Scripture Reading: Jude 1:20-25
In verses 20 through 23 Jude gives certain charges to the believers. In verses 20 and 21 he charges the believers to build themselves up in the holy faith and to live in the Triune God. Then in verses 22 and 23 he charges the believers to care for others with mercy in fear.
In verse 20 Jude says, “But you, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” The faith here is objective faith and refers to the precious things of the New Testament in which we believe for our salvation in Christ. On the foundation of this holy faith and in the sphere of it, through praying in the Holy Spirit, we build up ourselves. The truth of the faith in our apprehension and the Holy Spirit through our prayer are necessary for our building up. Both the faith and the Spirit are holy.
It is correct to say that faith in verse 20 is objective faith. However, we need to realize that this objective faith produces subjective faith. Faith first refers to the truth contained in the Word of God and conveyed by the Word, The written word of God in the Bible and the spoken word in the genuine and proper preaching and teaching contain the truth and convey the truth to us. By truth we mean the reality of what God is, the reality of the process through which God has passed, and the reality of what He has accomplished, attained, and obtained. Hence, truth as reality includes all the facts concerning what God is, what God has passed through, what God has accomplished, and what God has attained and obtained. All this is revealed in the New Testament. We may read about this in the Bible, or we may hear it through someone’s preaching and teaching. But in either case this reality is contained in the holy Word and conveyed by the Word to us.
As we listen to the word that contains the truth, the Spirit of Christ works within us. The Spirit of Christ always works according to the Word and with the Word. This means that the Spirit of Christ cooperates with the Word. As a result of this cooperation, eventually in our experience there is a “click,” like that made by the shutter of a camera, and the “scene” of what is contained in the Word is impressed on our spirit and becomes our faith. As we pointed out in the Life-study of 2 Peter, this is the faith allotted to us as our portion from God (2 Pet. 1:1), and this portion is nothing less than the New Testament inheritance.
This faith is both objective and subjective. As we build ourselves up in our most holy faith, we build ourselves up in a faith that is not only objective but especially subjective. The subjective faith comes out of the objective faith. In other words, faith implies both what we believe in and also our believing. This is the most holy faith.
This faith is not something of ourselves. In ourselves we do not have such a faith. The most holy faith is a great blessing given to us from God, of God, and even with God. When this faith comes into us, it comes with God, with all that God is, with all that God has passed through, with all that God has accomplished in Christ and through the Spirit, and with all that God has obtained and attained. All this comes into us with God in this faith. As long as we have this faith, we have the processed God, redemption, regeneration, the divine life, and all things related to life and godliness. We are also positioned and privileged to partake of the divine nature and enjoy it. Therefore, once we have this faith, we have everything. Now we need to build ourselves up in this holy faith.
With what materials do we build ourselves up in our holy faith? The answer is that this faith is both the materials with which we build and also the base or foundation on which we build. If we do not have faith, we do not have the materials, and we do not have the base, the foundation, on which to build. This means that without faith we have nothing to build on and nothing to build with. As believers, we build ourselves up with the content of our most holy faith, and we build ourselves up on this faith as a foundation. Praise the Lord that we have such a faith!
The Chinese version of the Bible translates the Greek word for faith in verse 20 with a word that means “the true word.” Faith in this verse surely implies the true word, for faith is produced out of the contents of the true word, God’s revelation. The word of God’s revelation contains the divine reality of God’s being, process, redemptive work, accomplishment, and attainment, and this word conveys all this divine reality into us. When we hear the words concerning this reality, the Holy Spirit works within us in a way that corresponds to these words. The outcome is faith.
Although faith implies the true word, it implies much more than this. According to the New Testament, faith is all-inclusive. As long as we have faith, we have all the divine things. Therefore, with these divine things as the material and foundation, we may build ourselves up in our most holy faith.
