JUNE 29, 67 AD - Paul and Peter Are Martyred

• According to early church tradition, this is the day that Paul is beheaded in Rome during Nero’s reign.
• Around the same time, Peter is found confounding the magic of Simon Magus, who is favored by Nero.
• Peter is imprisoned and leads a captain of the guard to Christ, along with many others.
• Peter is scourged, then crucified upside down because he does not feel worthy to die as did his Lord.
• Aristarchus from Thessalonica, Erastus from Corinth, Trophimus from Ephesus, Joseph Barsabbas from Jerusalem, and Ananias of Damascus, along with many other Christians, are all martyred under Nero’s reign in A.D. 68
• Andrew, the apostle and brother of Peter, is crucified in Patras, Greece on an x-shaped cross.49
• Luke is crucified with him.
• After preaching the gospel in India, Armenia, Southern Arabia, and Ethiopia, Bartholomew (also called Nathanael) one of the Twelve, is beaten and crucified in Albanopolis, Armenia.
• John Mark brings the gospel to Alexandria, Egypt.
• While there, he enrages a mob by telling them that the pagan god, Serapis, is worthless.
• Mark is dragged with a rope around his neck through the streets by horses and then imprisoned for the night.
• The following morning, the same ordeal is repeated until his death.

 
Nero and Vespasian June 9, 68

• After fourteen years of Nero’s reign, the Roman people can no longer tolerate their cruel and embarrassing emperor.
• So they revolt against Nero.
• The Senate declares him to be a public enemy of the State, and soldiers pursue him.
• Upon hearing this, Nero hides at the home of one of his freedmen in a villa outside of Rome where he commits suicide.
• His famous last words are: “What an artist the world is losing in me.”

 
Crisis in the Churches of the Dispersion

• False teachers have subtly infiltrated the dispersed Jewish churches and are spreading a false doctrine that perverts God’s grace to be license to sin.
• These false brethren have successfully disguised themselves as true believers and have managed to partake of the Lord’s Supper with the church.
• These false teachers can be described as follows: They are distorting the gospel by advocating sexual license under the banner of God’s grace.
• They are “dreamers,” seeing visions that originate from themselves and not from the Lord.
• They slander angels, which means they despise the Law of Moses that was delivered by angels.
• They indulge their own needs when eating the Lord’s Supper.
• They are grumblers and malcontents, pursuing their own will rather than God’s.
• They are arrogant and use flattery to take advantage of God’s people.
• They are scoffers, laughing at moral purity and Divine judgment.
• They are devoid of the Spirit of God and provoke divisions in the church.
• Jude possesses a copy of Peter’s second letter.
• In it, he sees the fulfillment of Peter’s prediction about the coming of false teachers coming to pass before his eyes.54
• Jude, the half-brother of Jesus and brother of “James the Just,” is burdened about this problem.

 
JUDE WRITES THE LETTER OF JUDE Year: A.D. 68

• To: The dispersed Jewish Christians in and outside of Palestine Provocation: Jude exposes and announces condemnation on the false teachers who have infiltrated the churches.
• He also reminds and exhorts the believers to return to and contend for the original faith that the apostles delivered to them.… [1]

 
GREETING
JUDE
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:

• Jude reveals himself to be a bond-servant of God, or a willing servant of God, because of His mercy and grace.
• Jude, being the brother of James, was likely also the brother of Jesus.

To those who are the called, loved, by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.

• God the Father is keeping all of His children for Jesus Christ.
• This is a passage that speaks very clearly of eternal security.
• Believers are kept by God and offered as a gift to Jesus.

2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

• A true knowledge of God results in mercy and grace from God, which breeds peace and contentment within the lives of believers.
• We are dearly loved by God who has done everything we need for a safe and secure salvation.

 
JUDE’S PURPOSE IN WRITING
3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.

• Jude wants his readers to fight for truth because it is the very message from God to the world.
• This Gospel of grace is what God has handed down to the saints for delivery to the world.
• Jude is concerned about the message of God’s grace being perverted and leading people to deception.

