Keep Yourselves in the Love of God by Building Up in the Holy Faith and Praying in the Spirit (Jude 1:20-23)

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” (Jude 1:20-23)

These things we shall do in these last days when the Lord Jesus Christ will soon be coming again, says Jude, a brother of James and apostle. The mark of the last days is the appearance of many false teachers, deceiving and scattering many away from the truth in Christ. Jesus says, “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24) The shocking and shattering truth is that those false and disguised prophets and teachers are not from outside the church but from inside. Paul warned the saints in Ephesus during his farewell address, saying “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:29-30)

It’s not at all a surprising thing when happens. Jesus told a parable that the enemy stealthily came and sowed weeds among the wheat in the field where a man sowed (Matthew 13:25). The parable tells that there are the weeds growing in the midst of the wheat until the harvest time. The weeds sowed by the devil raise their voices and ideas prompted by mere natural instinct, not inspired by the Spirit and divide the people in the church (Jude 1:19). In these last days launched since the first century, what are we commanded to do?

Jude admonishes the saints in the latter days by building ourselves up in the most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit to keep ourselves in the love of God as we wait for the mercy of Christ Jesus the Lord to bring to eternal life. How can we build ourselves up in the holy faith? It’s through reading and studying the scriptures which lead us to stand on the unshakable truth of God. And add to it praying in the Spirit. Understand what is prayer really according the scriptures and exercise the gift of prayer according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the troubles and distresses. Then, we are able to keep ourselves in the love of God who shall bring us eternal life through the sudden appearance of Jesus Christ our Lord.

There is no need to devise a program in an effort to contend for the faith in Christ. That’s how the world functions and operates. But the church follows the order of the Head Jesus Christ who knows and understands everything and shall fulfill faithfully the promise of God. The church is called to obey the commandment of God, not the prince of the world. The commandment of God is to love one another. So, Jude further admonishes the saints, saying “Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25)