1The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all those who know the truth, 2for the truth’s sake, which remains in us, and it will be with us forever: 3Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, even as we have been commanded by the Father. 5Now I beg you, dear lady, not as though I wrote to you a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
7For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. 8Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward. 9Whoever transgresses and doesn’t remain in the teaching of Christ doesn’t have God. He who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him, 11for he who welcomes him participates in his evil deeds.
12Having many things to write to you, I don’t want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and to speak face to face, that our joy may be made full. 13The children of your chosen sister greet you. Amen.
The book of Jude contains several triads, the first found in verses 1 and 2. The first triad describes what it means to be a Christian: they are "beloved" in God the Father. This is the only New Testament passage in which Christians are said to be "beloved in God the Father." 1 Other references present the believer as being "in Christ" or "in the Lord." Christians are a permanent object of God the Father's love.
Verse two contains the next triad, that of the multiplication of mercy, peace, and love upon the believer. These qualities are named in the form of a prayer for those receiving the letter. While mercy is only mentioned in a greeting four times in the New Testament, those occurrences are important as they always occur as a preliminary to a warning against false teaching (2 John 3; 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2). Wolff defines mercy “as feeling sympathy with another. The word used here designates especially such sympathy as manifests itself in acts, does not merely abide in the heart or show itself in words."2 The outcome of the sinner realizing that he has received mercy from a righteous God is peace. That “tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God, and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is’ (Thayer),”3 a peace that comes through our relationship with God.
The World English Bible (used in the HVSB) retains the reading "sanctified" (hagiadzo, ἁγιάζω) by God the Father, but the Nestle text reads "love" (agapao, ἀγαπάω), which is probably the better reading. ↩︎
Richard Wolff, A Commentary on the Epistle of Jude, p. 46. ↩︎
Joseph Henry Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 219. ↩︎