4 For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago,, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

• The false teachers encouraged a life of celebration of sin and also had some form of denial of Jesus’s identity.
• All false teachings, as defined by the Bible, deny some aspect of Jesus, and encourage godless behavior.
• In this context the godless behavior is abusing grace through sinful behavior.
• The false teachers were likely appealing to eternal security as a reason to sin all-the-more.
• Such teachings are often the result of having heard the truth about God’s grace in Christ.
• If God’s grace is truly free, then it can naturally be twisted to encourage sin.
• A legalistic Gospel would never yield false teachings.

 
APOSTATES: PAST AND PRESENT
5 Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe;

• The believers knew the Gospel and knew God at the core of their beings.
• Jude is appealing to this reality as he reminds God’s children about the truth.
• The Gospel of grace is indeed free, according to James, but it will never lead to sinful behavior.
• God is not a fan of sin which is precisely why Jude recounts the Old Testament story of the Exodus.

6 and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day. 7 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

• Sodom and Gomorrah have been personified as the epitome of sexual immorality.
• These two cities are an example of what happens to those who reject the Gospel in general, and the false teachers encouraging sin in particular.
• There is an eternal punishment which awaits all who are not in Christ through faith.

8 In the same way these people—relying on their dreams—defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones. 9 Yet when Michael the archangel

• The false teachers seem fascinated by communication with angelic beings.
• Yet these teachers know nothing of true angels or demons.

was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body,

• No Old Testament data, or New Testament data, testifies to the argument mentioned in this passage.
• We do know that Moses died and was buried, so perhaps Satan accused Moses after his death.
• Satan may have been arguing that Moses was not deserving of resurrection.

he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

• Michael did not appeal to his position as an archangel to rebuke Satan.
• Instead, Michael appealed to the Lord’s power to fight the devil.

10 But these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by instinct—like irrational animals—by these things they are destroyed.

• The false teachers are acting as authoritative representatives of God, but they actually do not know anything.
• If one invests in their message, they will find only immorality and discontent.

11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam’s error for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion.

• The “way of Balaam” is merchandising one’s gifts and ministry just for the purpose of making money.
• It is using the spiritual to gain the material.[2]
• The story of Core (Korah) is found in Numbers 16, and it too centers on rebellion against authority.
• Korah and his followers resented the leadership of Moses and dared God to do anything about their rebellion.[3]
• All 3… the tragedy of rejecting authority.

 
THE APOSTATES’ DOOM
12 These people are dangerous reefs at your love feasts as they eat with you without reverence. They are shepherds who only look after themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead and uprooted.

• Jude is clearly not speaking about Christians.
• This presents an important factor in who the Bible labels as false teachers.
• True biblical false teachers are never true Christians.

13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever.
14 It was about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied: “Look! The Lord comes with tens of thousands of his holy ones 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly concerning all the ungodly acts that they have done in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things ungodly sinners have said against him.”

• All that we know about Enoch from Scripture is found in Genesis 5:18–24; Hebrews 11:5; and these two verses in Jude.
• He is called “the seventh from Adam” to identify him as the godly Enoch, since Cain had a son of the same name (Gen. 4:17).[4]
• Bible scholars tell us that this quotation is from an apocryphal book called The Book of Enoch.
• The fact that Jude quoted from this nonbiblical book does not mean the book is inspired and trustworthy, any more than Paul’s quotations from the Greek poets put God’s “seal of approval” on everything they wrote.
• The Spirit of God led Jude to use this quotation and make it a part of the inspired Scriptures.[5]
• All who reject Christ will experience judgment and conviction.
• Jude, therefore, believes these false teachers to be under condemnation and awaiting an everlasting darkness.

16 These people are discontented grumblers, living according to their desires; their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering people for their own advantage.
17 But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Notice that Jude differentiates between those false teachers and believers.
• Jude has not been addressing believers in a condemning way.
• Instead, he recognizes their holiness in the midst of the false teachers and insists that they were even warned of such teachers.

18 They told you, “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.” 19 These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Spirit.

• The false teachers did not have the Spirit of God within them.
• Therefore, they were not Christians, nor were they led by the Spirit.
• This would have been critical for the early church to grasp so they did not embrace the lies being taught.

