Keep Yourselves

Keep yourselves in the love of God. That probably sounds a little odd. The stress is in the wrong place. Isn’t it God who keeps us in His love?  Isn’t it all about grace? Isn’t this notion of keeping yourself in the love of God an error to avoid?

Well, actually, no. That statement comes from the Bible. It’s an exhortation to the saints in one of the first century churches. You’ll find it in the brief letter that Jude wrote and lots of Christians skip. And it’s what we’re going to be looking at this morning.

Considering what Jude wrote gives me an opportunity to mention something that I think is important for you to keep in mind these days. There are many ways to teach falsehood. The obvious way is to simply come out and bluntly say it. So, a Jehovah’s Witness will tell you that Jesus isn’t the eternal God come in the flesh. And we’re all aware of that falsehood. But there is another way to mislead people. That’s what happens when someone stresses one biblical truth to the neglect of a companion biblical truth.

There are many, today, who will teach about how much God loves. And they will wax eloquently on that topic, complete with biblical proof texts. And just about everything that they say will be true or at least close to true. But they will never talk about the wrath of God. Never. They will never talk about how God gets angry, at times, even with His own children. And what is a result of such unbalanced teaching? The result is lots of Christians who don’t understand God, not the God of the Bible. And getting that wrong will affect every area of life. How is it possible to live as becomes a follower of Christ if you don’t know God very well?

Likewise, there are many who stress all the things that Christians absolutely must do but ignore the companion biblical truth, the grace of God. What a burden life then becomes. But there are also many who stress how God’s grace is all that is needed but ignore God’s requirements, things that Christians must do. What a set up for failure. It’s not one or the other. It’s both together. When part of the truth is presented as the whole truth it becomes a lie.

So, today, in my attempt to be biblically balanced, I’m going to talk to you about this seemingly odd statement of Jude: keep yourselves in the love of God. I want to make clear to you that it is something God requires.

It’s important that you have some sense of the context of that statement. So, first, let me tell you about the theme of Jude’s letter. He explains it early on.

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. Jude 1.3 [NASV]

This letter is call to the saints to contend earnestly for the faith.

The first thing to note is that when Jude writes ‘the faith’ he isn’t referring to your subjective response to the Gospel. No, here, ‘the faith’ is something objective. It’s those Gospel truths received and taught by the Church. And Jude feels constrained to tell those saints that they need to contend for those truths. They need to fight for them.

Next, Jude explains why he writes in this way. Those Gospel truths were under attack. False teachers had crept into the Church and were causing havoc with their half-truths. This is just another reminder that there hasn’t yet been a golden era for the Church. Even the early Church faced some serious problems.

After describing the problem, Jude gives some historical examples of some who turned away from God. Some of those whom he refers to are Israel in the desert, Balaam, and even some angels who rebelled. That’s the second section of his letter.

Our text is in the third part of his letter. Notice how it begins.

But you, beloved… Jude 1.20

After having pointed out the various examples of apostates and rebels, Jude makes it clear that he doesn’t want the saints to whom he is writing to succumb to the same fate.

With that in mind, he offers his wisdom.

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.  Jude 1.20-21 [NASV]

Jude wants these saints to be kept safe from the dangers that he has just described. Here, please note the assumption behind his exhortation. It just might be that some of those saints could falter, join the apostates and no longer remain in the love of God. He wrote to them because he cared about those people and wanted to do all he could to protect them. So, he points out that there was work to be done so that they would continue as those who are loved by God.

In the same way, there is work for you to do so that you would continue as those who are loved by God.

Some Christians fail in their walk and join the apostates that Jude is warning about because they come to the place of consciously rejecting certain basic Gospel truths. So, on the Last Day, they will be rejected by Jesus. But there are other Christians who will suffer the same fate not because of some bold statement of unbelief, but rather because they don’t recognize that effort is required to continue faithful to Jesus. There is work to be done, work that they aren’t doing. It is out of that failure to work that they fall. I don’t want that to happen to any of you. So, I say as Jude said, keep yourselves in the love of God.

The reasonable question at this point is ‘How?’ How are you to keep yourselves in the love of God? Jude provides the answer. This is another of those places where grammar can be so very helpful. In our text, the main verb is ‘keep’. But it’s important to notice that there are three participles that are associated with that main verb: building, praying, waiting. Each of those participles answer the question, ‘How?’ A translation that does not maintain that structure of main verb with participles is misleading. And that can result in great harm to a person’s soul.

