Jude 21 reads, ' Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.' Again we are called here to take responsibility for our own faith. Remember that Jude's readers are facing false teachers and he has dished out heinous warnings to these teachers and their followers of a terrible fate. Here, the readers are to resist and keep themselves in God's love. 'Keep' is tereo and has the sense of 'guard oneself'; that is, watch your own faith. I am not one who agrees with the 'once-saved-always-saved' theology. I think such a view has to do exegetical gymnastics with a raft of texts which suggest one can initially believe, but do so in vain through falling away (e.g. 1 Cor 15:1-2; Heb warning passages). Hence, I believe Jude is warning his readers, look after yourself in the faith. 'In God's love' here is the language of relationship. Walk in faithful obedience and you remain in rela...
The blog of Mark Keown, New Testament lecturer at Laidlaw College, Auckland, New Zealand. It involves comments on theology, life, sport and whatever comes into Mark's random mind.