 
EXHORTATION AND BENEDICTION
20 But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith,

• The Gospel builds up God’s children.
• Whereas it condemns all who reject Christ, it continuously encourages and matures Christians.

praying in the Holy Spirit,

• This is not speaking of talking in some sort of mystical tongue.
• Instead, Jude is describing the location of the Christian in Christ and calling Christians to pray to God with their location in mind.

21 keep yourselves in the love of God,

• Jude encourages Christians to remind themselves constantly of God’s love.
• It is God’s love that will always lead us into a deeper understanding of the truth.

waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. 22 Have mercy on those who waver; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

• Jude is making it clear that there are different types of people.
• Some, likely believers, doubt aspects of God’s truth.
• These people are to be encouraged through gentleness and patience.
• Others, who do not know God, are to be loved to Christ that they may be rescued from the fire.

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.[6]

• Jude ends with an encouragement to Christians.
• Our salvation and security are God’s problem and agenda.
• It is God’s job to keep us spiritually safe and to help us persevere in the Spirit.
• God is able to make us stand in the midst of any attack of the world, and also at the final judgment.
• Christians will stand proudly in the love of Christ as God judges all who have rejected His Son.
• This includes the false teachers mentioned in this letter.[7]

[1] Viola, Frank. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Guide to Understanding the New Testament. Destiny Image. Kindle Edition.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 554.
[3] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 555.
[4] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 557.
[5] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 557.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jud 1–25.
[7] Farley, Andrew. www.BibleCommentary.com. Jude.

Judgment

• Deception - This theme runs throughout the entire chapter.
• To begin with, these teachers’ message is false; Peter called what they taught “destructive heresies.”
• The word heresy originally meant simply “to make a choice,” but then it came to mean “a sect, a party.”
• Promoting a party spirit in a church is one of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21 - Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.[1]).[2]
• When we hear the thought of judgment on false teachers, we have a tendency to start thinking locally and personally.
• We start judging pastors and teachers in our community or who we group up hearing.
• James 3:1 - Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.[3]
• Well… stop! You are not the judge.
• And don’t ask me what I think… I am not the judge.
• Stay focused on the Truth.
• It is good for you to be a critical thinker and judge the message you are hearing.
• Trust what you know and let God be God.
• We are definitely not the judge of people’s eternity.

THE JUDGMENT OF FALSE TEACHERS
2 PETER 2
1 There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.

• Peter is comparing Old Testament false prophets to New Testament false teachers.
• Both are types of teachers that are intentionally leading people astray with false teaching.
• False teaching is always destructive because wrong spiritual beliefs can destroy people.
• These heresies always deny the identity of Jesus.
• Heresy in Scripture is almost always connected to this denial while encouraging sinful living.

They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them.

• The false teachers were likely using the name of Jesus to exploit others to deceive the masses for money.
• In modern times, we see this type of heresy in prosperity theology.
• This theology argues that Christ accomplished health and wealth on the cross for believers.
• Yet this heresy focuses too much on monetary gain and distorts the work of Christ.
• Teachers will use the Word of God to gather their audience/followers.
• They will earn their trust.
• Trust has magnificent value.
• Then, they will enter into their teachings, their own beliefs, values, and agendas.
• Our society today calls this “grooming”.

3 They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep. 4 For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment;

• The first example is that of fallen angels.
• This refers either to their fall with Satan in his rebellion against God (Ezek. 28:15) or to the sin of angels in Genesis 6:1–4.
• Since Peter’s other two illustrations in this section are from Genesis (chaps. 7; 19), perhaps this one is too, though it is difficult to be sure.
• If God in His justice punished angels, surely He would not hesitate to punish people.
• He plunged the angels into hell, literally, “tartarus” apparently a prison of custody (gloomy dungeons) between the time of the judgment and their ultimate consignment to the eternal lake of fire.
• There will be no future trial for their doom is already sealed.
• False prophets, Peter argued, will taste the same judgment as the rebellious angels.[4]

5 and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;

• The flood was a very real historical event, according to Peter.
• The story of Noah and the flood is used here to illustrate the coming divine judgment upon unbelievers.
• But Noah, who was righteous, was spared.
• This is significant because Peter argues for the Christian’s safety in Christ throughout his letter.
• Christians all possess righteousness through faith in Jesus.
• Therefore, we have no reason to fear judgment.

