Most of us love the company of others, but there are times when in important matters we need to take a stand; and it’s then that we need to be strong in our own right.
Jude, writer of the second-last book in the Bible, had intended to write at length on “the common salvation” shared by all believers; however, a growing sense of urgency, due to an influx of false teachers, forced him to limit it to 25 verses — a note to address the persistent problem of apostasy.
In English grammar, the word “but” is an adversative. It stands in opposition to what has been written before it. After 19 verses of dire warnings, verse 20 comes as a relief to those who resist false teachers.
“But you, beloved” is a repeat of the same phrase used by Jude in verse 17. “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith…” Not just “in” personal faith but “on” your most holy faith – “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (verse 3). The Faith in its entirety.
We build up ourselves on the Faith that we received. False teachers would rob us of this Faith. We can only retain it by fighting them for it “tooth and nail”!
We do this by building up ourselves on what we know to be true; and by “praying in the Holy Spirit”. Not mental prayers. Not silent prayers. Not religious prayers. Holy Spirit empowered prayers! Whenever there’s no one else to pray with you, one-on-one, stand ON your “most holy faith” and pray IN the Holy Spirit!
“Keep (guard) yourselves in the love of God…” This is difficult while battling enemy forces that are out to destroy all that you believe. In my late-teen years, I worked with a strong man who had fought Japanese soldiers in the South Pacific during World War II. He was a member of “Z Force” – an elite company of Australian soldiers whose members went ashore from boats at night to blow up huts in which enemy soldiers were sleeping.
Speaking as a young man, I asked him if, given the barbarity of the enemy, he enjoyed blasting them into oblivion. He shook his head and replied, sadly, “No, the poor b******s didn’t know what hit them.” He had retained his sense of humanity, even when killing the enemy. Jude does likewise while pronouncing God’s judgement on false teachers bringing destructive doctrines. He concludes with “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto (into) eternal life.”
As for apostates, he writes: “And on some having compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment [of righteousness] defiled by the flesh.”
The final two verses of Jude end in a doxology: a spontaneous expression glorifying God beyond normal ability, one rising from the heart to Heaven.
The above is how we become strong enough to stand alone when necessary – individually or as a local church. We live in a tough time but Jude lived in one that was far worse. The bottom line is that we can not only survive but win out over whatever comes against the Faith handed down to us by those who paid the ultimate price for keeping it intact in their time. We must do the same.