The Epistle of Jude Theology

Theology: The Epistle of Jude

The Epistle of Jude: Theology

The Epistle of Jude, like that of 2 Peter, focuses on the issue of false teachers and apostasy. Jude warns Christians against falling to apostasy, or heeding to the teachings of false teachers within the church. Any such doing, the author teaches, is deemed to attract judgment and condemnation from God. This text analyzes the core themes in the Epistle of Jude.

The Epistle of Jude

The church at the time was facing two fundamental issues -- false teachers and apostasy. Members were claiming to be Christians, but were at the same time practicing aspects of Judaism, and were not ready to openly declare their faith, owing to the persecution and suffering that Christians were forced to go through by the Roman Empire (Jobes, 2011). In verse 1: 3, Jude refers to these apostates as those who had departed from the faith that was originally delivered (Jude 1: 3). He warns against apostasy, proclaiming that God would reign his punishment on all who departed from the Christian faith. Jude also seeks to address the problem of false teachers in the church -- these teachers had robbed from the doctrine of the apostles, but were mixing this doctrine with false teachings, and using these teachings to build apostate churches (Jude 1: 4). Unlike Peter, who taught about the coming of false teachers (2 Peter 3: 3), Jude preached that false teachers were already in the church, having, having made their way without the congregation's realization (Jude 1: 4; 11-12; 17-18). The Epistle of Jude was written to fight against the apostasy that had attacked the congregation, and the defectors of the Christian faith, who were building churches from their false teachings.

For the apostates, Jude warned that God would punish them, just like past apostates had been punished in the OT (verses 5 to 7). God judged those who departed from the faith in the OT; in a similar manner, He will judge and bring punishment upon those who reject Him today. Using the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, and how they were judged and destroyed by God for defaulting on the faith and doctrines of Christianity, Jude (in verse 7) preaches that all those Christians who had abandoned the faith, and chosen to pursue their unnatural human desires would be separated from the world and subjected to a punishment of eternal fire.

The same kind of judgment awaits the false teachers -- they have rejected God's word, choosing instead to dwell on their own false teachings. They are not led and guided by God, and will eventually wither like the tree that grows away from the stream. They will expose their hypocritical nature and people will know who they are inwardly -- then they will be condemned into the darkness of the final judgment (Jude 12-13). Jude encourages Christians to remain spiritually strong so they are able to discern true from false teachers (verses 12-13).

Jude's Description of the Work of False Teachers