To build ourselves up in the faith does not mean to build ourselves up with theological doctrines or biblical knowledge. Mere doctrine or knowledge is too objective and also empty. But truth as the reality of the holy Word is not empty. This truth is the content of the most holy faith. Therefore, with this content we have something real and solid with which and on which to build.
The building up in the most holy faith is not individualistic; rather, this building is a corporate matter. Jude is speaking to the believers corporately when he charges them to build up themselves in their most holy faith. If we would build up ourselves in the faith, we must do it in a corporate way; that is, we must do it in the Body, in the church life. Apart from the church life, we cannot build ourselves up in the faith. Outside the church life, there is not such a building. Actually, to build up ourselves in the most holy faith is to build up the Body of Christ.
According to verse 20, if we would build up ourselves in our most holy faith, we need to pray in the Holy Spirit. Faith is related to the Word, and in the Holy Spirit we have life. In this verse the Holy Spirit mainly refers to life, not to power. However, some Christians today understand the Holy Spirit mainly in terms of power. In Romans 8:2 Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of life. From experience we know that praying in the Holy Spirit is much more a matter of life than a matter of power. When we pray we may not sense power; however, we often have the sense of life. Life is more precious than power.
Regarding praying in the Holy Spirit, Pentecostal people may relate this more to power than to life because their emphasis is on power instead of on life. There is a great difference between emphasizing life and emphasizing power. Actually, real spiritual power comes from spiritual life.
Genuine power is a matter of life. We may use seeds as an illustration. Seeds of every kind are small. I have never seen a seed as large as a baseball. But although a seed is small, it is dynamic and full of life. Because a seed is full of life, it is powerful. After you sow a seed in the ground, it sprouts and grows into a plant or tree. Although the sprouts may be very tender, they have the power to break through the soil. This power comes from the life in the seed. In a similar way, building ourselves up by praying in the Holy Spirit is mainly a matter of life.
In verse 21 Jude says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” We should keep ourselves in the love of God by building up ourselves in the holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. In this way we should await and look for the mercy of our Lord so that we may not only enjoy eternal life in this age, but also inherit it for eternity (Matt. 19:29).
The way to keep ourselves in the love of God is by building ourselves up in our most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. If we do not build up ourselves in the faith and if we do not pray in the Holy Spirit, it will be easy for us to depart from the love of God. Actually, the words “in the love of God” mean in the enjoyment of the love of God. Here Jude does not speak of the love of God in an objective way; he speaks of the love of God in a subjective way, in the way of enjoying this love. Hour after hour, we need to enjoy the love of God. We should be in the love of God not only objectively but also subjectively. We need to keep ourselves always in the enjoyment of God’s love by building ourselves up and by praying. Building up ourselves is related to the holy Word, and praying is related to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if we have the Word applied to us and the Spirit working within us, we shall be kept in the enjoyment of God’s love as we await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
In verses 20 and 21 Jude not only charges the believers to build themselves up in the holy faith, but also charges them to live in the Triune God. The entire blessed Trinity is employed and enjoyed by the believers by their praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping themselves in the love of God, and awaiting the mercy of our Lord unto eternal life. In these verses we have the Spirit, God the Father, and the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to pray in the Holy Spirit, keep ourselves in the love of God, and await the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, in these verses we definitely have the Triune God.
According to Jude 1:20-21, we need to live in the Triune God. But how can we live in the Triune God? We live in the Triune God by praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God, and awaiting the mercy of the Lord Jesus.
It is significant that, once again, Jude speaks of mercy and not of grace. Peter emphasizes grace, but Jude emphasizes mercy. In verse 2 of this Epistle Jude says, “Mercy to you and peace and love be multiplied.” We have pointed out that mercy reaches further than grace does. While we are praying in the Spirit and keeping ourselves in the love of God, we should await further mercy from the Lord.
Jude concludes verse 21 with the words “unto eternal life.” Here the word “unto” means issuing in or resulting in. The enjoyment and inheritance of eternal life, the life of God, is the goal of our spiritual seeking. Because we aim at this goal, we want to be kept in the love of God and await the mercy of our Lord.
