Jude 1
BSASBJude meant to write about the salvation all believers share, but he had to warn his readers instead. Teachers who twisted grace into permission to sin had slipped into the churches. Jude recalls judgments from Israel’s history and tells believers to stay in God’s love, build one another up, rescue the wavering, and trust the God who keeps them from falling.
Jude 1:1
Jude calls himself a servant of Jesus and names his brother James, a leader well known to the early church. He writes to believers who are called by God, loved by the Father, and guarded in Christ. Everything the letter asks rests on that secure footing.
BSA: servant (“slave, bondservant”): Jude owns no rank of his own; he belongs wholly to Christ and lives at His command. kept (“protected, preserved”): Believers are not holding on alone; Christ watches over them like a guarded treasure.
Greek: δοῦλος (doulos, G1401) — “slave, bondservant.” This was the lowest rank in a household, yet early Christians wore the word as a badge of honor. It means total belonging to a master.
Jude 1:2
Jude’s greeting is a prayer. He asks that God’s mercy, peace and love be given in ever-growing measure. These are not rewards to earn. They are gifts believers will need as they face the troubles the letter describes.
BSA: multiplied (“increased, abundant”): Jude prays for these gifts to pile up and overflow, not merely to be present.
Jude 1:3
Jude had planned a warm letter about the shared salvation. News of danger changed his mind. He urges them to fight hard for the faith, meaning the gospel truth handed down by the apostles. It was given once for all, so no one may add to it or reshape it.
BSA: contend (“struggle, fight”): Defending the faith takes real effort, like an athlete straining in a contest. entrusted (“delivered, surrendered”): The faith is a gift passed into our hands, not something we invented.
Greek: ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι (epagōnizesthai, G1864) — “to struggle hard, as in an athletic contest.” Our word agony comes from this root. Jude pictures a wrestler giving everything, not someone merely arguing.
See also: 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 1:13-14.
Jude 1:4
The danger comes from within. Certain teachers slipped in quietly, claiming grace while living immorally. They twisted God’s kindness into permission to sin, and in practice they denied Jesus as Master and Lord. Their judgment was foretold long ago.
BSA: license (“toward debauchery”): They treated grace as a green light for shameless living. unnoticed (“having crept in unawares, secretly entered”): They did not announce themselves; they came in quietly and looked like the rest.
Greek: παρεισέδυσαν (pareisedysan, G3921) — “slipped in alongside, secretly.” The word suggests someone sneaking in through a side door. The danger looked harmless at first.
See also: Romans 6:1-2; Galatians 5:13.
Jude 1:5
Jude begins with Israel. God rescued a whole people from Egypt, yet later destroyed those among them who would not trust Him. Being part of God’s people does not shield anyone who turns to unbelief. Privilege without faith ends in ruin.
BSA: destroyed (“completely lost, spiritually ruined”): The loss was total; those who refused to trust Him never reached the promised land.
See also: 1 Corinthians 10:1-5; Numbers 14:26-35.
Jude 1:6
Next Jude points to angels who left the place God gave them. They are now held in darkness until the great day of judgment. If angels are not spared when they rebel, no one should assume they can sin without consequence.
BSA: domain (“first estate, God-given positions”): These angels were given a station by God and abandoned it. chains (“bonds, shackles”): Their confinement is certain and strong; they are held until judgment.
Greek: ἀρχήν (archēn, G746) — “rule, original position.” Jude says they did not keep their original post. Their sin was refusing the place God assigned. Christians differ on exactly when this fall happened.
See also: 2 Peter 2:4.
Jude 1:7
Sodom, Gomorrah and the neighboring towns gave themselves to sexual sin that went against the natural order. Their destruction by fire stands as a lasting warning. Their ruin is displayed like a sign, showing what awaits those who persist in such rebellion.
BSA: example (“a specimen, a warning”): Their fate is held up for everyone to see, as a sample of final judgment.
Greek: δεῖγμα (deigma, G1164) — “a sample, something shown publicly.” The cities become a display piece, an open demonstration of how God treats unrepentant sin.
See also: Genesis 19:24-25.
Jude 1:8
Jude now ties the three examples to the intruders. Like those before them, they live by their own dreams and impulses. They defile their bodies, refuse God’s authority, and speak scornfully of glorious spiritual beings.
BSA: dreamers (“having visions, in their dreamings”): They claim inner visions as authority, but these are only their own fantasies. authority (“lordship, dominion”): They reject the rule of the Lord Himself, not just human rules.
Jude 1:9
Even the archangel Michael, in a dispute with the devil, did not dare insult him. He left the verdict to God and said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Jude refers to an account the Bible does not record elsewhere. If Michael was this humble, the boastful intruders have no excuse.
BSA: archangel (“chief messenger, high-ranking angel”): Michael is among the most powerful of angels, yet he still kept to humble restraint.
See also: Zechariah 3:2; Daniel 12:1.
Jude 1:10
These men mock what they cannot grasp. What they do understand is only what they know by instinct, like animals driven by appetite. The very things they indulge will bring them down.
BSA: destroyed (“corrupted, ruined”): Their own desires rot them from within and finally ruin them.
Jude 1:11
Jude pronounces a woe, a cry of sorrow and warning, over them. They follow three bad examples. Cain hated his brother and killed him. Balaam sold his gifts for profit. Korah rebelled against God’s chosen leaders. Together these show violence, greed and revolt.
BSA: Woe (“alas, a lament”): This is a grieving cry as well as a warning. rushed headlong (“run riotously, abandoned themselves”): They threw themselves into Balaam’s error with no restraint.
See also: Genesis 4:3-8; Numbers 22:7; Numbers 16:1-3.
