Jude sits down to write a letter to a group of Hebrew churches spread out among the Roman world. But before he writes his full letter, he hears about false teachers who have taken up leadership at these different churches. So he chose to instead write this short letter of warning to these churches.

His letter begins with a warning about how these false teachers are corrupting the church. Not with their teaching, but actually through the way they are living. Jude links this present truth to ancient stories the Israelites would have been very familiar with to show that living in rebellion to the way of Jesus always leads to a life of ruin. But not only does this have the power to corrupt us, but living in this way can actually bring ruin to those around us.

Although Jude is speaking about leaders in the church, this is actually a warning for all of us. The Old Testament is filled with stories of those who ignored God’s teachings, thinking they knew how to find true life on their own, only to have their story end in ruin. We must be on our guard for false teachers in our world today, but we must also be on our guard against the way lies can infiltrate our own belief system and affect the way we live our lives. When we live out the lies we believe, and rebel against God, we can bring ruin to ourselves and others as well!