Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
The letter opens not with a claim to rank but with a description of the readers: called, loved, and kept. Before he warns anyone about corruption, Jude tells the people of God who they are and whose hands hold them.
The writer names himself a servant
Jude was, by family, a brother of the Lord Jesus, yet he lets that go unmentioned. One writer explains why that silence is beautiful. He points to James, who wrote the same way:
William KellyIt is true James does not call himself "the Lord's brother," but "the Lord's servant"; and this is very beautiful. If there had been any self-seeking, he would have been the one to say, "I am the Lord's brother! You must not forget I am the Lord's brother." But that would not have been from the Spirit of God at all. When he was the Lord's brother, he was an unbeliever... He had received the truth of Christ's Person not as son of Mary but as the Son of God, as the Messiah, the Lord of all.
The same restraint warns anyone who trades on family name or background:
Edward DennettHe is content with two titles — "servant" (bondman) "of Jesus Christ, and brother of James."... then Jude too was a brother of the Lord by natural birth. If so, what grace and humility he shows in not calling attention to it! And what a lesson for all who take, or try to take, a place among believers on the ground of human distinction or birth!
Saints by calling, not by ambition
The word "called" is not a description of what these readers were aiming at. It describes what God did to them:
Edward DennettJude reminds his readers that if they were saints, they were saints through grace, by a divine and sovereign call. That call came to them in the power of the Holy Spirit through the word of God. It reached their hearts and consciences, and separated them from the world, to be God's people. We cannot recall too often that it was God's call that made us saints. So we are not called to be saints; we are saints by God's calling.
Beloved in God the Father
Older translations read "sanctified" here. Commentators say "beloved" is the better-supported reading, and it ties the reader to two Persons at once:
F. B. HoleHe does not write to the saints of one particular assembly, nor to Jewish believers as distinct from Gentile ones. All saints are before him. He views them in two ways: first in relation to God the Father, and then in relation to Jesus Christ. The word "beloved" seems to be better supported than "sanctified."
To be loved in God the Father is more than being loved from a distance. It places the believer inside a relationship:
The Christian's FriendSo Jude sets the saints in the immediate presence of God. He teaches them that they are the objects of His heart. He wants them to know that God has brought them, as such, to enjoy a close relationship with Him; for He is their Father, as well as God.
Kept — by Christ or for Christ
The ESV reads "kept for Jesus Christ"; older translations read "preserved in Jesus Christ." Commentators differ over the force of that phrase, and one says he cannot settle it:
William KellyIt is not exactly "preserved in." It may be "by" or "for." These are the two options for that word. I do not see how it can be "in"... It brings in another idea, and it is true either way. We are preserved by Christ, and we are preserved for Christ.
Either way, the safety does not rest on the believer's grip. Nor does the strength of the surrounding evil change it:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThis is especially comforting. No matter how dark the days may be, and however strong the current of evil, those who are "the beloved of God called saints" will be preserved in Jesus Christ. They are kept for Him as members of His body, till He comes. He keeps His own... It is the blessed assurance that the believer's keeping rests in His own hands.
An address for a day of collapse
Jude's greeting answers the letter's grim subject in advance: people abandoning the faith. It also echoes a prayer of Jesus:
J. N. DarbyJude begins by declaring the faithfulness of God and the character of His care for the saints. This answers to the prayer of Jesus in John 17. They were called ones, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. What a happy testimony! It magnifies the grace of God. "Holy Father," our Lord said, "keep them": and these were sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. The apostle writes in view of many abandoning the holy faith; he addresses those who are kept.
Notice, too, that no city or congregation is named. That omission fits the letter's theme:
J. N. DarbyThis epistle of Jude, which in an especial manner treats of the ruin, as well as that of John, which puts the faithful on their guard against the antichrists, by no means address themselves to a church, but to all who compose the church in general, to the faithful as having a common interest, a common destiny.
Summary
- Servant first — Jude could have claimed family ties to Jesus, but never does. He takes the place of a servant, and that rebukes any standing claimed by birth or human distinction.
- Called by God — believers are not aiming to become saints. God's call made them saints and separated them from the world.
- Beloved in the Father — the better-supported reading puts the saints in God's immediate presence. They are the objects of His heart, and He is their Father.
- Kept in Christ — commentators differ over whether it means preserved by Christ or for Christ. Both are true, and either way the keeping rests in His hands, not ours.
- Kept for the ruin ahead — the greeting answers the Lord's own prayer, "keep them." Jude writes to all saints, not to one assembly, because many would abandon the faith.