JUDE

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JUDE 1:4

JUDE 1:4

As we come into the epistle of Jude, it is good for us to get some background information concerning this short letter. Jude identifies himself as a brother of James, and the James that Jude references is typically agreed to be the James of the first Jerusalem church. This is the same James who was a half brother of Jesus. What this means is that Jude is a son of Joseph and Mary, so like James, Jude is also a half brother of Jesus.

The main thrust of Jude's letter is to warn true Christians of the fake Christians, and false teachers that are infecting the churches. The letter is short, and indicates that Jude either did not have the time, or the space of a longer papyrus, to get into addressing issues of the central themes of Christianity. Nevertheless, Jude starts out saying that he originally intended to write a letter for such purposes. Evidently, Jude was inspired to address the seriousness of the infecting element that was infiltrating the churches. So, providentially the time was ripe for Jude to write this short letter. An interesting thing about Jude is that the author quotes extra biblical writings to make some of his points. Jude also quotes scripture out of the biblical canon. The apostle Peter's last letter is the holy scripture Jude quotes heavily from in making his points. The reason for this is because 2 Peter was written earlier as a prophetic warning to alert the saints of the false Christians and heretical teachers who are going to be coming into the church. So, Peter had warned the churches to be ready, and to be on the lookout for such fake Christians. In Jude's context, it is later in that first generation, and so Jude is taking up Peter's prophetic warning in a time in the future. Now Jude is essentially saying,

Wake up, because these guys that the apostle's warned us about are here in our midst right now!

This is an important fact for us to know, because Jude is now confirming what Peter prophesied was going to come. Briefly, we need to note the similarities that indicate that 2 Peter's prophetic warning is Jude's primary reference text for his own warning.

Back in 2 Peter 1:1 we read;

(A)
"Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:" (2 Peter 1:1)

Now here in Jude 1:1;

(A)
"Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:" (Jude 1:1)

Then back in 2 Peter 1:2,

(B)
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you ... ," (2 Peter 1:2)

This parallels Jude 1:2;

(B)
"2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you." (Jude 1:2)

Then back in 2 Peter 1:12;

(C)
"12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them," (2 Peter 1:12)

This parallels Jude 1:5;

(C)
"5 Now I want to remind you, even though you have been fully informed of these facts once for all," (Jude 1:5)

Next, 2 Peter 2:1;

(D)
"there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master [Despotes in the Greek] who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves." (2 Peter 2:1)

This parallels Jude 1:4,

(D)
"4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness and deny our only Despotes-Master and Kurios-Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:4)

Next, 2 Peter 2:4 with 9;

(E)
"4  For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; ... 9 ... the Lord knows how ... to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment," (2 Peter 2:4 & 9)

This parallels Jude 1:6,

(E)
"6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day--" (Jude 1:6)

Next, 2 Peter 2:6;

(F)
"6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;" (2 Peter 2:6)

This parallels Jude 1:7;

(F)
"7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and went after strange flesh, [unnatural desire] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." (Jude 1:7)

Next, 2 Peter 2:10;

(G)
"10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties," (2 Peter 2:10)

This parallels Jude 1:8;

(G)
"8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile angelic majesties." (Jude 1:8)

Next, 2 Peter 2:11;

"11 whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord." (2 Peter 2:11)

This parallels Jude 1:9,

(H)
"9 ... the archangel ... did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment ..." (Jude 1:9)

Next, 2 Peter 2:12;

"12 But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed," (2 Peter 2:12)

This parallels Jude 1:10,

(H)
"10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed." (Jude 1:10)

Next, 2 Peter 2:13;

(I)
"13 ... They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you," (2 Peter 2:13)

This parallels Jude 1:12;

(I)
"12 These are blemishes ["hidden reefs" as a play on words using the Greek word spilade here instead of spiloi in 2 Peter. Such would indicate hidden yet imminent destruction, like as to the hull of a ship] in your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, ..." (Jude 1:12)

Next, 2 Peter 2:15;

(J)
"15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;" (2 Peter 2:15)

This parallels Jude 1:11;

(J)
"11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion." (Jude 1:11)

Next, 2 Peter 2:17;

(K)
"17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm," (2 Peter 2:17)

This parallels Jude 1:12;

(K)
"12 ... waterless clouds, swept along by winds;" (Jude 1:12)