Jude 1:12
At the shared meals of the church, these men sit with the believers without shame. They look after only themselves. Jude calls them hidden rocks that wreck ships, rainless clouds, and dead, uprooted trees. They promise much and give nothing.
BSA: love feasts (“gatherings of charity, fellowship meals”): These were meals where the church shared food and love, which the intruders abuse. shepherding (“caring for, guiding”): A true shepherd feeds the flock; these feed only themselves.
Greek: ἀγάπαις (agapais, G26) — “love feasts, fellowship meals.” These were communal meals expressing Christian love. Hidden hazards among the diners are all the more dangerous.
See also: Ezekiel 34:2.
Jude 1:13
More pictures follow. They are like wild waves throwing up foam, which is their own shame. They are like wandering stars with no fixed course. A place of deepest darkness waits for them. Their show is noisy and bright, but it leads nowhere.
BSA: wandering (“false, astray”): These teachers drift off course and lead others astray. shame (“disgrace, confusion”): What spills out of them is their own disgrace, exposed for all to see.
Greek: πλανῆται (planētai, G4107) — “wanderers.” Our word planet comes from this. The picture is of a star that does not keep its fixed path.
Jude 1:14-15
Jude cites a prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from Adam. The Lord will come with countless holy ones to judge everyone. He will expose all ungodly deeds and every hard word spoken against Him. Jude uses this to show that judgment on such people is certain.
BSA: myriads (“tens of thousands, a countless number”): The Lord comes with a vast host, so no one can resist Him. convict (“reprove, correct”): Judgment includes exposing guilt so that the truth about every act is shown.
See also: Genesis 5:21-24; Daniel 7:10.
Jude 1:16
Jude sums up their character. They grumble constantly, chase their own desires, speak with swollen pride, and flatter people when it pays. Their religion serves themselves. Their words give them away.
BSA: grumblers (“murmurers, complainers”): They echo Israel in the wilderness, always muttering against what God has given. flatter (“show respect of persons, admire”): They praise people only to gain something for themselves.
Greek: γογγυσταί (gongystai, G1113) — “mutterers, grumblers.” The word sounds like the low muttering it describes, the discontented noise of those who never accept God’s ways.
Jude 1:17-18
Jude turns to the faithful. He tells them to remember what the apostles said ahead of time. In the last times scoffers would come, following their own ungodly desires. So the trouble is no surprise. It was foretold.
BSA: scoffers (“mockers, scoffers”): They sneer at holy things and at those who take God seriously. remember (“keep in memory, recall to mind”): Calling the apostles’ words to mind steadies believers when trouble comes.
See also: 2 Peter 3:3; 1 Timothy 4:1.
Jude 1:19
These are people who split the church. They are governed by natural, merely human instincts and do not have the Spirit. Whatever religion they display, the life of God is not in them.
BSA: divisions (“separations, schisms”): They tear the body into parties rather than building it up. worldly (“natural, sensual, having not the Spirit”): They live only on the level of natural impulse, without God’s Spirit.
Greek: ψυχικοί (psychikoi, G5591) — “natural, soul-ruled.” The word describes people who live only by natural human life, without the Spirit’s life.
See also: 1 Corinthians 2:14.
Jude 1:20
Now Jude says what believers should do. Build yourselves up on your most holy faith, and pray in the Holy Spirit. Father, Son and Spirit all appear here. Strength comes by growing on the foundation of the gospel and depending on God in prayer.
BSA: building (“edifying, constructing”): Faith grows like a house raised stone by stone on the gospel foundation.
See also: Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 2:7.
Jude 1:21
Keep yourselves in God’s love, like staying in the warmth of a fire or the shelter of a home. Meanwhile, wait expectantly for Christ’s mercy, which finally brings eternal life. Mercy begins the Christian life and also completes it.
BSA: keep yourselves (“in a state of devotion, safe”): Believers remain safe by staying close to God’s love, not by their own strength. await (“wait for, expect with confidence”): This is hopeful waiting, sure of what Christ will bring.
See also: John 15:9-10.
Jude 1:22-23
Believers are also to care for others. Show mercy to those who doubt. Pull some from the fire of judgment, like rescuing someone from a burning house. Show others mercy mixed with caution, hating the sin that stains them even while loving the person.
BSA: snatching (“seizing, pulling”): Some rescue is urgent and forceful, like pulling a person out of danger. doubt (“are in doubt, uncertain, judging thoroughly”): These are wavering people who need patient compassion, not scorn.
Greek: ἁρπάζοντες (harpazontes, G726) — “snatching, seizing.” The word is forceful, like grabbing someone at the last second from a burning building.
See also: Zechariah 3:2; James 5:19-20.
Jude 1:24
Jude ends with praise. God is able to keep believers from stumbling and to bring them faultless into His presence with great joy. The One who calls us also holds us, so our hope ultimately rests on His power.
BSA: stumbling (“falling, sinning”): God can keep us on our feet along the road, so that we do not fall into sin. unblemished (“blameless, faultless”): He presents us without any fault, clean and acceptable.
Greek: ἀπταίστους (aptaistous, G679) — “not stumbling, sure-footed.” The word was used of a horse that does not trip. God keeps His people on their feet to the end.
See also: Philippians 1:6; Colossians 1:22.
Jude 1:25
All glory, majesty, dominion and authority belong to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ. This was true before time began, is true now, and will be forever. Jude’s warnings close on a note of worship.
BSA: Savior (“deliverer, rescuer”): The God who rules all things is also the One who rescues us. majesty (“greatness, splendor”): His greatness is beyond measure and shines out in splendor.
See also: 1 Timothy 1:17.