Charles Spurgeon Commentary Jude 1

Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: mercy to you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

Our holy faith fosters in us the best wishes for others. As we desire to find mercy ourselves, so we also long that others should find mercy; and as we rejoice in the peace and love which the Holy Spirit works in us, we desire that others may partake of the same spiritual benefits. Therefore, the apostles usually begin their Epistles with these good wishes, which are not mere wishes, but earnest prayers and inspired benedictions. May we breathe such petitions wherever we go! Let us wish no one any harm, even in the most exacting and trying times, and under the greatest provocation; but let us still breathe out this prayer, Mercy to you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered unto the saints.

These godly men, though they wrote under divine inspiration, yet stirred themselves up so that they might be in a right condition of mind and heart. Even though the pen does not by itself write, it is well that it not be corroded, lest it not respond to the hand that uses it; so Jude says, I gave all diligence to write unto you. All the diligence of Jude by itself could not have written this Epistle; still, while depending upon divine guidance, he was no mere passive agent, but he gave all diligence to the accomplishment of his task.

Jude wrote of "the common salvation," for there is only one. He was writing a general Epistle, a catholic Epistle, to all sorts of persons all over the world, and he therefore wrote of "the common salvation."

There is only one salvation; there cannot be another. There are some who trouble us, as some troubled the Christians in the apostles' day, by preaching another gospel, which is not another; but there is only one salvation. It was needful, says the apostle, for me to write unto you; and oh, how needful it is still to preach the gospel, and to warn men against defections from it!

Jude continues, It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all (that is the correct rendering) delivered unto the saints.

The faith is not a growth; it is not an evolution. It was once for all delivered to the saints; and the great business of the saints, the holy, the saintly among men, is to defend, if necessary with their lives, the faith once delivered to them.

We are put in trust with the gospel, we are trustees of a divine deposit of invaluable truth; and we must be true to our trust at all costs.

It was needful for Jude to write as he did, for he had further to say—

Jude.

That is to say, Judas, not Iscariot.

The servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, –

He does not say, "and brother of our Lord," for we know that James and Judas were both of them among the Lord's kinsmen according to the flesh; but now, after the flesh, he knows even Christ no more, but is content and happy to be known as "the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James," –

To them that are sanctified by God the Father,

For the decree of election, the setting apart of the chosen is usually ascribed to God the Father.

And preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

We have here a very blessed description of the whole work of our salvation—set apart by the Father, joined to Christ, and preserved in him, and then, in due time, called out by the Spirit of God.

Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

Christian letters should be full of love and good will. The Christian dispensation breathes beneficence; it is full of benediction: Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. May the Divine Trinity give you a trinity of blessings!

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints.

In the sense of being once for all given to the saints, the faith of Christians is not a variable quantity. It is not a thing that changes from day to day, as some seem to suppose, vainly imagining that fresh light is bestowed upon each new generation. No, the truth was delivered once for all, it was stereotyped, fixed; and it is for us to hold it fast as God has given it to us.