Epistle of Jude December 22, 2013 Bob Eckel 1 Jude 20,21 -“Building Yourselves Up in the Faith” Jude 20, 21 – “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” –Notice again (vv. 3,17) to whom this is addressed – beloved esteemed, dear, favorite, worthy of love –Why are we worthy of being loved? »Because we are adopted sons, heirs – Rom 8:15,16 –building yourselves up on your most holy faith building yourselves up looks like a self-effort doesn’t’ it? –The verb is a present tense participle – ‘keep on being built up’ –And here, the emphasis is not just the believer but the body. »Rather than separating – Jude 19 on your most holy faith –Our only building block is faith in the source, the Word of God.

Epistle of Jude December 22, 2013 Bob Eckel 2 Jude 20,21 -“Building Yourselves Up in the Faith” »The source is holy, perfect, righteous – John 17:17 »How are we doing, or better asked resting and receiving, here? –praying in the Holy Spirit What is prayer? –Response to the body of truth - McCalley –Without ceasing – Eph 6:18 –No formality here (Abba Father) - Mark 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6 –Often not conscious –Rom 8:25-27 And why is prayer in the Holy Spirit? –The Holy Spirit is an intricate and essential part of the trinity. »And God (Theos) the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are all included here. –What is the primary purpose of the Holy Spirit? »John 16:13,14 –keep yourselves in the love of God This is His love in us, not ours for Him Again, this looks like a self-effort

Epistle of Jude December 22, 2013 Bob Eckel 3 Jude 20,21 -“Building Yourselves Up in the Faith” And it is – aorist, imperative, active And how do we do this? –By faith! »believing what God has revealed »And when we don’t respond by faith, it’s not our relationship but our fellowship that suffers. »For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Heb 13:5). »We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him – I John 4:16 What does this type of love look like? –Remember this is manifested in and through the body. –waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. waiting anxiously – present middle or passive voice –This relates to our hope, and what is our hope? –Is it something about which we are uncertain? –No, it’s something future and in which we are secure.

Epistle of Jude December 22, 2013 Bob Eckel 4 Jude 20,21 -“Building Yourselves Up in the Faith” –Titus 2:13 – looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, –for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life Why the mercy here? –Is this dismissal of just punishment (mercy) or an undeserved privilege (Grace)? »Mercy spares us from being separated from God – Rom 6:23 »But this also seems like an act of grace too doesn’t it – Rom 5:21 –Could be applied to past, present, or future mercy. »In context, future tense is evident. And next week we’ll conclude our study of Jude!