What did Jude mean when he said to "keep yourselves in the love of God?" (Jude 21)
Jude 20-21 King James Version (KJV) 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
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Asked January 22 2020
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Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
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Tim Maas
Supporter
I would say that, in telling his readers to "keep yourselves in the love of God", Jude was referring to their doing so by carrying out the practices that he had mentioned in the previous verse of his epistle (1 Jude 20), as noted in the question -- namely, by building themselves up (that is, by growing or maturing) in their faith (as Paul and other New Testament authors had also encouraged their readers to do), and through prayer in the Holy Spirit (meaning, prayer that is aided by His strength and wisdom, with Him moving our hearts and directing the petitions that we make). (Jesus made a similar reference in John 15:9-10 to His followers remaining in His love by keeping His commandments, just as Jesus remained in God the Father's love by keeping the Father's commandments.)
Chris Eleam
Supporter
We find the answer to that question in Jesus’ own words, spoken on the final night of his life here on earth. He said: “If you observe my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have observed the commandments of the Father and remain in his love.” (John 15:10) Clearly, Jesus felt that observing Jehovah’s commandments was essential to keeping a good standing with his Father. Now, if that was true of the perfect Son of God, would it not be true of us also? 4 Primarily, we show that we love Jehovah by obeying him. The apostle John expressed it this way: “This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3) Granted, the notion of obedience is not always a popular one in today’s world. Notice, though, the phrase: “Yet his commandments are not burdensome.” Jehovah is not asking us to do something that is too hard for us. 5 To illustrate: Would you ask a dear friend to carry something that you know is too heavy for him to lift? Of course not! Jehovah is far kinder than we are and far more perceptive as to our limitations. The Bible assures us that Jehovah ‘remembers that we are dust.’ (Ps. 103:14) He would never ask more of us than we can handle. So we have no reason to recoil at the thought of obeying Jehovah’s commandments. On the contrary, we embrace obedience for what it is—a marvelous opportunity to show our heavenly Father that we truly do love him and want to remain in his love.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
Here we have obedience spoken of. “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love” (John 15:10). “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected” (1 John 2:5). We ought to grow in our love for God by listening to His Word, obeying it, and delighting in doing what pleases Him. This is how we keep ourselves in the love of God.
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