Reflections with Andy - Jude 1: 1-4 – The Right Voices

There are a lot of voices out there. Let’s make sure we are listening to the right ones!

In this Friday reflection on Jude 1–4, Jude’s urgent appeal to contend for the faith is set against a backdrop we’ve seen all week: the problem of wandering teachers. Where Third John commended a church for receiving the right teachers, Jude warns a church that has received the wrong ones — intruders who have twisted grace into a license for anything-goes living and in doing so have denied the lordship of Jesus Christ. Along the way, a brief but helpful explanation of the biblical canon clarifies why missing letters from Jude or Paul, however interesting, wouldn’t simply be added to Scripture — every book that passes the fourfold test of apostolic linkage, correct time frame, correct doctrine, and universal church recognition is already there. The practical word for today is discernment: not every voice calling to you is the voice of the Good Shepherd. The tests are simple — does it glorify Jesus? Does it draw you closer to him? And does the person bearing the message show the fruit of the Spirit? If not, Jude’s word is clear: be careful what you listen to, and contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he’ll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God’s Word.

You can read today’s passage here.

Click here if you’d like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST.

Subscribe through Spotify -

Subscribe through Apple Podcasts -

Or, if you’d like to read the transcript of the video, keep reading!

Good morning, and happy Friday! Hope you have a great weekend ahead. We’re heading down to Hattiesburg tonight — Sarah has her final concert of the semester with the symphonic winds, and there’s nothing quite like getting to hear your kid play. Looking forward to that. Tomorrow, no big plans — maybe rest, maybe catch a movie. And if you’re looking for a house in the Gluckstadt area, Germantown school zone — well, it’s on the market. I probably shouldn’t be using a devotional to sell real estate, but here we are. Sunday is our baccalaureate service at Saint Matthew’s, where we’ll be honoring our high school and college graduates. Mary Beth, our youth pastor, is preaching, and she’s a wonderful preacher — so come celebrate with us if you can.

Today we’re starting Jude. We’re going to break this one up over a few days — today, Monday, and Tuesday — so we’ll read just verses 1 through 4 this morning.

A quick note about Jude himself: this is Jesus’s brother. We see in the Gospels that Jesus’s brothers didn’t believe he was the Messiah during his ministry — in fact, Jesus himself said “who is my mother, who are my brothers, but those who do the will of God?” But after the resurrection, his brothers became key leaders in the early church. Jude is one of them. And yes, if you’re anything like me, you probably can’t read the word “Jude” without hearing The Beatles. That song has absolutely nothing to do with this letter. But I always think of it anyway.

Let’s read:

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, who are beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ: may mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

First, notice that Jude says he was going to write a longer letter — something more expansive about the salvation we share — but something more urgent came up. And that raises an interesting point: we don’t have every letter written in the early church. Paul himself references letters we no longer have. Jude almost certainly wrote other things. If one of those missing letters turned up in a cave in Israel tomorrow, it would be fascinating and we’d learn from it — the same way the Dead Sea Scrolls are valuable. But it wouldn’t be added to Scripture.

Why not? Because every book of Scripture passes four tests: Apostolic linkage — it’s either written by an apostle or closely tied to one. Correct time frame — written within the apostolic era, roughly the first century. Correct doctrine — it teaches accurately about who Jesus is. And Catholic recognition — meaning universal, not denominational — it was broadly recognized as authoritative across the early church. Any letter that meets all four of those criteria is already in the Bible. Any letter that isn’t in the Bible failed at least one of those tests, which is why it isn’t there. The canon wasn’t arbitrary; it was the result of the early church broadly and consistently recognizing what was truly authoritative.

Now — Jude’s urgent concern. Notice the contrast between Third John and Jude. In Third John, John commended Gaius and the church for welcoming the right teachers — the friends, the apostolically-sent wandering preachers who taught the truth. In Jude, the same basic situation is happening, but with the opposite kind of teachers. Jude calls them intruders who have stolen in among the community. Instead of teaching correct doctrine and calling people to holy living, these teachers are twisting grace into a license for licentiousness — essentially using God’s forgiveness as an excuse to do whatever they want — and in doing so, they are denying the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Which brings us back to something we’ve talked about across these letters: not every voice that calls to you is the voice of the shepherd. Jesus said it plainly in John 10 — the sheep know the shepherd’s voice. Not every voice calling itself Christian is of God. Not every video on YouTube, not every website someone shares with you, not every television preacher, not every social media account with a Bible verse in the bio. Just because something feels right doesn’t mean it is. There’s a great line from a Red Clay Strays song I love: “It’s not a church just ‘cause it feels good; it’s not an angel just ‘cause it’s got wings.” That’s wisdom.

So how do you know? The same test we keep coming back to: does it glorify Jesus Christ? Does it teach us accurately who he is and draw us closer to him? And does the person or voice bearing the message show the fruit of the Spirit? Because the Spirit is always going to produce that fruit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. If those things aren’t there, something’s off.

Jude is urging the church to contend for the faith. Not fight about peripheral things, not be combative and suspicious of everyone. But to know the faith deeply enough, and love it dearly enough, to recognize when something is pulling people away from it. This is a call to discernment — to tune carefully, to listen well, and to follow the voices that are genuinely of God.

Have a wonderful weekend! We’ll pick back up Monday with verse 5 in Jude. See you then!