6 and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--

• Peter is speaking of spiritual DNA.
• When God saves a person, they are righteous to the core.
• This new righteous nature grates against the ways of the world.

9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

• Peter is speaking of godliness as a nature, not as a spiritual track record.
• When we believe in Jesus, we are made godly to the core of our beings.

10 especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones; 11 however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. 12 But these people, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed—slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed.

• Peter is speaking of the destruction of these false teachers trying to mislead the church.
• This is a clear presentation of eternal judgement that awaits all who reject the Gospel.
• Peter leaves no room for a theology of universalism in his letter.

13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight.

• The false teachers were encouraging a celebration of sin that was unfitting for Christians and incompatible with the righteous nature of the Christian.
• False teaching, as defined by the New Testament, is almost always characterized by licentiousness and immorality.
• Believers cannot continue in sin in this way and, therefore, can never be considered false teachers according to the New Testament definition of the term.
• Those teachers who are compatible with sin, in this context, are considered stains and blemishes.

They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse!

• Accursed brood (NIV)
• Dead souls (Message)
• Our souls can be influenced by all types of beliefs even though our spirit is righteous and new.

15 They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness 16 but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

• Peter knew his Old Testament Scriptures.
• He had already used Noah and Lot to illustrate his words, and now, he used the Prophet Balaam.
• The story of Balaam is found in Numbers 22–25.
• Balaam is a mysterious character, a Gentile prophet who tried to curse the Jews.[5]

17 These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm.

• Peter speaks of the impending judgment and destruction upon all who reject the Gospel.
• In the specific context, the false teachers are in focus but all who reject Jesus will be judged.

The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.

• False teachers are destined for eternal judgment if they remain unrepentant.
• This is because genuine false teachers are not born again.

18 For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error.

• The false teachers live in error inherently.
• Those young believers whom they mislead are barely escaping the false teaching because they are saved but immature and consequently influenced by the lies being promoted.

19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.

• Christians are not slaves of sin and corruption.
• Rather, we are slaves of righteousness and of the Holy Spirit.
• Therefore, this is another label for the false teachers.
• These teachers were evidently spreading false beliefs and causing corruption in the community.

20 For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.

• The “they” spoken of here is likely Christians because this particular group is said to have escaped the world.
• However, their Christian maturity is suspect because they are influenced by false teachings, at least to some degree, and need to remember the gospel of grace, which saved them.
• If they continue to be deceived, they will continue to be miserable because their behavior is incompatible with the new heart given to them by God.
• This is why their last state is worse than before, they believed.
• Unbelievers are compatible with sin and can participate in it freely.
• Christians who participate in sin are miserable.

21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them.]

• Peter is not speaking of the law of Moses but rather loving one another as Christ has loved us (John 13:34; 1 John 3:23).
• These are the New Covenant laws of God.[6]
• There is no indication that the false teachers had ever experienced the new birth.
• They had knowledge of salvation and could use the language of the church, but they lacked that true saving experience with the Lord.
• At one time they had even received the Word of God (2 Peter 2:21), but then they turned away from it. They never trusted Christ and became His sheep.[7]

22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, “A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”[8]

• Proverbs 26:11
• The Jews called the Gentiles “dogs” because a dog was nothing but a filthy scavenger who lived on garbage!
• It was hardly a title of respect and endearment![9]
• The pig was washed on the outside, but remained a pig; the dog was “cleaned up” on the inside, but remained a dog.
• The pig looked better and the dog felt better, but neither one had been changed.
• They each had the same old nature, not a new one.[10]

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ga 5:19–21.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 447.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jas 3:1.
[4] Kenneth O. Gangel, “2 Peter,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 870.
[5] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 455.
[6] Farley, Andrew. www.BibleCommentary.com. 2 Peter 1
[7] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 460.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Pe 2:1–22.
[9] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 460.
[10] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 460.