Next, 2 Peter 2:17;

(L)
"17 ... for whom the black darkness has been reserved."(2 Peter 2:17)

This parallels Jude 1:13;

(L)
"13 ... for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever." (Jude 1:13)

Next, 2 Peter 3:2;

(M)
"2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles." (2 Peter 3:2)

This parallels Jude 1:17;

(M)
"17 But you must remember, beloved, the words of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:17)

Next, 2 Peter 3:3;

(N)
"3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts," (2 Peter 3:3)

This parallels Jude 1:18;

(N)
"18 They said to you, 'In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly desires.'" (Jude 1:18)

With these parallels in mind, we must also recognize that 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude, all go together as a historic progression. In other words, Peter wrote 1 Peter to encourage Christians during the persecution they were getting from outside the church. Later, Peter wrote 2 Peter to warn of the danger that is going to come from people who are going to be getting inside the church congregations to cause trouble. Peter prophesies that false teachers and scoffers "will be" coming in the future according to 2 Peter 2:1, and 3:3. Jude is finally written later to warn that Peter's prophesied problem that is coming from the inside, has already arrived in full bloom. This is why Jude uses God's scripture in the form of 2 Peter to essentially write what is more of God's scripture. Along this line, we see that Jude says in verse 4 that these bad guys have already "crept in." He urges in verse 17,

"you must remember, beloved, the words of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, 'In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly desires.' 19 It is these who cause divisions ..." (Jude 1:17-18)

The scoffing, divisive, ungodly desire followers, have "crept in" now, and so Jude says in verse 12 of these people,

"12 These are blemishes [like hidden reefs] in your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear," (Jude 1:12)

All of this background information about Jude is important because what we have seen so far is one of two main keys to unlocking the epistle's meaning, and additionally, for being able to easily clear up any passages wrongly interpreted according to the NEST.

2 KEYS

So, this is the first key for us to realize:

1) This is a follow up letter to 2 Peter that declares that the fake Christians, and false prophets are infiltrating the churches.

This first key goes with the second one, which is;

2) to recognize the consistent pronoun distinctions that Jude makes, which reveal the identity of who he is talking to, or talking about.

Concerning the second key, whenever Jude is talking to his fellow Christians, he identifies them with the noun and pronoun distinctions of "those who are the called," "beloved," "you," "your," "yourselves," "our," and "us." He either groups himself in, as in saying "our" and "us," or he addresses them directly, as in "you," and "your." The only time Jude refers to his saved audience as "those" is in the introduction (like Peter does in his epistle) where Jude clarifies by saying "To those who are the called, beloved in God." On the other hand, whenever Jude is talking about the non-Christians, who are fakes and evil people who pervert the grace of God and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ, he refers to them as "certain people," "ungodly people," "these people," "these men," "they," "them," "themselves," "these" alone, "for whom," "all the ungodly," "others," "those who did not believe," and "those who doubt." In other words, the distinction, in a nutshell, is this: there is "us" and there is "them;" meaning us Christians, and then those who are not us Christians. Keep these two keys in mind as we go through Jude to get to the passages wrongly interpreted according to the NEST. Starting out into the epistle, we read;

"1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:" (Jude 1:1)

This opening statement is a profound declaration of eternal security, also known as being once saved always saved (OSAS), perseverance of the saints, and once saved in eternal spiritual salvation (OSIESS). We notice that Jude is talking to those who are "beloved," (loved ones) in God. These are Christians. Only Christians are the loved ones in God. We also need to notice that the loved ones in God are "kept." In other words, God is not losing anyone. God is the keeper who keeps His beloved ones to be presented to Jesus Christ in spiritual resurrection after physical death. Just like salvation is not something you lose like car keys, or a life raft, or something like that, "we" saved people are not something that God loses after He saves us. It is plain and simple; if you are saved in Christ, then God the Father keeps you for Jesus Christ in His resurrected state in that wonderful place where He exists in eternal glory. All who are truly saved will be there too, and will finally be joined with Him in their own amazing state of resurrected and changed immortality. Moving on, Jude says,

"2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, [loved ones] although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the set apart ones." (Jude 1:2)

We notice that Jude identifies the "beloved" again, and he is wanting to write some things about "our common salvation." Jude is talking to Christians, but now Jude has this burden to urge the Christians to fight intensely for the doctrines of the faith that were delivered by God to His set apart ones, called "saints." The term, "the faith" is the typical reference to the sphere, doctrines, precepts, and practices of Christianity. False teachers, and people who pervert the word of God, have crept into the churches and Jude is essentially saying that we have a fight on our hands, so we need to get into war mode, and we need to be earnest about it (as the Greek verb in the intensive form suggests).

