The Epistle of Jude is one of the most important New Testament letters to read during times of great apostasy. Jude gives a strong message to believers that we are compelled to contend for the faith. When false teachers usurp their own authority and the Spirit of truth is attacked, never fear, the Epistle of Jude will always be there to help you out.

The Epistle was traditionally written by Jude the half brother of Jesus, who found himself in a situation where men were professing the faith but their lifestyles were not measuring up with scriptural morals. As a result Jude labels these men as ungodly because they were abusing the grace of God as a licence to sin. Jude became a sharp opponent even though they descended from the same religious tradition as he.

In his introduction the Jude refers to himself as a brother of James, and swiftly presents Old Testament examples of men who had fallen from grace. Jude does not want his readers to be deceived by these men so he informs the readers that they were ordained to condemnation long ago (verse 4). In verses 7-16 he writes about sin and judgment as a reminder that actions have consequences.

It is here in verse 12 where the words “twice dead” become intriguing. But what does it mean to be twice dead?

Essentially the context is that these false teachers were once dead in sin but had (at some point) been made alive in Christ, but now because they have fallen away and apostatised, they are dead again, thus “twice dead“. Essentially, these people fell away from the faith, abandoned good doctrine and became dead in sin again. Jude 12 is a proof text that affirms people can indeed walk away from their salvation, abandon the truth and be eternally lost.

According to Strongs (G1364) the Greek word translated twice means ‘again‘. It speaks of a repeated occurance.

Reading Luther’s commentary here can be useful since he rightly understood this passage to symbolically refer to false teachers as fruitless trees, “they make the claim and show as if they were Christian bishops, while neither the word nor the work of Christian bishops is there, but all dead at the root.”

Very fitting to our present age!

Adam Clarke’s commentary is also useful since he understood this term to refer to believers who had apostatised and lost the grace they had received and became fruitless and twice dead,

“First, naturally and practically dead in sin, from which they had been revived by the preaching and grace of the Gospel. Secondly, dead by backsliding or apostasy from the true faith, by which they lost the grace they had before received; and now likely to continue in that death, because plucked up from the roots, their roots of faith and love being no longer fixed in Christ Jesus.”

Again, very fitting!

As John Wesley rightly stated, “These are spots – Blemishes. In your feasts of love – Anciently observed in all the churches. Feeding themselves without fear – Without any fear of God, or jealousy over themselves. Twice dead – In sin, first by nature, and afterwards by apostasy. Plucked up by the roots – And so incapable of ever reviving.”

The lesson is this, if like me you are a Christian who is devastated by the level of widespread apostasy that we are all having to face, don’t lose heart and don’t waste your time talking to dead people who won’t listen to the things that you are saying, they can’t hear you. They may be twice dead.

Instead listen to the Word of God and let the Text speak to you. Remember, if a sermoniser or bishop says anything that is contrary to the Bible those words have no authority whatsoever. The bishop, or priest is merely echo chambering his own words into the air.