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Home > Bible on Money > Bible Study Notes > Jude
Stewardship Bible Study Notes (Jude)
By Ryan Casselberry
with assistance from Generous Giving staff
Jude’s letter is one of urgent warning and gentle encouragement for believers to maintain the purity and vitality of their faith and fellowship. Jude primarily addresses false teachers who had wormed their way into the church, condemning their licentious folly and exhorting believers to remove these dangerous false teachers from the fellowship. This teaching is no less important to us today, for it’s impossible for churches to be spiritually healthy while its leaders and members engage in financial rebellion through covetousness, greed or denial of God’s ownership of our money and possessions. Jude calls us to lifestyles that are so clearly focused and dependent on Jesus that we show our faith by our works, especially with our financial resources.
Our study of Jude consists of two parts. In the first section, readers will find our stewardship study notes. These notes analyze, in a passage-by-passage fashion, the implications of the book’s teaching for Christian generosity and related issues. The second section consists of short essays describing the book’s major stewardship themes. These notes and essays are not intended to be comprehensive explanations of Jude’s goals in writing this book, nor do they exhaust the book’s possible applications in matters related to stewardship and generosity.
While Generous Giving’s Bible study material will aid anyone who is searching the Scriptures for guidance, they may prove especially useful as sermon helps for pastors and as a resource for teachers, advisors and lay leaders interested in obeying and teaching the message of Scripture in matters of generosity and stewardship. We readily acknowledge our fallibility in writing these study notes, for they are the work of humans, not God. Please search the Scriptures (Acts 17:11) as you read this material critically, carefully and prayerfully. May God bless you in your studies.
Jude 1:1-2 — Jude addresses his letter to those “who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.” Believers must remember that they are kept by Christ. Believers belong to Christ, and as his loved possessions, Christ sustains and provides for them. This must be one of the foundational truths beneath any Christian’s approach to money, possessions and stewardship: Because we know God faithfully keeps us in his possession, we have every reason to be generous with what he gives us.
Jude 1:3-10 (Key Passage) — Turning Grace into License: Jude finds it necessary to write against false teachers who were turning grace into license. These godless men, like Sodom and Gomorrah, participated in sexual immorality and perversion, spoke against things that they did not understand, and rejected authority. Jude reminds Christians that these are the kind of unbelieving people that God destroyed in Sodom, Gomorrah and in the wilderness outside of the promised land (because Israel didn’t trust God to give them what he said he would). Do we, like these, leverage God’s grace as a license for our own indulgent lifestyles, especially in the less public arena of our finances? Just because we do not participate in the most obvious perversions does not mean that we are safe from unbelief and judgment. Have we adopted or approved of behavior that denies Christ’s lordship over every area of our lives, limiting his lordship to “spiritual things?” This can manifest itself in our lives through fear and mistrust of the Lord for financial provision or more overtly through greed. Jude suggests that if we in any way use God’s grace to justify a sinful lifestyle or fail to observe God’s sovereign lordship, then we have entered into unbelief and are under God’s judgment (see notes on 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 and Luke 16:19-31). See Jude theme essay False Teaching.
Jude 1:11-13 — These false teachers entered into the sins of Cain, Balaam and Korah. Commentators note that these three figures represent three specific kinds of sin: Cain represents disobedience driven by jealousy; Balaam represents the mixture of greed with religious motives; and Korah represents disobedience and rebellion, especially against spiritual authorities ordained by God. The sinfulness of these false teachers among the believers was a great blemish to their fellowship, which should have been characterized by moderation and servanthood. These false teachers wantonly consumed and sought their own benefit but never gave back, making them fruitless and dangerous to the whole fellowship. We must be careful not to approach the kingdom with the same attitude—always taking but never giving back. Are our church lives characterized by what we get out of church or by what we contribute? If we do contribute, do we do so for our own personal gain or glory? Are our contributions primarily monetary or limited to some minimum amount? There is no place for any of these in generous giving; generosity always avoids arrogant or selfish attitudes about how much we give, is not greedy, and guards against rebellion from God’s ownership of all our possessions and gifts.
Jude 1:14-16 — Jude warns of the coming judgment for these ungodly false teachers, who are characterized by grumbling, finding fault with others, arrogance and flattery. It is easy for us to casually read such a warning because few of us would think that we match Jude’s severe description of these false teachers, but this ought not to be so. The sins that Jude describes are not furnished as extreme examples that do not apply to the rest of us. Rather, they directly apply; each one of these sins points to sinful attitudes of self-absorption and self-concern against which we also must be on guard. If these attitudes don’t manifest themselves through the behavior that Jude lists here, do we see them in the area of our finances? How do we spend our money? Do we primarily spend on ourselves, always trying to have more, or are we content and generous with what we have? Do we give to garner attention for ourselves and to be better than others? Do we teach others, explicitly or by example, that we are the final authorities in our own financial matters or that it is OK to use money for extravagant self-enrichment? Do we teach that God owes us prosperity if we trust and obey him in giving? Observing our own behavior in the area of finances is a helpful barometer for the states of our hearts, helping us see if we are self-absorbed or if we have given ourselves totally to Christ, our generous redeemer. When we commit ourselves to living for Jesus, our works wrought with our sacrifice and our finances will be to the benefit of the kingdom, and these will benefit us in eternity (see Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 14:13, 19:7-8). See Jude theme essay False Teaching.