Next, we need to notice that Jude is going to make his pronoun shift. This is where he starts to reference people who are not Christians. He says,

"4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out ["marked out" here is the Greek word, prographo. It literally means "written about beforehand"] for this condemnation, ungodly people, who turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:4)

We need to be attentive to two important things about this passage.

<1>
First, this passage is a distinct proclamation of the deity of Christ (see footnote 1 below). When Jude says, "our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ," he is stating something that we recognize today as a statement described by a grammatical rule in Greek wording structure called "Granville Sharp's Rule." What this means, in simple terms, is that when Jude says Master and Lord Jesus Christ, he is meaning that Jesus Christ here is both Master and Lord. That is the plain result of Jude using this rule of communication. But there is more, because Jude is signifying what Peter proclaims in 2 Peter 2:1. Jude is stating that Jesus is the Greek word, Despotes, which is Master. In Scripture, when it comes to the subject of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Despotes is a title reserved for Jehovah God as Sovereign over all things. So, what this means is that Jesus, as 100% Jehovah God in His essence, is also 100% Master of the universe. This is Jesus' state of being as a person in the triune Godhead. Along with that, Jude is also stating that Jesus is the Greek word Kurios, which is the term that the New Testament writers use for Jesus in His status as Lord over His church, which is His elect set apart ones in salvation as His body, bride, and beloved. Once again, we also find this kurios distinction expressed in a pronounced way in 2 Peter.

<2>
The second item we need to notice, is that this is the first passage that is misinterpreted by those who believe in the NEST. What those who believe in the NEST typically say about this, is that saved people turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, (aselgeia in the Greek) also translated as sensuality, licentiousness, lewdness, and a host of other words. Lasciviousness is a precise English translation.

Lasciviousness is:

involvement in purposeful sexual stimulation outside of the proper place of marriage.

It is sinful activity because it is outside God's ordained marriage bond. And so, the NEST asserts that Jude is talking about saved people who lose their salvation as a result of this sensual sin. Though lasciviousness is sin, is bad, and needs to be repented from on a continuous basis, the NEST interpretation of this passage is wrong, and it is easy to see why it is wrong. All we need to do is notice that Jude says that these people deny "our" only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Remember, the sense is us and them. Jude says that Jesus Christ is "our" Lord, meaning He is the Lord of Jude and the saved people who confess, and believe in Him. Jude is telling saved people about those "certain" unsaved people; those who deny "our" only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. They are people who were prophesied to come by the apostles, particularly by Peter. They were marked out, as in, written about beforehand, as those who reject our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ, and so they are not now, and never were, saved. They "crept in" among the true believers, but they never believed in the first place, and we know they never believed in the first place from the fact that they deny Jesus Christ, and also because of Jude's illustrative analogy that follows in the next sentence. Jude says,

"5 Now I want to remind you, ["you" being the true Christians] even though you have been fully informed of these facts once for all, that Jesus, .."(Jude 1:5 emph. mine)

[The Greek word in the early manuscripts here is "Jesus," as the ESV, and NET, rightly render it. Some translations, such as the NASB, or the KJV, put Lord here instead of Jesus. We will examine this translation trend in more detail in a moment, but right now we go on reading the contextual flow;]

"... that Jesus who delivered a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe." (Jude 1:5 emph. mine)

Jude uses Peter's same analogy of Christ delivering as Jehovah (see footnote 2 below), as Despotes Master of the universe, as we see Jesus operating in the fullness of His God head in Deuteronomy 32, and so Jude references,

"those who did not believe." (Jude 1:5)

The point is that the NEST is wrong. Jude is talking about unbelievers who deny Jesus Christ. He is not talking about born-again believers who are once saved in eternal spiritual salvation (OSIESS), once saved always saved (OSAS), in perseverance of the saints as eternal security. Jude is talking about those who were never actually saved at any time (NASAAT). People are saved by grace through "belief," which is through faith. When you believe in Christ as what He actually is, (Master, Lord, and Savior), and you believe that He is your Master, Lord and Savior, then you are saved. This is why Christians are called "believers" all throughout the New Testament. Non-Christians are "unbelievers," (cf. Luke 12:46, 1 Corinthians 6:6 etc.).

