From Jude 1 / Called, Beloved and Kept

Jude is an extraordinary letter. It is remarkable on a number of fronts. Here are just a few.

1 – Its stylistic features – Jude’s penchant to bundle ideas in 3’s throughout.

2 – Its brevity. 25 verses, 459 words (in the ESV). A typical sermon of mine runs about 5,000 words.

3 – Its urgency. No other book, with the possible exception of The Revelation comes with such a sense of urgency. Jude himself says he intended to write to his audience about broader themes related to our salvation – but felt compelled to address a pressing need.

4 – Jude’s appeal to extra-Biblical material he knows his audience has interacted with.

5 – Jude’s obvious unwillingness to try and trade on being Jesus’ half-brother. He seeks no special authority.

6 – The unusual amount of shared material with 2 Peter.

7 – Jude’s assumption that the foundation of “The Faith” was already sufficiently established so that he could appeal to it without much detail.

8 – His most unexpected counsel as to how the Church ought to respond to the critical problem he cites as the reason for the letter in the first place.

Note first: Jude’s first triad. How does he denominate Christians? As those who are – “Called”, “Beloved in God the Father” and “kept for Jesus Christ.”

And we do not want to miss Jude’s thought process here. He is about to address his readers about a most urgent spiritual crisis among them. But he does not begin there. He begins by reminding them of who they are in Christ. He wants to them to be well fortified to face what he is about to unfold, by reaffirming their hearts and minds in the sureties of their salvation. He does not want them to be overwhelmed by the depth and severity of the problem they are facing.

Note second: The true Christian is first and foremost – called.

No one just stumbles into Christianity and right relationship with God. He must always initiate our coming to Him, or it is most certain we would never. In our fallen condition, we never seek Him out of ourselves, nor for Himself. As Paul draws from several Old Testament sources to make his case in this regard, he writes by The Spirit in Romans 3 “For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”

The idea here isn’t that man does not seek “god” in any sense, or there would not be idolatry as well as true religion. There are 2 things here:

1. No one seeks after the true God, excepting the Spirit of God working in him and drawing him. And this work, the Spirit is doing all the time. Thus we cannot absolutize this verse in a way that ignores or denies the Spirit of God at work all over the place, causing all manner of persons in all manner of places and circumstances to seek Him. He is active convincing the World of righteousness, sin and judgment. He draws people to Christ.

2. No man – left to him or her self, seeks God as God, for God. All man made religion seeks god in the sense of seeking power over circumstances and others, and in trying to clear oneself from the innate sense of guilt.

What then is to be done? How are any to be saved from God’s own just wrath? He must call us to Himself. For which purpose He does many things – but to speak of only 2: He sends His Church into the world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature – “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30); and secondly He sends His Spirit to draw them – “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:8-11)

Theologians have traditionally then divided God’s “call” into two species – The outward call of the Gospel to every human being which men resist, ignore, embrace and sometimes fall away from (see Jesus’ parable of the soils in Mark 4) , and the inward or effectual call of the Spirit which may be resisted, but the Spirit overcomes to make us Christ’s.

If you are Christ’s today beloved, a most miraculous thing has happened. The Gospel preached was like a seed planted in your heart, and the Spirit attended that seed that it might bring for new life in Jesus. He has called you to Himself. The sovereign Creator of all, the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God of all – who rules and reigns in all power and authority over the cosmos – called you, by name, and despite all of your fallen objections and resistance, overcame them all to make you His own.

O what a wonder of wonders our salvation is! And who is this God who would do such for His enemies? Glory!

Note third: The Christian is not a Christian due to some mere transactional formulae in God. We are His, because He loved us! We love because He first loved us! (1 John 4:19)

Many have labored under the misconception that God the Father is like a grumpy old despot who only seeks revenge on His enemies, and that the kinder, milder Christ somehow interposed Himself between us, so that the Father must grudgingly save us. It is not so!

It was God the Father, who so loved the world, that He gave His only Son for us. Jesus coming and dying was the Father’s plan. He sent Jesus out of His great love.

Now contemplate this for a moment.

This God, who is as we just described Him above, who called you by name to Himself, did so out of the infinite depths of His love for you. You Believer are “beloved in God the Father.” Cherished. Valued. Esteemed. Delighted in. He takes pleasure in you. He did all He did in Christ that you might be reconciled to Him. That you might rejoice in Him, lavish in Him, delight in Him endlessly throughout the ages of eternity. “So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7) We must do our utmost to deflect every lie of the Enemy who would somehow diminish in any capacity the purity and entirety of God’s love for His blood bought ones in Christ. As Galatians reminds us – faith works through love (Gal. 5:6) Our faith is always in direct proportion to our sense of God’s love for us. We must be convinced – supremely by the Cross – of His infinite, tender love for His own.

Note fourth: Believer’s are “kept”, preserved and protected – to be Christ’s Bride at His return.

The original here can be read two ways: Either that we are kept FOR Christ, or kept BY Christ. And perhaps it is best to just accept them both.

He has saved us, to be with us. Died for us, to purchase us. Rose again to raise us up. Sent His Spirit to seal us for the “day of redemption.” (Eph. 1:13; 4:30)

Many is the true Believer who in the aftermath of failure in sin, or due to the strains of external trials and tribulations is surrounded by dark clouds of doubt fearing they will not persevere in Christ to the end. It is not so! “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29)

Weary, troubled, wounded fellow Believer – you are being kept by and for your Redeemer. And especially kept FOR Him, that He might take eternal delight in your union with Him as His own dear bride.

What glory belongs to us who are His by faith. Truly, the heart and mind of man are not capable of searching out the wonder of it all.

And so Jude begins his solemn and necessary letter – with the extraordinary reminder to his fellow Believers.

Glory!