Lord’s kinsman according to the flesh; but now, after the flesh, knoweth he even Christ no more, but is content and happy to be known as “the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,” We have here a very blessed description of the whole work of our salvation, — set apart by the Father, joined unto Christ, and preserved in him, and then, in due time, called out by the Spirit of God. Beloved (25)(agapao) is from the verb agapao which speaks especially of love as based on evaluation and choice, a matter of will and action. God chose to love us! Amazing love how can it be that Thou my God should lovest me? The perfect tense speaks of this as an abiding (eternal) love of God for all who are in His Beloved Son. Agapetos describes the love of another, this love being called out of the "giver's" heart by preciousness of the recipient of the love (the "beloved'). Agapetos is used only of Christians as united (by covenant, the New Covenant) with God and/or with each other in love. Beloved is a term of endearment and is someone that you love, and someone you are deeply devoted to. In the context of the New Testament agape love speaks of God’s divine and infinite love, a love that seeks the ultimate spiritual welfare of the one loved. Agapetos could be translated “divinely loved ones.” Jude mentions that his readers are beloved three times (Jude 1:1, 17, 20) and in Jude 1:2 prays for God's love to be "multiplied to" them! Clearly Jude wants these believers' to know their standing with God - Beloved! And this applies to you dear reader if you have placed your faith in Christ Jesus. Ironside - Our Lord Himself declared it (the love of the Father) when He said, The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. (John 17:22-23). This is the measure of the Father’s love to every child of grace. There are no degrees in His affection for His children. The feeblest and the strongest are alike “[beloved of] God the Father” as truly as His Son is the Beloved of His heart. (Jude - Ironside's Notes) Hiebert says the word "beloved at the very beginning of an epistle is unusual, occurring elsewhere only in 3Jn 2. Jude at once assured his readers that the unpleasant theme of his present communication did not negate his personal love for them. His love was grounded in the reality of God's love and redemptive purpose for them (Jude 1b) and prompted him aggressively to seek to eliminate the dangers which threatened the beloved." (Second Peter and Jude An Expositional Commentary)

Be the first to react on this!

Jude 1:1

Precept Austin Commentary

Precept Austin Commentary ( - )

Group of Brands