… keep yourselves in God’s love …
Jude’s language is interesting. He does not say, “Thank God, we who believe are saved!” He doesn’t rest on his laurels. There is no pointing to how smart he is to have chosen to believe in Jesus. Instead, he offers some advice and encouragement when he writes, “… keep yourselves in God’s love.”
Remember how he started his short letter? In verse three he urges us to “contend for the faith.” In the next verse, he warns us about “certain individuals” who have “secretly slipped in among you.” Immediately we, his readers, are on the alert. Our minds may have started to sift through every “brother” and “sister” we know. We are suspiciously comparing them to the list of clues that Jude gives us to identify the ungodly.
Eventually, the truth of Jude’s words dawn. The “ungodly” could be any one of us! The very people we are to guard against are ourselves.
Oh, mercy!
God help us all!
Jude has been writing to the part of us that knows the Lord. He writes strongly against the motivations and actions of the other part of us. The part Paul calls the “body of death” (ESV). Then he writes, “… keep yourself in God’s love.”
How?
How do you and I keep ourselves in God’s love? What does it mean to be outside of God’s love? What is it we have to do?
The answer to this question lies deep in the human heart. Have you given your heart to Jesus? Or, like Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5: 1-11) have you held something back? Keeping yourself in God’s love is a matter of trusting Him with your heart.
While only God can judge the heart, there are some external warning signs. Jude lists them off for us. We are not excused from challenging those who show signs of being ungodly. Yet we must remain in God’s love, too. Like the archangel Michael, we can dispute with those who follow the devil’s path, but we dare not condemn. To do so is to transgress God’s authority. In a very real way, judging others is to “deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign…”
Application: Give your heart fully to Jesus. Keep yourself in God’s love.
Food for Thought: What advice do you have for keeping yourself in God’s love?
Always go back to the cross. When I focus on what Jesus did for me on the cross it normally leads to a greater appreciation and love for my Savior. I love because He first loved me. He demonstrated that love with one of the most incredible actions anybody has ever witnessed. It was not just the physical pain, but that He took the wrath of the Father for my sin. When I survey the wondrous cross I am left speechless and in awe and in renewed love for our amazing God. (1 John 4: 7 – 16; 2 Corinthians 5: 21; Romans 5: 8; Colossians 2: 14).
Rich,
What a perfect answer! Thank you for the great selection of verses. There is so much to pick from there. Perhaps the most relevant is the passage in 1 John 4: 16b, “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
As far as looking to the cross, I think of Peter when he stepped out of the boat and onto the water. He was fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus!
Amen 👍🏻