Here’s the first participle phrase.

building yourselves up on your most holy faith

It’s important to remember that when Jude writes ‘your most holy faith’ he is not referring to a Christian’s belief in the Gospel. Just as at the beginning of his letter, Jude is referring to those Gospel doctrines that he wants them to contend for. Jude is calling for those saints to build on the foundation that those Gospel doctrines provide. Knowing about God, sin, Christ, faith is necessary if someone is going to pass from death to life in Jesus. They are the basics. But more needs to be added to them to be a faithful disciple. Using what Jude wrote, the Spirit is calling you to develop a deeper understanding of the Gospel, to build on the foundation, so that you will live well for Jesus’ sake. And part of what living well means is being able to contend for the faith against those who oppose it.

There is a similar exhortation in Hebrews, though there is more of an edge to it here.

Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5.11–14

This, like what we see in Jude, is a call for maturity. Notice the goal of such maturity: the ability to discern what is good and what is evil. Or to use Jude’s kind of language, to be able to contend for the faith.

One part of being able to keep yourselves in the love of God is working at ‘building yourselves up on your most holy faith’.

What methods might you use to accomplish that? This is where the familiar comments about knowing the Scriptures fit. To be sure, it’s important to read the Scriptures and to listen to them being preached so that you can meditate on them. Meditation on the Scriptures is critical.

But let me add some less familiar comments here. It would be good also to discuss what you’re learning from the Scriptures, to discuss that with other Christians. So, it just might be a good idea to ask someone else here something like, ‘So, what are you reading in your Bible these days?’ What just might follow from that is a conversation where two or more of you are discussing some bit of Gospel doctrine out of which can come a deeper understanding of those things. Or again to use Jude’s language, out of which can come a building on your most holy faith.

It’s good to have those discussions with the others here. However, there is much about us as a group that is the same. And means that we will see many of the same things in the Bible and miss many of the same things. It would be so good to have that kind of conversation with a Christian who isn’t part of our group, someone who is different. That even includes someone who is from a different time and place. By this I’m suggesting that you read what different Christians have written over the centuries. There are many very helpful sermons and essays that you can download for free. Just do an internet search on a name. Here are a few names that you might look for: Augustine, Wesley, Luther, Whitefield, Chrysostom. What I’m suggesting is for you to read some things that were not written by middle-class Americans living in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Do that as a conversation with another Christian about Gospel truths. Building on the foundation of our most holy faith really is a group project which includes more Christians than those that you currently know. What you will find is that while these others may have missed things that you know, they knew some things that you have missed. You will be surprised at the benefits that come from doing this. It’s just another aspect of being the Church.

On to the next participle: praying.

… praying in the Holy Spirit.

I suspect that most of you, when you hear that, think that you will now need to add something special to your prayers. But actually, that’s not the case. Believe it or not, you already pray in the Spirit. That’s true of every Christian.

Listen to Paul.

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8.26

This ministry of the Spirit isn’t the possession of some group of elite Christians. It belongs to all of us. But something happens when you actually believe that it belongs to you. For one thing, your confidence in your praying grows. And why not, if it’s true that the Spirit helps you in your prayers? So, the way to apply this is to continue to pray. Just do that knowing that the Spirit is involved, helping you in this important aspect of being a Christian.

That brings us to the last participle: waiting.

waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

So, what’s this waiting? Let me give you a couple of examples of saints who were waiting and doing that with great eagerness.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. … And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.  Luke 2.25,36,38 [ESV]

Here are two saints who were waiting, waiting eagerly for something, waiting eagerly for God to act.

Jude was calling the Christians to whom he was writing to do the same kind of waiting. And for what were they to wait? They were to wait, to eagerly wait, for Jesus to return and to grant His mercy so that they could enter into the glorious life of the age to come.

One thing that I pray about quite regularly is a lively hope in the age to come. I pray that for me, and I pray that for you. And I do that because I know that a lively hope in the age to come puts this age, this life, in a proper perspective. There are good things here to enjoy. There are also some really bad things here. But if we keep in view the glories of the age to come, we will enjoy hope, something that will make a great difference. The bad we now experience will be tempered. And, in fact, so will the good. Life in the here and now will be seen as only a brief time. What is eighty, ninety or even a hundred years here when compared to forever there. The Spirit calls us all to look forward with great eagerness to the return of Jesus when everything changes.

Well, we’ve looked at the main verb and its helpful participles. I hope that I’ve made it quite clear that there’s work to be done, work that must be done.

However, there is one more tidbit from Jude that I need to include. It’s the fourth section of his letter, his doxology at the end.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1.24-25 [NASV]

One of the keys to properly understanding and thus properly applying Gospel doctrines is to be sure to put them in the right context. There is work that needs to be done. This is something that you must do. But your hope of success in this does not rest on yourself or what you do. To use Jude’s words, your hope rests on 

…Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy…

Work hard at the things I’ve told you, aware that your work is absolutely necessary. But be sure that your hope of success is securely placed in the God of grace.