The Letter that Almost Was
The Jude Series Part II -Chapter III - Jude 3 Part One
“Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.”
Christian Standard Bible - Jude 3
I didn’t want to release this article this week.
I have an article on Leviticus that’s 60% of the way there, which I had slated for earlier this week, and I can’t wait for you to read it. It isn’t ready though. I’ve been swamped this week, I’m currently working on a book proposal that’s almost due, and so I decided it would be best to release the next section of the Jude series early.
I don’t think that’s the kind of mentality Jude had when he wrote this verse.
When Jude began to write or dictate this letter, he did so with a yearning to share something about salvation. Instead, he wrote about contending for the faith. I could have just skipped over this fact, or mentioned it in the footnotes, but I think there’s an important lesson to be learned here about the authorship of the word of God.
Written by Man, Breathed out by God
This letter was written by a man committed to listening to and obeying the inspiration of the Lord. When I say inspiration, I don’t mean it in the modern sense. Today we might say this poem was inspired by my wife, or I’ve written a song inspired by my love for the Lord, but that’s not the same as scriptural inspiration.
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we read:
“All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Christian Standard Bible - 2 Timothy 3:16–17
Inspired here, literally means “to breathe into/out.”
Theologically, inspiration is what happens when God breathes out, whereas medically speaking, to inspire means the opposite, the act of drawing breath in. I think this gives us a helpful image of what the writing of scripture entailed.
God inspires 🫁 → 💨
Man inspires 💨 → 🫁
Consider that for just a second. Imagine you’re Jude. You sit, pen in hand, and the same breath that breathed life into Adam, that spoke the universe into existence, fills you up, and you begin to write.
This process doesn’t mean that the personality of the writer, the scribe, or the narrator is overridden by the Spirit and then dispensed with for the duration of the letter. Rather, the Spirit inspires the author, and then they write together. The care, the context, and the character of the author is then perfected by the infallibility of the Spirit.
This is a mystery, and the exact workings of this will be unknown to us this side of eternity, but this much is clear; Jude cares deeply for those he’s writing to, he has a deep desire to speak about salvation, but the Spirit has other plans.
Jude’s Humility
“He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Christian Standard Bible - Deuteronomy 8:3
Go back to that moment you considered earlier.
The Spirit comes upon you, in such a way that you write out a portion of the inerrant word of God. Close your eyes for a second and just imagine how humbling an experience that would be.
Take a second.
There are two things I want you to take away from this.
Firstly, if you are a believer in Christ, that same Spirit now lives in you (Rom 8:10-111). Until the day you were filled with the Spirit, you hungered for something that no other source could ever satiate. The Lord allowed you that, so you would humble yourself, and then receive the gift of faith, the same faith Jude is about to call you to contend for. You will only achieve that by continuing to humble yourself, and stepping out in faith, by the power of the Spirit, bearing the fruits and gifts that he bestows upon you.
Secondly, no, that doesn’t mean you’ll ever write Scripture. You are, however, to rely on Scripture. Maybe you live in a world which provides not only ample bread, but entertainment enough to absorb your attention twenty-four hours a day if you wanted, and you’ve never wanted for anything. Perhaps, instead, you have very little. You feel like Jesus in the wilderness, knowing that your next meal is some way off. Wherever you are on this spectrum, know that before anything else, you are called to live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
We are not providing ourselves a luxury when we skip over genealogies, or lists, or stories that occur in more than one place. If you’re tempted to think, “I know this,” or, “These are just names” think upon the day not so long ago when you longed for the understanding you have now, and imagine the understanding you might have in twenty years if you read them like that again.
Plumb the depths of what you think to be boring, these are delicacies richer than caviar. Pray with David:
“You have put more joy in my heart,
than they have when their grain and new wine abound.”Psalm 4:7, CSB
Grace and Peace,
Recommended Articles of the Day
I had the joy of meeting
for the first time earlier this year, and I only have wonderful things to say about this blessed sister. The next best thing to meeting her in person yourself, is to read this interview with Shemaiah for the Priory with Karen Swallow Prior.
It seems there’s always a new book coming out, seemingly pitched as “the next big controversy.” Alongside that are scores of recommended books that might actually contain some pearls, but might cut us as we pry open the shell to find them. If you’ve never considered reading disagreeable books before,
gives a great breakdown about how to go about doing so. invites us to imagine what it will be like to dine at the heavenly table. This piece will engage your hopes, your fears, your imagination, and your deep desire for eternity.
“Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.”
Romans 8:10-11
That idea of hungering for something is so true, everybody is looking to fill that gap that only God can fill, great article!
THank you for sharing my post with Karen Swallow Prior. I hope we can meet again!