Called, Beloved, Kept

I’m excited to spend the next 2 months with you all as we look at what may be considered one of the least popular books in the Bible, at least in the entire New Testament and that is the book of Jude. Jude is in a special collection of books in the Bible that are made up of only 1 chapter, the others being Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John and 3 John. One of the reasons that this letter isn’t as well known as the other 1 letter books is partially because of the identity of the man that wrote it. Philemon was written by Paul and 2nd and 3rd John is fairly self explanatory. Jude doesn’t have the notoriety of both Paul and John but just because Jude is a little letter but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a weighty letter. Peter Davids said of Jude that it is not so much rejected as it is neglected. This is a very neglected book and even in about 7 or 8 weeks, we still won’t be spending as much time in these verses as we could. Tonight we are only going to look at the first 2 verses but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a lot to cover. We will look at 2 really important aspects of Christianity in these verses: our salvation and our sanctification. Who are we in Christ? Your identity in Christ is everything. So how do we identify with Him? How did Jude identity with Christ? Let’s pray and then we will find out. Jude writes:

Jude 1–2 NASB95

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: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

Servant of Christ or Servant of Self? (Verse 1)

The very first word that we see in this letter is the identification of the author. Who is Jude? Well we see how he identifies himself in the rest of verse 1 but before we get to that, there are a few other identifiers that are known to us. Jude also went by the name Judas. There are a number of different judas’s in the New Testament, it was a really common name in the 1st century and 2 of Christ’s apostles were known as Judas. Judas Iscariot, the man that betrayed Christ, is obviously the most popular Judas and we can easily cross him out as the author of this letter. We also know that the other Judas of the apostles was not the author of the letter. This Jude was not one of Christ’s original followers and he was also not the Judas that is mentioned in Acts 15, Judas Barsabbas. He was the guy that went with Paul and Silas to Antioch to deliver the Jerusalem council’s decision on Gentile inclusion. So we know who this Jude isn’t so who is he? We see two identifiers in verse 1 but I want us to look at the second one first. Jude says that he is the brother of James. Which James are we talking about? It’s like a who done it mystery at this point. We know that not only are there quite a few Judas’s in the Bible, there are also quite a few James’s in the Bible. We know James the brother of John, James son of Alphaeus, another one of the apostles, and we know that there is the James that authored the book known as James. This James was the half brother of Jesus but he also had 2 other brothers that we know of: Joseph and Simon. It’s this James that Jude is referencing. So if we track the lineage here, we know that Jude was more than just the brother of James, he was also the half brother of Jesus. But notice that Jude doesn’t say that. He says that he’s the brother of James which part of the reason that this could be is because of James’ status at the church in Jerusalem. But Jude doesn’t put in his credentials that he is also the half brother of Jesus. Instead he says that he is a bond-servant or slave of Jesus. Now one would think that if Jude really wanted to have his letter accepted by outsiders is by emphasizing that he not only knew Jesus but that he was the half brother of Jesus. Why do you think Jude doesn’t mention that though? Because on the one hand, he wants his readers to know that it isn’t family relationship that makes one a Christian. Tom Schreiner said, “He did not commence the letter by emphasizing the privilege of his brotherly relationship to Jesus Christ but his submission to Christ’s lordship. In this sense Jude was like every other Christian.” What Jude does is what other writers like Paul and Peter do in their letters. They present their credentials, they present their apostolic authority, but if you look at their writings, they are always a servant of Christ first. Here’s some examples: Romans 1:1 “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” Titus 1:1 “Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,” James 1:1 “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.” 2 Peter 1:1 “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:” Jude fits in right with them. Jude recognizes that he is a servant of Christ first before he is anything else. That is the most important thing that you and I can do, submit fully to the Lordship of Christ. Dick Lucas said, “When Jude became a Christian, he had to change from knowing Jesus as his brother to acknowledging him as the Christ and his Lord.” Their is no salvation outside of submission to Jesus Christ as Lord. We are going to see this more next week when we look at verse 4. Our salvation is dependent upon the Lordship of Jesus Christ and our relationship to Him. We see aspects of our salvation here but let’s look at the rest of verse 1 for our sanctification.

