What Jesus' Brother Jude Wanted Us To Know | Verses 20-21 | The Perseverance of the Saints
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”
Here, Jude essentially emphasizes perseverance, i.e. “keep yourselves in the love of God.” The way to do this is by “building yourselves up in your most holy faith.” This perfectly brackets what he started his letter with when he told them to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” His exhortation is to persevere!
Jude, however, says more than just “hang in there!” and he is certainly not suggesting that anyone could lose a legitimate salvation. His letter, after all, started with the declaration that the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will be “those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ” (vs. 1) (emphasis mine).
The writings of the apostles convey this fact throughout their various letters and treatises. They declare the preemptive, sovereign will of God in the conversion of men and women, yet they will also write in a way that includes the general encouragement to keep themselves in the faith. This, in effect, demonstrates both God’s effectual call unto salvation, through gifted faith, as well as the believer’s continual responsibility to walk in obedience before Him.
The letters in the Bible, like Jude, are written to believers, specifically. Yet, for the good chance that an unbeliever would hear the letter being read in the midst of the assembly as was the custom, their unredeemed conscience would be pricked by the realization that they are not living in line with God’s commands. Thus, the language that affirms both God’s sovereignty in keeping the Christian as well as exhortations to the people to “keep [themselves] in the love of God” is a fitting and needed command to those who may well be only feigning belief. The fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit will be evident in a life that is actually regenerated and redeemed.
We find great encouragement in Paul’s final words to the Thessalonian’s: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thess 5:23–24).
There are two main points in verse 20 of Jude that identify what it looks like for the believer to keep themselves in the love of God:
1) Build yourselves up in your most holy faith
2) Pray in the Holy Spirit
Being built up in the faith will certainly not come about by way of spiritual speculations or by relying on dreams as Jude has previously explained. These are only hallmarks of the spiritually deceived and the false teachers that lead them—not those who have been indwelled with the Holy Spirit.
The only way to experience a healthy, edifying spiritual growth that protects us from the winds and consequences of spiritual error is by a consistent feeding upon the Holy Word of God. This, indeed, should be something we hunger and thirst for—and consequently satisfy our hunger and thirst with—but we need more than just our own intuition. What all believers need is a faithful shepherd who takes them deeper and further in their understanding—men of God who are gifted for that very purpose.
The Apostle Paul tells us that “[God] gave [the church] the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph 4:11–12).
This is why the writer of Hebrews so clearly encourages us to keep the faith like Jude does while also crediting the sovereignty of God. In this case, though, Hebrews points out the importance of the fellowship of believers in this endeavor:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (10:23–25).
Sadly, it is oftentimes the most seemingly serious, professing Christians who are the ones that end up excluding most people from fellowship, removing themselves from all churches, ostensibly as a stand for truth while they vociferously denounce everything as being of the devil if the paint isn’t the right color and the trees in the lobby remind them of an ancient Babylonian mystery-religion. Yet, Scripture is replete with warnings against this lifestyle as the saints of God simply cannot have a consistent, healthy growth by becoming isolated from other believers. It is not God’s design. Rather than suggesting that the best way for passionate Christians to grow is by removing oneself from all influences, Scripture tells us and assumes that we are surrounded by people who are wiser and weaker than us in our walk of faith. It will actually contribute to our true substantiation in the truth as we grow by teaching others and allowing ourselves to be taught by others—all with the Word of God as the final arbiter for truth.
“We who are strong,” Paul says, “have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Rom 15:1) (emphasis mine).
Likewise, he urges the Corinthians: “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement.”
It is no wonder that the apostles encourage us to this end as—like Jude argues—it is needed to build us up in the most holy faith.
The second thing Jude tells us to do is to pray in the Holy Spirit. That is, to pray in the spirit of the Holy Spirit, or to pray according to His will. An interesting parallel would be when Paul told the Colossians and Ephesians to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The songs were to be in the spirit of the Holy Spirit—of God, to God, for God. So should our prayers be.
Paul tells us that while donning, as it were, the armor of God, we should be “praying at all times in the Spirit” (Eph 6:18). Interestingly, he then says, “to that end keep alert with all perseverance”—the very thing Jude is stressing!
Again, while Scripture teaches us that the sovereignty of God saves the sinner and then keeps the sinner, it is that very reality that allows the sinner-turned-saint to desire such an outcome and thus live according to the will of God and keep themselves in the love of God.
One more thing that we must not miss in the life of the Christian, which Jude exhorts us to do, is to be “waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (vs. 21).
The believer will always have their eyes focused on this eternal reality which will, in so doing, help them to not become distracted with things of the world. Jude is basically telling us how to protect ourselves by becoming the victims of false teaching and damning heresy—through the truth faith once delivered, through prayer, the fellowship of other believers, and a forward-looking disposition that preserves their integrity.
Again, Hebrews encourages us to persevere and focus on Christ and His salvation: “Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (12:1–2).
He then tells us why we should and can do this: “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (2–3).
There is much encouragement to be drawn from such glorious passages of Scripture, but Isaiah brings it home:
“The Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him” (30:18).
In Christ Alone,
Ben
