Keep Yourselves in the Love of God

I read the very last section of Jude today which is subtitled in the ESV "A Call to Persevere." I think it would behoove us to consider the delicate tension between human responsibility and Divine ordinance with respect to the perseverance of the saints. The title of this post comes from the first part of Jude 21. Jude clearly presents this keeping as a part of our responsibility. Notice that he says "keep yourselves", which is active, rather than something like "be kept", which is passive. We need to be active in persevering to the end.

That said, we also need to keep in mind the fact that the Bible is clear we are kept by God. In Jude 1, the greeting is to those who are "kept for Jesus Christ." The ESV has a little note that says the word "for" could also be translated "by" so that it would read "kept by Jesus Christ." Furthermore, in verse 24 Jude praises God "who is able to keep you" (24). So this idea of keeping is a theme in Jude and the responsibility seems to go both ways. Understanding such a thing is quite difficult. More recently I believe I've been able to make some sense out of it at least, but it takes far too long to really explain.

There's a danger of leaning too far one way or the other. For example, you could be fatalistic and use God's grace as a license for sin. After all, if you have God's promise that He will keep you to the end, doesn't that mean you can get away with whatever you want? Not exactly. Jude has been clear already that only ungodly men marked out for destruction are the ones who "pervert the grace of our God into sensuality" (4).

Then you could lean the other direction and declare that it is completely up to you to keep yourself saved. This is not the case either, because then you would be getting credit for your salvation. After all, you were good enough to remain in God's favor, weren't you? But Jude ascribes all the glory to God in verse 25. So what do we do? We must keep them in tension. Paul says it wonderfully: "work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13).

We have the privilege of fighting a valiant fight, but if we're not fighting, we're not in the army. So fight the spiritual fight - against sin, against falling away, against false teaching, against "every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God" (2 Cor. 10:5) - and hold on to the hope that all those who are enlisted by the Lord will see victory. There are no casualties in God's army. He is able to keep you.

A Typo in the Bible?!

What's wrong with this sentence?

"One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus" (John 13:24).

Mickey has already written on this topic here, but I thought I'd mention it to you since it was in my reading for today as well. He seems to think it is deliberate. I might agree, given that it happens with the same Greek word in two different books (Mickey notes the issue in Mark).

Eager to Write to You

Today's installment comes from the short book of Jude, verse 3: "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."

It's important to note that Jude is motivated by good news. In verse 2, he says to his readers, "May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you." This context must be kept in mind when thinking about the book of Jude. And it's not as if Jude is just giving lip service to these things. He wants these aspects "multiplied" to his readers. He is serious about Christians being full of mercy, peace, and love. Furthermore, he is "very eager to write about our common salvation." He deeply desires to rejoice with his readers that their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life!

But another thing compels him to write about something other than this joyous truth. The faith that makes up the foundation of their salvation is under attack. The mercy, peace, and love that Christians are supposed to have is being compromised. As verse 4 says, certain people "pervert the grace of our God into sensuality." In light of this attack on the grace of God, Jude's prescription is that we "contend for the faith" (3). The NASB actually has "contend earnestly." We need an active counterattack, defending the truth and combating falsehood.

I'm sure many of the so-called "judgmental", "divisive" preachers of our day (here I have in mind men of God like Bobby, Derek, MacArthur, Piper, etc.) and days past (Jonathan Edwards anybody?) have identified with Jude. The preaching of the hard truths of the gospel must be done, although unpopular, because our faith is under attack, and that from within! We're not talking atheists here. We're talking about people who claim to be a part of the Christian church who are tearing it down from the inside out!

I don't think anyone wants to have to be the Discernment Nazi, because they would much rather everyone believe and rejoice together in the truth with one mind! But the fact is that such discernment is necessary because there are some who have "crept in unnoticed" (4). It takes work sometimes to see who these people are, and we always need our antennas up for their false teachings or bad methods. We need to be diligent Bereans in our discernment levels. Only once we have taken the good and thrown out the bad can we truly proclaim with boldness a message of grace from an exceedingly merciful, kind, and good God.

Wash Your Feet

Continuing my daily reading through John, I came across this verse. It's nothing new, but I think it is a good and necessary reminder: "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean" (John 13:10). Jesus is washing the disciples feet and has moved from talking about physical washing to a spiritual cleanliness. As Christians, we are totally clean. No sin is held against us. We have already laid our foundation of repentance and faith and need not lay that foundation again (Heb 6:1).

That is not to say that sin doesn't worm its way into our lives in a very real way, for "we all stumble in many ways" (James 3:2). Jesus was symbolizing the constant putting off of sin that needs to happen in the believers life. This is sanctification. Our feet will get dirty; that is certain, which is why we need to be constantly uprooting sin in our life. It cannot be allowed to cake in to our skin. It cannot be ignored, cannot be "gotten used to."

I've been convicted, challenged, and blessed by the 8-part sermon series that Pastor Mike Fabarez of Compass Bible Church in Aliso Viejo, CA just completed a few weeks ago on battling sin. We need to take drastic steps to hunt it down, rather than passively accept its existence. So, how's it going with you? Are there any sins you need to have washed off your feet, Christian? If you are not allowing Christ to wash you, then "you have no share with [him]" (John 12:8). But isn't it amazing that the Lord of glory would willingly stoop to do such a thing for us? Praise God for His grace!

Isaiah: True Witness of True God

I've been continuing to engage in regular dialogue with a Jehovah's Witness, and now more recently his wife as well. They come visit my house at 10am on various Saturdays, sometimes by appointment, other times just to see if I'm home. The focus of our conversation is generally focused on the Trinity, as I am more concerned about their view of Christ than of anything else. The gospel, after all, centers around Him, and without the true Christ, there is no true God, true salvation, or true life. I find it interesting that even my pagan professor of last year realized John intention in collecting all the "I am" statements of Christ and compiling them, while skirting most parables, etc. This is a reference to the I AM self-identification of God in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, the New World Translation (JW version of the Bible) has so mangled the translation of the tense that no Jehovah's Witness can see the obvious connection.

I just thought I'd share a few verses that glorify our Lord Jesus Christ as Yahweh incarnate. The incarnation is quite probably the most glorious miracle ever performed by God, greater even than converting sinners (which, if you know anything about your own sinfulness, is saying something).

I was reading through the daily reading bookmarks that we just handed out in High Point, and came across this verse in John 12: "Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him" (v. 41). The context makes it clear that the pronoun "him" is referring to Jesus Christ. "These things" refers to two quotations from the book of Isaiah that John quotes in the verses immediately preceding verse 41. The first quotation is from Isaiah 53:1. We know that Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, but it is the second quotation that I really want to focus on. The verse in John 12 tells us that Isaiah speaks Isaiah 6:10 because he "saw [Jesus'] glory." If we go to the context of Isaiah 6, the vision Isaiah has just seen is a vision of "the King, the LORD of hosts" (v. 5):

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!"

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

Do we realize what's going on here? Jesus the Christ does indeed make appearances in the Old Testament, and this is one right here! This is the glory of Jesus, not of an angel, but of Yahweh! How much more glorious does this make the incarnation, not to mention sacrifice, of Christ? He had been on His throne in His temple, and stepped down, becoming a... pooping baby?! Stand in awe of your God this Christmas (and always!); He loves you with a love we will never grasp.