Our Sanctification (Verse 1)

Jude says in the second half of Jude 1, “To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.” Those are three really important terms. “Called, beloved, and kept.” These are 3 distinct phases of the Christian life. Jude isn’t writing to every single person on the face of the earth. He is writing specifically to believers and all believers are called, they are beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ. In many ways we see the threefold aspect of salvation in this verse: we were called by God in eternity past, we are the beloved of God now in the present, and we will be kept by God and for Christ in the future. We have been saved past tense, we are saved present tense, and we will be saved future tense. We were predestined in eternity past, we are justified in eternity present at the moment of our salvation and we will be glorified one day in the future. Now Jude is not predominantly writing about our justification though much of what can be said about justification can also be said about sanctification. What we mean about sanctification is an ongoing pursuit of Christlikeness in our lives. We are to grow in our conformity to Christ, and every day we wake up with the purpose of striving to grow to be more like the Savior. Sanctification in the most simple of explanations is just to be more like Jesus. Sanctification is something that will never be finished in this life time. None of us have arrived yet. None of us can say that we have reached the peak of our faith or say that we have done all that we can do to be more like Jesus. Our justification is a one time event but our sanctification is an ongoing act that cannot be completed so long as we are on this earth and in this body. Sanctification involves every aspect of our being. A.A. Hodge said that our sanctification involves the entire man, intellect, affections, and will. If we have been justified through faith, every aspect of our lives should be sanctified. Let’s break down these three phrases and see how they relate to our sanctification. Jude says that believers have been called. He isn’t referring to the general call that comes from hearing the Gospel. This is an identifiable mark, it’s a designation. This is who we are as the People of God. We are distinguishable from the world because we have been called by God Himself. We as Christians do not call ourselves, God calls us. Some may not like to hear it but the whole Bible screams, “election”. If we as the people of God are called by God, ultimately we must be called to something and if we are called to something, it must be something that we did not have prior to the call. God does not call us to look the same as the rest of the world. God does not call us to mediocrity and worldliness. If God has called us to something, then we are called to a certain standard that we did not have prior to His calling of us. We are called as the people of God to live as the people of God professing what has made us the people of God. Not only are we called TO something, we are Called something and that is the second phrase that Jude uses in his introduction: we are called the beloved in God the Father. To be the beloved of God means that we are cherished by our Heavenly Father. As God the Father perfectly loves Christ the Son, so He also perfectly loves all for whom the Son has atoned. To be beloved in God the Father means that we have been set apart. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:19-21

2 Timothy 2:19–21 NASB95

Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

We aren’t set apart so we could simply be polished up, we’re set apart so that we would be holy. We’re set apart to do the work of Christ. We are set apart because God knows those that are His. Now if I’m told that God Himself, the very definition of holiness, has set me apart from the rest of the world, then you better believe that I want to take that seriously. If I have been called by God, set apart by God, then my life better not look like the rest of the world. Everything we say, everything we do, everything we think, should be set apart to honor God as holy. Like Adrian Rogers said, we ought to say and do nothing that Christ Himself couldn’t sign off on. What’s so encouraging for us as Christians is that when we are saved, God doesn’t just tolerate us. He isn’t just acting in a begrudging manner towards us. No, God really and truly loves us. Everything changes when we recognize that as the people of God, as the redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ, that God does more than just tolerate us, He loves us. And He loves us completely, perfectly, and purely. Jude uses the perfect tense in the word beloved and this means that the love that God has for us, that love that we experience is a settles reality for all Christians. We as Christians are not beloved of God today and hated tomorrow. From all eternity, God has had his eyes set on our souls. Remember what Paul writes in Ephesians 1:4–5 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,” Jim Shaddix, one of my old professors wrote, “For those who are in Christ, he is now our Father, and he loves us with a perfect and permanent Fatherly affection. This love is not whimsical, fleeting, or conditional. You can do nothing to make him love you more, and you can do nothing to make him love you less. No, as 1 John 4:10 beautifully puts it, ‘Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.’” We are called in eternity past, we are beloved in God now and forever, and we as Christians are also kept for Jesus Christ. Now I see this in two ways and there are loads more but I want to draw attention to these two realities: That which we are kept from and that which we are kept for. We know that Christians are not kept from certain things: we aren’t kept from suffering, we aren’t kept from death, we aren’t kept from trials or persecution, anyone that says that we are kept from these things has never read the Bible cover to cover. We are not kept from naysayers or bad influences or even kept from the impact of sin. What are we kept from then? Well we are saved from the wrath of God that is to come. Paul writes in Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” We are kept from the horrors of hell and from rejection by God. Romans 8 is a testimony to the reality that even if death may touch us, we are ultimately kept from a fate far worse than death. Jesus says in Luke 21:16 and 18 that some of us may be put to death but ultimately not a hair on our head will perish. We are kept from falling away. No true follower of Christ will ever be lost. Those for whom Christ has died will be kept until the day of salvation. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:3–5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” We are kept for an inheritance that we can never lose. Paul speaks of our future glorification in such certain terms that he speaks of it as if it has already happened. We are ultimately kept BY God and FOR God. If God is the power by which believers are kept, no believer will ever not be kept by God. Notice finally, who it is we are kept for. We are kept for Jesus Christ. We as believers are the Bride of Christ and we are waiting for the wedding day when we will see our beloved face to face. If we are being kept for Christ, shouldn’t we do all that we can to be presentable to Him? Doesn’t this encourage you to further your pursuit of sanctification? Jonathan Edwards, in one of his resolutions that he made as a young man, said that he was resolved to live his life with the mindset that Christ was coming within the hour. He understood that there are some things that he just wouldn’t do if he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ was coming. May we all live like this. Christ could come within the hour and I pray that He doesn’t catch us living as if we were not desperately waiting for His arrival. I would hate to have Christ return in a moment where my eyes were set more on sin than on Him. What we see from Jude 1 is the call to pursue sanctification and I hope that as we have looked at these verses you see how being called by God, set apart by God, and kept for Christ all points to the need for us to pursue holy living. From these three identifiers of the Christian faith John MacArthur reminds us of this: John MacArthur said, “What Christ secured at the cross, the Father protects through His power. There is no person or power in the universe that is greater than God. Nor is there any force that could ever break the loving grip He has on His own. As a result, believers can rest in Him, knowing that their eternal safekeeping is in His omnipotent hands.” In these first 2 verses, we see who we are in God and we also see what God gives to us.

