Keep Yourselves in God's Love

A man sits down to write a cheerful letter. He has his first words ready. Then the news arrives, and he puts that letter aside. Something more urgent has to be written first.

The writer is Jude. He grew up in Nazareth, in the same family as Jesus. The Gospels list him among Jesus' brothers, along with James. Like James, he did not believe at first. But later, he became a follower of his own older brother, and called him Lord. In his letter, Jude humbly calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James. Now he hears that certain people have slipped quietly into the churches. They talk about God's grace, but use it as an excuse for doing whatever they like, and they reject the Lord Jesus. So Jude writes.

He opens with a blessing. To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you. Then he explains. Dear friends, I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share. But I found it necessary to write and urge you to contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Contend means to struggle for it, like an athlete, or someone defending something precious. Not to invent a new faith, but to hold on to the one already handed down.

Jude reminds them of stories they already knew from the scriptures. The Lord rescued his people out of Egypt, and yet afterwards those who did not believe were lost in the wilderness. He reminds them of Cain, of Balaam who loved money, of Korah who rebelled against Moses. Then he paints vivid pictures of these false teachers, drawn from the world around him. They are like clouds without water, blown along by the wind, promising rain and giving none. Like trees in autumn with no fruit. Like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame. Like wandering stars, no use for finding your way. Jude says the apostles had warned that in the last times there would be mockers, following their own desires. These people cause divisions, he says, and they do not have the Spirit.

But ye, beloved. Now Jude turns to the faithful, and his voice softens. Build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. And be merciful to those who doubt. Rescue others, he says, snatching them out of the fire. Then Jude finishes with one of the most beautiful blessings in the whole Bible. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude has told them to keep themselves in God's love. And he ends by reminding them that it is God who keeps them.

The church historian Eusebius preserves a story from an earlier writer, Hegesippus, about Jude's grandsons. The emperor Domitian, suspicious of anyone related to the royal line of David, had them brought before him. They told him they owned only a small farm, which they worked themselves, and showed him their hard, calloused hands. Seeing they were simple farmers, the emperor let them go.

Keep yourselves in God's love. You'll find Jude's short letter just before the book of Revelation. Hold on to the faith, show mercy to those who doubt, and trust the God who is able to keep you from falling. So here is a question to carry with you. What helps you stay close to God's love, and who could you help to stay close too?