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Outline 098 of 100 · Jude

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God

Jude 1:20-25 — Persevering in grace while God alone keeps us from falling

Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.

Synopsis

Jude wrote intending to write of common salvation but was compelled instead to warn against creeping apostasy — ungodly men turning grace into license. Yet the letter's climax is not warning but doxology and hope-filled instruction: 'building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.' Believers are to have compassion on some and save others with fear, 'pulling them out of the fire,' engaging rather than merely condemning the wavering. The letter's final and most quoted words assign all security to God: '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.' Righteousness by faith culminates here — our part is to keep ourselves in His love through the disciplines of faith and prayer, but the ultimate guarantee of standing faultless before His glory belongs entirely to God's keeping power.

  1. I. The urgent warning

    • Certain men crept in unawares (1:4)
    • Turning the grace of God into lasciviousness
    • A call to contend earnestly for the faith (1:3)

  2. II. The believer's active pursuit

    • Building up yourselves on your most holy faith
    • Praying in the Holy Ghost
    • Keeping yourselves in the love of God

  3. III. Compassion toward the wavering

    • Have compassion, making a difference
    • Save others with fear, pulling them out of the fire
    • Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh

  4. IV. The doxology of divine keeping

    • Able to keep you from falling
    • Present you faultless with exceeding joy
    • Glory, majesty, dominion, and power forever
The appeal

You are called to keep yourselves in God's love through faith and prayer, but ultimately it is He who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless with exceeding joy. Will you rest in that keeping power today, even as you contend earnestly for the faith?

Key points

  • Apostasy always seeks to twist grace into an excuse for sin.
  • Believers actively keep themselves in God's love through faith, prayer, and compassionate outreach.
  • Ultimate security belongs to God, who alone can present believers faultless before His glory.

Key passages

  • Jude 1:3-4
  • Jude 1:20-21
  • Jude 1:22-23
  • Jude 1:24-25