Jude is not saying that we do not yet have eternal life. Neither is he saying that if we keep praying in the Holy Spirit and remain in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of the Lord we shall eventually have eternal life. Rather, Jude is saying that praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of the Father, and waiting for the mercy of the Lord issue in the present enjoyment of eternal life. We already have eternal life in us. However, if we do not pray in the Holy Spirit, keep ourselves in the love of the Father, and wait for the mercy of the Lord, we shall not enjoy this eternal life. But when we do all these things, the eternal life within us becomes our enjoyment.
Furthermore, although we have eternal life, our measure of this life may be somewhat limited. But if we pray in the Spirit, keep ourselves in the Father’s love, and wait for the Son’s mercy, the eternal life in us will grow in measure. Therefore, “unto eternal life” means not only unto the enjoyment of eternal life, but also unto the growth, the increase of the measure, of eternal life. To experience this is to live in the Triune God.
In verses 22 and 23 Jude goes on to point out that as we live in the Triune God we need to care for others with mercy and fear. Verse 22 says, “And have mercy on some who are wavering.” The Greek here may be rendered “convict some who are disputing.” The word for wavering also means doubting. When we live in the Triune God, we shall have a genuine concern for others. We shall care for those who are younger and weaker and for those who are wavering. But if we do not live in the Triune God, we shall not have this care for weaker ones.
In verse 23 Jude continues, “Save them, snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy in fear, hating even the garment spotted from the flesh.” Jude’s word concerning snatching them out of the fire is probably adopted from Zechariah 3:2. The fire here is the fire of God’s holiness for His judgment (Matt. 3:10, 12; 5:22). According to this word, we should seek to save others and snatch them out of the fire.
In this verse Jude charges us to have mercy in fear, hating the garments spotted from the flesh. While we are having mercy on others, we should be in fear of the awful contagion of sin, hating even the things spotted by the lust of the flesh.
As we exercise mercy on others, we need to be in fear lest we be influenced by them. Sinfulness is contagious. If we are not in fear as we show mercy to others, we may become contaminated with their “germs.” For example, suppose you want to help someone who is involved in an unclean or worldly practice. If you are not careful, instead of helping that one, you may become contaminated and eventually join him in that very practice. Therefore, in order not to be contaminated, we need to have mercy on others in fear.
As we show mercy on others in fear, we need to hate the garment spotted from the flesh. Now we see that in showing mercy upon weak ones we need to fear and we need to hate. These weak ones may be in a pitiful state, and we surely need to show mercy to them. But at the same time we need a holy fear and a holy hatred, a holy fear of being contaminated by sinful things and a holy hatred of these things.
In verses 24 and 25 we have the conclusion of this Epistle. Verse 24 says, “But to Him who is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before His glory without blemish in exultation.” In this concluding phrase, the writer indicates clearly that although he has charged the believers to endeavor in the things mentioned in verses 20 through 23, yet only God our Savior is able to guard them from stumbling and to set them before His glory without blemish in exultation. Glory here is the glory of the great God and our Savior, Christ Jesus, which will be manifested at His appearing (Titus 2:13; 1 Pet. 4:13) and in which He will come (Luke 9:26). The preposition “in” here means in the element of, and “exultation” signifies the exuberance of triumphant joy (Alford).
In verse 25 Jude concludes, “To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority before all time, and now, and unto all eternity. Amen.” The only God is our Savior, and the Man Jesus Christ is our Lord. To such a Savior, through such a Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority throughout all ages. Glory is the expression in splendor; majesty, the greatness in honor; might, the strength in power; and authority, the power in ruling. Therefore, to the only God and our Savior be expression in splendor, greatness in honor, strength in power, and power in ruling. In Jude’s words this is “before all time, and now, and unto all eternity.” Before all time refers to eternity past; now, to the present age; and unto all eternity, to eternity future. Therefore, it is from eternity past, through time, unto eternity future.