Jude 1:17-19 — Jude reminds us that we ought to expect for some people to follow flagrantly after their own ungodly desires (as Paul also says in 2 Timothy 3:1-5), but that this is the difference between those who do and those who do not have the Spirit. This sharp contrast shows us that changing the focus of our desires from ourselves is not optional, and we cannot do so selectively. To selectively obey God is, as English author and philosopher C.S. Lewis says, to be too easily satisfied. Although it might seem that acquiring wealth to live a comfortable life is a commonsense priority, temporal riches are not lasting and even contribute to our own destruction (see note on James 5:1-6). It is by following God’s commands that we can store up for ourselves treasures that will not fade away (see note on Matthew 6:19-21).
Jude 1:20-21 (Key Passage) — Focused on God’s Provision and Priorities: In contrast to those who follow their own ungodly desires, Christians are to be strong in their faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep themselves in God’s love, and wait for the mercy of Christ. It is critical for us to specify what these statements actually mean in our day-to-day lives. These statements are not just worn-out New Testament platitudes—rather, they call us to be focused on God and trust him in everything. Building up our faith in prayer helps us to trust God and to be concerned with his kingdom instead of focusing on ourselves, our concerns and our priorities (Matthew 6:33-34). Aligning our priorities with God through prayer has financial consequences. As we grow in grace and learn to look at the world the way God does, we must participate in good works that are consistent with our faith, especially in the area of finances. Keeping ourselves in God’s love is an active reliance on his promised loving care as our provision and refuge; we must stay in God’s will, just as he has promised to stay with us. Keeping ourselves in God’s love doesn’t just mean thinking about God’s love and relying on it for our self-esteem and motivation; it also means keeping ourselves in our practice of the love of God, giving generously of everything that we have, including our very selves, so that others might know God’s love (1 John 3:16-19). Because we belong to him, we ought to respond with dependence and faithful obedience, removing anything that supplants his position as our provider and Lord. Waiting for the mercy of Christ reminds us that our ultimate home and reward is not here and that our firm foundation for eternity is nothing less than the work of Christ. There is no reason for the Christian to be focused on “building bigger barns,” accruing more material possessions for their own sake, because possessions are ultimately insignificant and unable to meet our needs. Only the mercy of Christ, which generously provides us with forgiveness and eternal life, is sufficient (see note on Luke 12:15-21). As his followers, we need not be concerned with our present circumstances because we know that in him we are ultimately secure because he is faithful to provide for our needs here and in eternity. This frees us to give generously of our resources, so that others may know the Lord’s provision as we do. All of these principles need to be worked out in our finances. These attitudes are the polar opposite of the false teachers’ attitudes in Jude 1:16; true believers are focused on the Lord as their provider, refuge and reward, so we ought to freely give. Our financial behavior must exhibit our assurance that God will take care of us and the realization that our financial assets are not our ultimate reward.
Jude 1:22-23 — Jude describes three different kinds of struggling people and gives direction for how we ought to act toward them: those who doubt, those who are dangerously in error (as if a raging fire), and those who have become corrupted. Jude’s instruction is especially useful to us as we help ourselves and others have godly attitudes about giving. For those who have doubts because of false teaching about giving, we ought to be merciful, gently correcting them with the truths of God’s word. Others who are engaging in more serious errors, such as failing to see God’s ownership of their possessions and his trustworthy nature, need more serious intervention so that they do not lose the very essence of their faith. Finally, those who have openly denied the Scripture’s teaching and bought into the world’s lies about money and possessions must be dealt with mercifully and fearfully. God has the power to save them, and we ought to pursue them, but we must be wary of allowing them and their false teachings to pollute our fellowship. Believers are compelled to reach out to sinners, but we are also compelled to keep openly disobedient believers far away from fellowship because they are maligning the name of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 5:9-13; see note on Exodus 20:7). We must be serious about God’s commands concerning money and possessions. There is no place for lies about them in God’s kingdom.
Jude 1:24-25 — God is able to help us live lives that are pleasing to him, including in the area of finances. We can be dependent upon him to help us serve him with all our money and gifts. Does the God who deserves the power and glory in this doxology deserve anything less?
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Study Notes by Chapter
1
Major Giving Themes
False Teaching
Key Passages
1:3-10 (Turning
Grace into License)
1:20-21 (Focused on
God’s Provision and
Priorities)
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