Further, in Jude's analogy, Jude mentions that Jesus is the one who delivered all the Israelite tribes out of Egypt. This is another reference to the fact that our Lord Jesus is also Jehovah-God, in that Jesus is the same Despotes-Master of the universe who delivered the Israelites in the Old Testament period (see footnotes 1 and 2 below). It is important for us to note that through the following centuries, scribes were uncomfortable with copying down such a clearly straightforward statement that Jesus was alive 1500 years earlier than when Jude was written, and that it was Jesus Himself Who was the One who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. Unfortunately, over the centuries, the name Jesus was variantly replaced in certain copied manuscripts. It was replaced with other words, such as, Lord. It was replaced with God in others, or even God-Christ in others. Nevertheless, whether scribes, or eisegetical interpretative redactors approved of the theological implications or not, it was Jesus in the fullness of His Godhead, Who delivered Israelites out of Egypt. The main point is that the unbelieving Israelites were not saved. In fact, God destroyed them. They were unbelievers, and unbelievers is terminology that describes lost people. They denied Jehovah by making a golden calf, and then in deciding to worship it, they even claimed that it had just delivered them out of Egypt (Exodus 32:4, 8). In contrast to unbelievers, true believers are saved.

Continuing, Jude gives examples of those who rebel against God. He even gives the example of fallen angels. They are not people, but they are beings which rebelled against God. Jude also uses the illustration of the sexually immoral cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jude say that they serve as examples of punishment. He says,

"6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day--7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and went after strange flesh, [unnatural desire, NET, ESV] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." (Jude 1:6-7)

Jude has keen insights from the Lord, and so he deeply understands Peter's prior point. These are analogies of the fake Christians who are coming in among the churches. Jude continues to describe these people with more analogies that are in keeping with the apostle Peter's prophecy, saying;

"8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile angelic majesties ... these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are blemishes [spilades] in your love feasts, [In other words, they are unsaved evil fakes who get in among the Christian love feasts of the communion celebrations. Jude goes on] as they feast with you without fear, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. 14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage." (Jude 1:8-16)

Jude has just given a biting series of analogies, and descriptions, of the evil, sinful, godless, lost people who reject God, and have always rejected God. It is very similar to the one that Peter gave in 2 Peter 2. The big point is that they are obviously lost people. We must keep this in mind, because now comes Jude's pronoun contrast again, and we see that Jude is talking straight to the "beloved" in Christ, which of course are the saved people. Jude says,

"17 But you must remember, beloved, the words of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, 'In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly desires.' 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly [natural-minded, animal-like] people, devoid of the Spirit." (Jude 1:17-19)

When Jude says that "these" (cf. v. 19) "scoffers" (cf. v. 18), who follow after their ungodly desires are devoid of the Spirit, what Jude means is that "these" are not saved. It is a lessen in logic that works this way:

A) To be saved one must have the Spirit.

B) These people in verse 19, are devoid of God's Spirit.

C) Therefor they are not saved.

This is why Paul says that when we are saved, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise in Ephesians 1:13, and 4:30. Further in respect to Christianity, this is why Jude tells the beloved saved people who are Christ's church, in verse 20,

"20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith [which is holy faith they already possess as the beloved, cf. Jude 1:1] praying in the Holy Spirit;" (Jude 1:20 emph. mine)

We need to keep in mind that only saved people pray in the Holy Spirit. What we are seeing is that Jude is talking to saved people. The saved people are different than those others they are to be looking out for. Saved people pray in the Spirit. The unsaved are devoid of the Spirit. And so Jude is saying to saved people to do some things: build yourselves up in your holy faith, praying in the Spirit. Jude does not say for them to build themselves up in the faith. The faith, is a term that is used in the Bible to refer to the precepts, doctrines, and sphere of Christianity. Here, Jude references their own most holy faith that they possess as true believers, ie. "your most holy faith." This is in contrast to those lost people who do not believe, (cf. Jude 1:5). Jude goes on, and he is going to mention something else. It has to do with something else that they already have. Jude says,

