The book of Jude was written by Jesus’ half brother Jude some three decades after the start of Christianity. At this stage, we would expects to find some mention of the doctrine of the Trinity, if it is true. But, just like the rest of the scriptures, there is no mention of a Trinity in Jude.

Jude 1—“To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Christ Jesus” (NIV). “God the Father” is obviously a completely separate and distinct person from “Christ Jesus”. If the Trinity doctrine were true, we would expect there to be some mention of it, or the holy Spirit (which is real), at this point, but there isn’t.

Jude 3 – “The faith delivered once for all to God’s people” (Weymouth). What is interesting about this verse is that ‘the Christian faith, or belief, was given to God’s people 100%, completely, back there in the first century (John 16:13). Did ‘the faith delivered once for all time to God’s holy people’ include the Trinity? No! There is no mention of any Trinity anywhere in the 31,100 ‘inspired scriptures’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Trinitarians admit that their “belief as so defined was reached only in the 4th and 5th centuries AD and hence is not explicitly a biblical belief” (Dictionary of the Bible, by John l. McKenzie, S. J.). Since the Trinity doctrine wasn’t even developed until the 4th century, long after the 1st century, it is demonstrably a “travesty of the truth” (Acts 20:30 NJB). What ‘the faith delivered once to God’s people’ in the 1st century did include are these stern warnings:

1. “Not to go beyond what is written in Scripture” (1 Corinthians 4:6 GWT).
2. ”To not take anything away from, or add anything to’ (Revelation 22:18-19) “the Word of God … the scriptures” (John 10:35 NLT).
3.  “Not to teach false doctrines” (1 Timothy 1:3 NIV).

The Trinity doctrine and its adherents violate all three of these scriptural principles, and more.

Jude 4—“There have been some intruders, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, godless persons, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (NAB). Once again, “God” is shown to be someone other than Jesus Christ, and there is no mention of the Trinity or the Holy Spirit (which is real).

Jude 5 – “I want to remind you … the Lord first of all saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe.” (Jude 1:5 HCSB). Some translations render “Jesus” in place of “the Lord”, making it appear that Jesus is God. However, a number of reputable translations, for good reasons, instead, render the verse with “the Lord”, such as the NIV; KJV; NKJV; NASB; HCSB; ISV; Weymouth; YLT; NAB and RSV. This is in harmony with both the local and remote contexts. In Jude, “Jesus” is never used by the name alone. It is “Jesus Christ” (v 3); “Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (v 4); “our Lord Jesus Christ” (v 17,21); “Jesus Christ our Lord” (v 25). The Exodus account of that deliverance reports that, “Yahweh brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:51 LSB). Jesus himself made clear that he is not Yahweh (Matthew 22:41-44). “The Lord” in Jude 5 is Yahweh God the Father, not his Son, Jesus Christ.

Jude 19 – “These are the ones who cause divisions: they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit” (NAB). The language here, “devoid of the Spirit,” is a clue that the Spirit is not a person.

Jude 20,21—“Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (NAB). “The holy Spirit” is mentioned here, but persons are not described by “the”. “Pray in the holy Spirit” implies that it is not a person. This thought usually goes right over Trinitarians’ heads. “God” is again mentioned as someone who is not “our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Jude 25—“to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (NIV). This doxology of the letter goes to “the only God our Savior . . . through Jesus Christ our Lord”, which shows that Jesus is “the way” to God (John 14:6), and not God himself. “The only God our Savior” is clearly shown not to be Jesus Christ.

Thus the letter of Jude provides powerful proof that Jesus Christ is not God, and that the holy Spirit is not a person, so there cannot be any Triune God.

For more information related to this subject, please see:

Is the Trinity in the Letter of 2 John?