Outline of Jude

Dr. Wesley K. Smith
Pastor of Kirby Road Baptist Church , and President of Temple Baptist College , Cincinnati , Ohio

  1. Background of Jude.
    1. Author.
      1. Verse 1 identifies the author in three ways.
        1. Name: Jude.
        2. Kinship: Brother of James (unique expression).
        3. Relation to Christ: servant ( bondslave).
      2. Verses 17-18 infer that he did not count himself as one of the apostles.
      3. As the brother of James, most believe this Jude was the youngest or next to the youngest half brother of Jesus who became a believer after the resurrection (John 7:5; Acts 1:14 ).
    2. Addressee: The readers are not identified other than believers in general, vs. 1.
    3. Date and Place of Writing.
      1. There is no internal evidence as to the place. External suggestions have been Jerusalem or Alexandria , Egypt .   However, since Jude is believed to be a traveling evangelist (I Corinthians 9:5), it could have been written from any location.
      2. Dating the letter is based upon what one believes concerning its canonicity. Some have placed it as late as 150 A.D. Among those who consider it inspired, it is placed between 60-80 A.D. Since much of the material is replicated in II Peter, some believe it was written before A.D. 65, the date of II Peter. Others believe it had to be after in that Jude uses II Peter (vs. 17, 18), while others place the date between 70-80 A.D. Most say it had to be written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. A suggested date is around 67-68 A.D.
        1. The occasion and purpose, vs. 3 ,4.   It can be inferred from the text that Jude was writing to combat rebellion against authority, irreverence, presumptuous speech, and a libertine spirit. These were all the result of a popular error called Gnosticism.

  2. Contents of Jude: The epistle of Jude is a passionate plea to Christians to beware of spiritual contamination by evil man – Irvine L Jenson. Paragraphs in Jude begin at vs. 1, 3, 5, 8 , 14, 17, 24).
    1. The salutation, vs. 1-4.
      1. Author, v. la.
      2. Readers, v. 1b.
      3. Greetings, v. 2.
      4. The occasion for the letter, vs. 3-4.
        1. The indication of a former purpose, v. 3a.
        2. The nature of the altered purchase, v. 3b.
        3. The reason for the change in purpose, v. 4.
    2. The message, vs. 5-23.
      1. Exposure of the false teachers, vs. 5-16.
        1. Their doom, vs. 5-7.
          1. Remember, v. 5a.
          2. The judgment against the unbelieving Israelites, v. 5b.
          3. The judgment against the fallen angels, v. 6.
          4. The cities in the plains of Sodom and Gomorrah , v. 7.
        2. The denunciation, vs. 8-10.
          1. For wicked imaginations, v. 8a.
          2. For arrogance and lack of respect for authority, v. 8b.
          3. For evil speech of things they know nothing about, v. 9-10b.
          4. For corrupting themselves as animals in the things they naturally know, v. 10b.
        3. Their destruction, vs. 11-16.
          1. It is sure to come upon them, v. 11a.
          2. It is the same as others, v. 11b.
            1. They are in the way of Cain.
            2. They run greedily after the error of Balaam for reward.
            3. They will perish in the gainsaying of Korah.
            4. It will effect you as a church, vs. 12-13.
            5. Causing a spot to be on your testimony of good works.
            6. Causing a selfish spirit to be in your assembly.
            7. Looking like a blessing but not producing any.
            8. Producing instability.
            9. Quenching the spirit of the church.
            10. Completely dead to spiritual things.
            11. Causing shameful problems.
            12. Being lights that have lost their purpose.
          3. It has been prophesied in traditional writings (Apocryphal Book of Enoch), vs. 14-15 (God is going to come and execute judgment over them).
          4. The destruction is going to come upon the following (v. 16):
            1. murmurers .
            2. Complainers walking after their own lusts.
            3. Boasters and great debaters.
            4. Those who get people's respect to take advantage of them.
      2. Exhortations to the believers, vs. 17-23.
        1. The exhortation to have an awareness of the apostasy (remember the words foretold by our Lord's apostles), vs. 17-19.
          1. That these would come, v. 18a.
        2. How they would walk, v. 18b.
        3. How they would be, v. 19.
          1. The exhortation to maintain the right spiritual attitudes (react according to the words furnished by our Lord's apostles), vs. 20-21.
            1. Grow in your faith (Romans 8:26 ), v. 20a.
            2. Pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18 ), v. 20b.
            3. Let love guard you as you look for the mercy of the Lord (II Peter 3:12 ) , v. 21.
          2. The Exhortation to have a Desire to See the Deceived Saved (Reap according to the words of our Lord's apostles), vs. 22-23.
            1. Love those you can (Hebrews 3:8), v. 22.
            2. Rescue those who you can (Acts 1:8), v. 23.
    3. Closing remarks, vs. 24-25.
      1. The concluding remarks is one of the fullest and most beautiful doxologies in the Scriptures.
      2. Praise the Lord…
        1. He is able.
          1. To keep you from falling.
          2. Present you before the presence of His glory.
          3. Present you with exceeding joy.
        2. He is:
          1. The only wise God.
          2. Our Saviour.
        3. Lord, Be…
          1. Glory and majesty.
          2. Dominion and power.
          3. Now and forever.
        4. So be it!

  3. Applications from Jude
    1. For us – individually – as members of the churches.
      1. What are we doing as individuals to stand up for the faith?
      2. How aware are we of apostasy in our lives as members?   (Here is the apostasy mentioned in this letter:   not believing, pride, immorality, vain imaginations, rebellious spirit, speaking evil of dignitaries, speaking evil of the things we do not understand and defiling ourselves with the few things we do know, compromise with Balaam, deadness of spirit, anger, loss of direction)
      3. What is our reaction to evil in others?
        1. Do nothing, take part with it, criticize and complain?
        2. Or as we should:   expect it, lovingly confront then strengthen our own attitudes, keeping ourselves in the way of the Lord and showing compassion in spirit as we actively snatch those who can be saved from the snare?
    2. For us – collectively – as the members of churches.
      1. Do we use Jude to justify our contentious spirits?
      2. Do we exercise the exposure and only expose the exhortive verses?
      3. Do we invoke the doxology in the midst of our fight for right or complain?
    3. For us – personally – as the Holy Spirit has illumined in this study.


  4. Conclusion:   Our churches need to be warned about false doctrine.   We need to contend for the truth.   But… contending is not contentiousness.   For this letter we have learned that false doctrine can be attitudes as well as a belief system.   Therefore, let us lovingly stand for truth and against error until Jesus comes.