JUDE 1:21

"21 keep yourselves in the love of God," (Jude 1:21)

Jude is speaking to people who already have the love of God in the sense of being saved. Jude refers to them as "beloved" in the prior verse, and earlier as "beloved in God," where Jude opens with,

"To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:" (Jude 1:1 emph. mine)

Jude says that these loved ones are kept, already, by the Father for Jesus Christ. But there is some strange language in verse 21. It is strange because Jude does not go on to describe what exactly it is that he means by "keep yourself in the love of God." In other words, Jude does not explain how to do it, or why to do it. So what has happened is that this has led to a list of interpretations of this passage; one of which is the wrong interpretation according to the NEST. What is typically asserted by those who believe in the NEST is that Jude is saying that if you do not somehow figure out how to keep yourself in the love of God, and then actually do what it takes to keep yourself in the love of God, then you will not receive the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life according to the rest of the verse, which goes like this,

"21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." (Jude 1:21)

The typical interpretation of those who believe in the NEST is that if you are saved, and you fail to keep yourself in God's love in respect to Jude's particular usage of the phrase, then instead of getting mercy from Christ, you will receive wrath in the form of eternal damnation.

The NEST is wrong.

The first thing we will look at in demonstrating why the NEST interpretation is wrong, is the esoteric directive to keep yourself in the love of God as something a beloved Christian does to their own self. To understand it, we are going to need to look at the rest of Scripture to see how there are different ways God's love is described in relationship with His saved people. As we do this, we need to know that the Greek word used here for love is agape. Agape carries with it the meaning of the type of love that is committed, and self sacrificial love. It is love that seeks the welfare of others. It is rational love. It is not volatile affection like romance, passion, or something like that. So, with that brief description of agape in mind, when it comes to God's love in respect to those whom He elects unto salvation, we must understand that this committed, rational love is used in many dynamic ways in the New Covenant Scriptures. For example, God loves all saved people. He loves all His children, but Paul goes on and says that God loves a cheerful giver in 2 Corinthians 9:7. Paul says,

"7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves [agapa, gnomic present] a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Contextually, there is no doubt that Paul is talking about saved people in 2 Corinthians 9:7. God does not love cheerful givers who are not saved. God loves saved people, and so it is saved people that God agapa-loves in what is apparently a further, and special way, ie. because they are cheerful givers. This is important for us to understand when we recognize that God already loves saved people and those whom He will save, which is demonstrated in the fact that saved people will not go to hell. On the other hand, (contrary to Pelagian, and Arminian philosophy) we must recognize that God does not love those whom He damns to hell. If one philosophically wants to speculate that God loves those people that He damns to hell, then we must ask,

"How does God love people that He damns to Hell, as they are certainly in Hell, and in being there, they are manifesting the fate of ones who seem very unloved?"

One may wrongly answer,

"Well yes, you must understand that God really loves them, but God is Holy, and so in His Holiness, He must damn them to hell. He must separate them from Himself. Further, He must damn them to hell because they are the true haters. They hate God by rejecting Christ."

But, to this then, we must ask,

"Really?--how then does God love those whom He damns to hell? Does He love them by keeping them from eternal destruction? If not, then where do we find a definition of love anywhere that states that being damned forever is to be loved by the One who damns you? Do we find it in the phrase;

"For God so loved some people in the world that He damns them to hell in their unbelief of His only begotten Son?"

We do not. But we do find a definition of being loved that is expressed in being saved by believing in God's only begotten Son:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Certainly then, saved people (who happen to be everyone who believes in Christ for salvation) are loved of God, have the love of God now, and have the love of God forever. This is the great proclamation of the New Covenant, where we who are saved, have the love of God poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who is given to us as our pledge and seal.

