OUR FATHER SANCTIFIES US AND THE LORD JESUS PRESERVES THE CALLED

The book of Jude chapter 1 verses 1 - 4 begins with an introduction of Jude and his calling and how he was related to the apostles being a brother of James the apostle.

The letter, being addressed to the believers who were called and sanctified by the Father  and preserved by the Lord Jesus Christ, is an exhortation to be vigilant in contending for the faith in light of the fact that their ranks were being infiltrated by ungodly men who introduced worthless and even harmful doctrines into their midst. 

1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jude urges the saints to retain the gospel that they had believed and by which they had gained salvation and to be steadfast in defending against those who were striving to pervert that message of grace and the Lordship of Jesus into an unrecognizably lewd and vacant belief.

Amen.

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