Jude is a brief letter written to spotlight error. The half brother of Jesus and full brother of James is aware of false teachers who deliberately corrupt the church for their own selfish reasons. In verse 12 he uses some of the most picturesque language to describe the heretical intruders. He calls them “… hidden reefs at your love feasts…waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead.”

Jude is unhesitatingly critical and pronounces judgment on the false teachers. This is a message our culture will not immediately accept because it runs contrary to the popular but false view that New Testament Christianity is only a message of love. God’s love is real but so is inevitable judgement.

Jude also urges believers to remain faithful and to take responsibility for their own spiritual safety by  “…building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit” and he urges us to “…keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (vv.20-21).

The phrase “praying in the Holy Spirit” is intriguing, especially to those who long to seize every advantage in prayer. Clearly we could wish we had more definition about what it means to pray in the Spirit but Jude assumes the readers understand it. Even though little explanation is given about what it means to “pray in the Spirit”, the context suggests it’s part of the process of building ourselves up in the faith and remaining unswayed by false teachers.

Jude is relevant for us today as a corrective in our culture of false teachers and half truths masquerading as the gospel. When we read Jude we are reminded the reality of God’s grace never eliminates the certainty of God’s judgement. We are also encouraged by the fact God’s grace protects us from His judgment!