To get an even more thorough picture of what Jude means, we need to look at other urgings, and teachings concerning the agape-love of God that are given in respect to living out our saved lives in our relationship with God as described here in Jude 1:21. Before we do, it is necessary to quickly survey some instances where Paul proclaims God's unconditional grace love for those whom He saves in such passages as Romans 5, for example, where he says,

"5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our [saved people's] hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us [saved people]. 6 For while we [saved people] were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly [which describes people before salvation]. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us [saved people], in that while we were yet sinners, [which describes people before salvation] Christ died for us [saved people]. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we [saved people] shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 5:5-9)

God demonstrated His love for those who would be saved, in that Christ died for all who have been saved, and will be saved. Further, He did it while all who are saved now, were still sinners, and "still helpless." Christ is not the sacrificial atonement, and propitiation, for those who are never saved and remain sinners damned forever. Paul tells us where the love of God is in respect to those whom He saves. If you are saved, then the Love of God is there in your inner being--your heart. It has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. This is not something all unsaved sinners experience. It is only something that sinners saved by God's love, as manifested in His love-grace, receive. Now of course, we continue to contemplate the fact that God does not love those who are damned in hell, and that the consummate demonstration of this fact is their eternal damnation. The love of God has not been poured out within their hearts. Damning someone to hell is to hate them. To not damn them, is to love them. Playing word games (as Pelagians and Arminians do) based upon personal beliefs and circular theories, will not change it. Further, if God loves everyone, even those who will be damned, then it becomes even more perplexing for those who believe in the Not Eternally Saved Theory to explain how Jude could urge anyone to keep themselves in the love of God, since according to the NEST, God already loves the whole world, whether saved, or not! We need to make up our minds. First, does God, so love the whole world, and "keep" all people that exist in His love? Secondly, Does God keep us saved people in His love through His saving work in regenerating us spiritually to eternal spiritual life?; or, thirdly, do we keep ourselves in His love through our own saving work? The truth is that God saves all of those whom He loves by pouring His love into their hearts through the Holy Spirit, and so we who are truly saved, are actually saved, and are truly "kept" for Jesus Christ in Christ's very love.

We need to get back to Paul's assertion that God loves a cheerful giver in 2 Corinthians 9:7, and the various usages of God's love in respect to the truly saved. So far we have seen that in 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul clearly goes beyond the aspect of agape-love which results in salvation, and says God agapa-loves cheerful givers. We know that Paul must mean that God loves a cheerful giver who is one who is already loved as a saved person. Therefor, for God to love a cheerful giver is to love in such a way that is different from loving someone unto salvation. This is the overarching point that brings us back to Jude. The love of God is already in us who are saved, so, in like manner of Paul's explanation about God loving in a further manner, certain ones of the already beloved, Jude is talking about keeping yourself in God's love as something different than keeping yourself in God's love unto salvation. With these things in mind, we must recognize that Paul goes on in Romans in chapter 8, explaining that absolutely nothing can separate us saved people from the love of God in the first place,

"38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us [Saved people] from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

God already keeps us secure in the salvation aspect of His love. It is an eternal love with an eternal application to those whom He chooses to love. God loving a cheerful giver is but one way that God has an extra agape kind of love for the believer. Now let us look at those other references to additional love of God terminology in respect to Christians who already possess the love of God in salvation. We find another good one in 2 Thessalonians,

"5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the agape-love of God and into the patient endurance [steadfastness] of Christ." (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

We must recognize that Paul is talking to saved Thessalonians here in 2 Thessalonians 3:5. These are people who already have the agape-love of God poured into their hearts, of which nothing can separate them (cf. Romans 5:5-9). They are already loved by God, and are secure. But, nevertheless, Paul prays that the Lord will direct these loved, and saved, hearts into the love of God in their daily activity, and that they will be strong, stable, and patiently enduring Christians in Christ. One last example will be given of this kind of usage of agape-love where Paul says in Ephesians,

"Therefore be imitators of God, as agapatos-dearly loved children; 2 and walk in love [agape], just as Christ also loved [agapao] you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2

The Ephesians are already dearly agape-loved children of God in Christ Jesus Who agpae-loved them in sacrifice, but now they are encouraged to go on further and walk in agape-love. The point is that God loves people in salvation, and puts his love in their hearts, but His saved people must manifest the outworking of that love each day.

