Matthew 10:31-33

10:31 So do not be afraid; ¹  you are more valuable than many sparrows.

10:32 “Whoever, then, acknowledges ²  me before people, I will acknowledge ³  before my Father in heaven. 10:33 But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.

Mark 8:38

8:38 For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him ⁴  when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Romans 1:16

The Power of the Gospel

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ⁵ 

Philippians 1:28

1:28 and by not being intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is ⁶  a sign of their ⁷  destruction, but of your salvation – a sign which ⁸  is from God.

Jude 1:3

Condemnation of the False Teachers

1:3 Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you ⁹  about our common salvation, I now feel compelled ¹⁰  instead to write to encourage ¹¹  you to contend earnestly ¹²  for the faith ¹³  that was once for all ¹⁴  entrusted to the saints. ¹⁵ 

Revelation 12:11

12:11 But ¹⁶  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ¹⁷  so much that they were afraid to die.

[10:31]  ¹ sn Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God, but need not fear his tender care.

[10:32]  ² tn Or “confesses.”

[10:32]  ³ tn Grk “I will acknowledge him also.”

[8:38]  ⁴ sn How one responds now to Jesus and his teaching is a reflection of how Jesus, as the Son of Man who judges, will respond then in the final judgment.

[1:16]  ⁵ sn Here the Greek refers to anyone who is not Jewish.

[1:28]  ⁶ tn Grk “which is,” continuing the sentence begun in v. 27.

[1:28]  ⁷ tn Grk “to them.”

[1:28]  ⁸ tn Grk “this.” The pronoun refers back to “a sign”; thus these words have been repeated for clarity.

[1:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “while being quite diligent to write to you,” or “while making all haste to write to you.” Two issues are at stake: (1) whether σπουδή (spoudh) here means diligence, eagerness, or haste; (2) whether ποιούμενος γράφειν (poioumeno" grafein) is to be taken conatively (“I was about to write”) or progressively (“I was writing”). Without knowing more of the background, it is difficult to tell which option is to be preferred.

[1:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “I had the necessity.” The term ἀνάγκη (anankh, “necessity”) often connotes urgency or distress. In this context, Jude is indicating that the more comprehensive treatment about the faith shared between himself and his readers was not nearly as urgent as the letter he found it now necessary to write.

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “encouraging.” Παρακαλῶν (parakalwn) is most likely a telic participle. In keeping with other participles of purpose, it is present tense and occurs after the main verb.

[1:3]  ¹² tn the verb ἐπαγωνίζομαι (epagwnizomai) is an intensive form of ἀγωνίζομαι (agwnizomai). As such, the notion of struggling, fighting, contending, etc. is heightened.

[1:3]  ¹³ tn Τῇ πίστει (th pistei) here is taken as a dative of advantage (“on behalf of the faith”). Though rare (see BDAG 820 s.v. 3), it is not unexampled and must have this meaning here.

[1:3]  ¹⁴ sn The adverb once for all (ἅπαξ, Japax) seems to indicate that the doctrinal convictions of the early church had been substantially codified. That is to say, Jude could appeal to written documents of the Christian faith in his arguments with the false teachers. Most likely, these documents were the letters of Paul and perhaps one or more gospels. First and Second Peter may also have been among the documents Jude has in mind (see also the note on the phrase entrusted to the saints in this verse).

[1:3]  ¹⁵ sn I now feel compelled instead…saints. Apparently news of some crisis has reached Jude, prompting him to write a different letter than what he had originally planned. A plausible scenario (assuming authenticity of 2 Peter or at least that there are authentic Petrine snippets in it) is that after Peter’s death, Jude intended to write to the same Gentile readers that Peter had written to (essentially, Paul’s churches). Jude starts by affirming that the gospel the Gentiles had received from Paul was the same as the one the Jewish Christians had received from the other apostles (our common salvation). But in the midst of writing this letter, Jude felt that the present crisis deserved another, shorter piece. The crisis, as the letter reveals, is that the false teachers whom Peter prophesied have now infiltrated the church. The letter of Jude is thus an ad hoc letter, intended to confirm the truth of Peter’s letter and encourage the saints to ground their faith in the written documents of the nascent church, rather than listen to the twisted gospel of the false teachers. In large measure, the letter of Jude illustrates the necessity of clinging to the authority of scripture as opposed to those who claim to be prophets.

[12:11]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

[12:11]  ¹⁷ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.