Lesson 12

Jude

Maintaining the Faith Entrusted to Us

 

Responsibility of Believers  [1:20-21]

Christians can remain untainted by the many heresies manifested within and without the church today by taking Jude’s command to heart: “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (v. 21).

 

 

 

Jude is not saying or even intimating that God would or could stop loving believers — that's something that is impos­sible (Rom. 8:35-39).

It is possible, for us to limit God from bestowing the fullness of His love and blessing in our lives, do so when we fail to obey Christ, fail to choose to live within the parameters established by Him (Jn. 15:9-10).

 

Believers keep themselves in God’s love by maintain­ing three practices.

 

#1  by “building yourselves up on your most holy faith” (v. 20).

 

 

 

 

 

 

#2  Christians are kept in God’s love through “praying in the Holy Spirit” (v. 20)— praying with depen­dence on the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#3  We as believers are kept in God’s love when we anticipate the coming of the Lord: “waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” (v. 21).

 

to wait anxiously is just that, to eagerly wait for something with confidence of completion;

 

 

Those who live with such hope it has a profound impact on their life, and becomes a motivation to manifest purity of life 1 Jn. 3:2-3.

 

Rabbit trail 1 John 3:2-3

3:2  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when it  [antecedent = what we shall be] appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.  Knowing this should inspire us to abide in Him!

 

3:3 The impact of Christian hope upon present living.

 

 

 

Our past experience of regeneration i.e becoming children of God, brings with it a living hope for the future, and this hope is to motivate present Christian living.

" And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

 

 

 

Christian hope is assured of future realization because it is grounded in the person of Christ and His sure word.

 

 

Our eschatological hope has objective validity and will certainly be fulfilled because Christ Himself is the guarantee of its fulfillment.

 

 

John insists that every individual who holds to this objective hope "purifies himself", willingly and repeatedly exercises self-purification. 

 

 

When we get filthy, physically we must personally apply soap and water to be cleansed, so the believer appropriates the God-given means of cleansing from moral defilement that we may have chosen in our daily life.  

 

 

The more we contemplate this assured hope of being conformed to the image of Christ, the more eagerly we will strive for present personal purity

 

 

 

Back to Jude

The words building up, praying, and waiting anxiously  are all in the pre­sent tense which says that they should be consistently a reality for each of us.  All three point to having a right focus in life.

 

 

Apostates who have rejected God’s mercy and scoffed at the Second Coming will receive judgment and condemnation at Christ’s coming.

 

Summary Observations vs:20-21

1. After one last salvo at the false teachers in vs.18-19, Jude continues in vs:20-21 with exhortation to the believer who lives in a time of apostasy.

 

2. The only antidote to apostasy and false teaching is a strong frame of reference of the word of God. Remember vs:17.

 

3. This frame of reference of truth must be constantly expanding. 

 

4. This ongoing building is upon the foundation that was laid when we believed in Christ. 

 

 

5. Jude emphasizes the importance of prayer in our life.

- prayer is the means whereby we are able to go face to face with God, and to do so with confidence and find mercy, grace in action, in our time of need, and be the recipient of true comfort. Heb 4:16

 

 

6. Our life is to be marked by ongoing fellowship, indicated here by the command to "continually keep yourselves within the love of God".

 

7. Our understanding of prophecy, specifically the blessed hope, has a tremendous impact on how we live today.  [1 Jn 3:2-3]

 

8. B.L. Advancing, being built up in the Word, praying by the H/S; waiting anxiously for the Lord's return all add up to being able to maintain our lives within the sphere of the Love of God, ie. ongoing fellowship.