The reason why we went through all these Biblical ways agape-love is used with saved people in addition to salvation, is so that we could take those thoughts over to Jude. When Jude, says to keep yourself, (or "maintain yourself" as the New English Translation renders it) in the love of God, he means to abide in the love of God as pursuant to the good works producing life that God loves, such as being a cheerful giver, not holding a grudge, providing for the needs of others, and other love-things, which are manifested in keeping and walking in the love of God in respect to other people. Saved people are already "kept" by God's love for Jesus Christ in glory, and so in being kept by God, saved people also keep themselves in the love of God in manifesting the Christ-like life. This explains what Jude is saying as he starts out in the urging of the verse, but then Jude also says that his saved audience is to be,

"waiting for ..." (Jude 1:21)

[or "anticipating." The New American Standard adds "anxiously" here to reflect the definition of anxiously that means "ardent anticipation." The idea is that the saved audience is ardently anticipating,]

"... the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." (Jude 1:21)

Clearly, Jude is talking about what all saved people await--at least those who believe in the everlasting security of being once saved in eternal spiritual salvation (OSIESS); ie. once saved always saved (OSAS) of the perseverance of the saints. We await in anxious, ardent, anticipation for the mercy of putting aside our old corrupt bodies in physical death, which is temporal, and putting on immortality forever and ever. Since we have assurance of our salvation as beloved who are once saved in eternal spiritual salvation, then we hunger for our great future that God has "kept" us for (cf. Jude 1:1). Jude says, "we wait" because our physical death comes first, and our whole dying process takes time. But, we wait in great hope, expectation, and even anticipation; and yet, right now, we rest in our salvation. This is why Jude ends the letter in a few sentences with,

"24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy," (Jude 1:24)

But, directly before this statement Jude gives instructions for Christian living in respect to those around them who are not saved. Jude says,

"22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh." (Jude 1:22-23)

It is a command of Christ for Christians to have mercy on people. In our outward manifestation of our inward salvation, we should have mercy on some who are doubting. We do this realizing, in humility, that God is everyone's judge, rather than us. In the meantime, we live in obedience to Christ and His great commandment. Jude goes on and says, that for others, we are to preach the gospel of salvation, thus snatching them out of the fire. Jude's meaning is that some will doubt, but in the meantime, before Christ comes back, have mercy on them. Others will believe, so be about the work of spreading the good news. In doing so, all those who are predestined to believe, will in fact, be snatched out of the fire as God uses His people by His sovereign hand to be part of His method of snatching others out of the fire. Then there is that last group, which Jude says is also "some." Jude says to have mercy on them too, though they are unbelievers. This group (the people Jude has been explaining to look out for all along) are those you are commanded to have mercy upon, but in the meantime, you hate even the clothes they wear, as if polluted by the flesh. In other words, you do not want to touch these evil people, or be anywhere around them. You need to try not to be influenced by them. Have mercy, but do it with cautious fear of their wicked influence. Always realize that there will be a day of judgment, where God the righteous judge will judge such people; in fact, all people, perfectly. This warning concerning those whose garments are to be hated, of course, has been the primary subject of this whole epistle.

Then finally, we come to Jude's dedication to Christ, and his wonderful blessing. It is the hope of glory, where Jude says,

"24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy," (Jude 1:24)

This beautiful ending to Jude's epistle, is a beautiful ending to this chapter. All Christians wait in complete expectation for the mercy of our Lord to eternal life in a resurrected state after death. The reason is because of the precious fact that all saved people will be presented blameless, spotless, pure, and clean, in Him, by Him, before Him, forever and ever in joy that is best described as "great." It is great joy, where all the tears of God's elect are wiped away, and the word "perfect" will finally make as much tangible sense to us as it really is.

Based upon what we have examined, and in conjunction with the rest of New Covenant scripture, we recognize that there is no sentence in Jude, and no point in Jude, that remotely suggests that truly saved people run the risk of losing their eternal salvation, or can do something to earn eternal salvation, or keep their eternal salvation secure through merit. The main thrust of Jude's letter is to warn true Christians of the fake Christians and the false teachers that are infecting the churches in His time. The end of the Old Covenant age has come to a close. Now, all its remnant trappings, are coming to a close, and so Jude encourages those of the New Covenant (true Christians) that the fakes will be punished. In the meantime, the beloved need to keep their eyes peeled, and while they do, they need to abide in the surety of their security concerning their eternity.
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FOOTNOTES:
(1) To get a more in depth analysis of this, go to the first sermon in this series, which began in 2 peter 2:1. Jesus as Jehovah is a beautiful, yet often overlooked recognition of both Who He actually is, and, His actual role in events.

(2) For in-depth textual discussion of Jude 5 see, Philipp Bartholoma, "Did Jesus Save the People out of Egypt? – A Re-Examination of a Textual Problem in Jude 5," online:
http://www.csntm.org/essays/PaperJude5.pdf