Jude 1-4 - Salvation through Judgment

Jude is an incredibly short book, but densely packed with OT and other historical references, some of which seem strange to us since they come from non-canonical sources.

But with all the examples of judgment highlighted in vv. 3-19, Jude primarily wants believers to know that God is able to keep His own by and for Jesus Christ. And so keep yourselves in His love, knowing that He is able to keep you from stumbling.

While Jude urges us to contend for the faith, this contention is not primarily apologetic, but is instead morally centered. We are to resist the false teachers and false Christians who deny Jesus Christ not necessarily with their mouths but by their lewd and lawless conduct.

God uses warning passages like these in Scripture as means by which to preserve HIs saints, urging them to persevere and not to fall away.