In recent days I have found myself coming back to this phrase in Jude: "Keep yourselves in the love of God." This certainly does not mean that God's love for me is variable or that I have to earn it. God's love is a burning light around me at my best and at my worst. Jude must mean that I have a responsibility to line up my subjective inner response to God with the objective reality, so that I walk in spiritual health. I, like many, have been beset during my Christian journey with the distractions of the world, the flesh, and the devil, that breed fear and disappointment and unreal expectations that have kept me from resting in the truth of the love of God consistently. The Bible describes the Christian life as warfare, and this struggle, this "striving to enter the rest," is the front line. I don't think my experience is unique.
Somewhere I have a plaque that says, "We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for the past and fear for the future." These are two of the enemy's weapons, and they are useful to him as I age, because I have more of a history to regret, and more infirmity to fear. Knowledge of God's love is their only antidote, a love which turns regret into strengthened character, and fear into hope.
Jude gives some practical ways to keep ourselves in the love of God, in a string of participial phrases. Let's take a look at them.
"... building yourselves up in your most holy faith..." I do not think Jude is primarily referring to my own inner faith here. That would be a redundancy. Inner faith only increases as it contemplates that which is other. The subjective responds to the objective. So I take "faith" here in the sense of "the faith," the body of truth that Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 16:13 and "the faith" encompassed in Jesus' initial message: "Repent and believe the gospel." To repent means I assent to my own depravity; it means I assent to God's right to be offended by it. To repent means that I accept the immutability of God and his unbending unwillingness to grade on a curve or be the tolerant old grandfather of popular theology.
But then I am called upon to "believe the gospel." There I discover a wonder that far outshines mere tolerance: GOD MEETS HIS OWN DEMAND. God becomes incarnate. God dies. God assumes the judgment. God buries judgment in the tomb. God comes to life with his arms opened wide. That is the gospel, and in it I find the love of God of which Jude speaks. This is what I am called to contemplate over and over. Here is freedom. Everyday I am called to again "repent and believe the gospel." And when I do I am kept in the love of God.
"...praying in the Holy Spirit..." Some may limit this phrase to praying in tongues, and while that has value, I would not limit it to that. I find that when I pray my mind is constantly chattering; in fact, I talk to myself far too much. To pray in the Spirit is to enter a place of quiet in which I can hear him speak. I have found recently, and far too late in my life, that if I quit reasoning and ask God for a solution to a problem or a question, he really does answer (we don’t receive because we don’t ask). My responsibility is to be quiet enough to hear the Spirit’s voice. And when I do hear, his reply is always related to the gospel and the love of God. Ultimately, that love is the answer.
“...waiting for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life...” This of course does not mean that God’s mercy is only in the future, or that his mercy towards us increases over time. It does mean that God’s mercy will never fail, and that the mercy we receive in the gospel will reach its objective in our perfection and freedom from sin. The present mercy of God is eschatological. A perfect ending leads to hope, and hope verifies that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts” (Romans 5:5).
Summary: Jude exhorted us to keep ourselves in the love of God because he understood the nature of the Christian’s battle against our regrets and fears that cause us to doubt that love. We can do so by meditating on both our own inability and the power of the gospel. Quietly hearing the Spirit’s voice and waiting patiently for the gospel’s consummation keep us focused on God’s love for us.
**May God’s Christmas blessing rest on those of you that read this. Let’s continue to pray for one another. This has been an eventful year for us--sold our house in Kodak, lived in an apartment for 6 months, moved to Charlotte on the tail end of hurricane Joaquin, jumped through all the usual hoops: tags, address changes, hanging pictures, finding places to shop, new church, new friends. You may not know that we are in a mixed community on the east side. Making friends and praying for an inlet for the gospel through real relationships. The job at the Billy Graham Library (part time) is one of the best I’ve had, but I am having some difficulty staying on my feet for long periods. More a matter of dizziness than pain. Anne is still doing her insurance business, keeping up with TN clients and a few new ones here. She is playing some tennis, but looking for permanent courts. We have found the parks in Mint Hill and walk a lot. David and Channon are in San Pedro, CA. They are doing great. Good job and location. Beth is likewise, and only 9 miles away. Blessing to everybody, Rick**