The Mercy, Peace, and Love of God (Verse 2)

As Jude continues his greeting, he prays that mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to the believers. Jude doesn’t want the Christians to experience a bare minimum. He prays for a multiplication of these things and he is praying that the man and woman of God would be filled with these graces. We as Christians enjoy abundant mercy from the Lord. Our salvation is entirely dependent upon the mercy that God has shown us. If God is not merciful, there is no salvation. God in His perfect mercy, saw us in our fallen state, saw us like the beaten up man on the way to Jericho, and He came to us in mercy. He came to save us when no one else did and no one else could. Not only does He save us, He makes us His very own. No longer are we children of the devil, we are the beloved children of God. As Christians we also enjoy peace with God. Before we were the enemies of God, but now as we have seen, we are the beloved of God Himself. We are now His adopted children. Don’t forget what Paul writes in Philippians 4:6–7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace of God surpasses all our comprehension, all that we can ask or think. Don’t forget that for Christians, nothing that we experience in this life is an act of wrath against us. God does not pour out wrath on those for whom Christ has already paid the penalty for. If Jesus takes on the entire wrath of God on our behalf, it would be unjust of God to pour out that wrath again. God doesn’t charge anyone a second time for something that has already been paid for. God can certainly correct us, He can discipline us He can certainly redirect us in our lives, but He never does it in a spirit of wrath. Nothing that ever happens to a Christian can ever be attributed to the wrath of God. We as Christians really do believe that no matter what happens to us in this life, it is ultimately for our good and for the glory of God. The third aspect that Jude prays for in verse 2 is that love would be multiplied to us. Jude speaks about in 5 of the 25 verses. 20% of the letter makes a reference to love and the love of God so clearly it is a critical part of the Christian life and to Jude’s life. The very love that God the Father has for Christ the Son, He has loved every Christian with. Jude knows the perfect love, the power of the love that God has and he wants to make sure that we know it. Christians can go out into an unbelieving world with the highest level of confidence possible because they know that God has shown them mercy, that God has given them peace, and that God loves them more than what they could possibly imagine. The same mercy, peace, and love that Jude prays for his readers to have multiplied in their lives is the same thing that we should pray in the lives of others. Charles Spurgeon said, “

Jude Exposition

Our holy faith breeds in us the best wishes for others. As we desire to find mercy ourselves, so do we long that others also should find mercy. And as we rejoice in the peace and love that the Holy Ghost works in us, we desire that others may partake of the same spiritual benefits.

Can we honestly say that we are asking for this? Do we want all believers to be able to experience the fullness of what it means to be a Christian? So what can we do to help with that? What can we do so that all believers, all our brothers and sisters in the faith, can experience a multiplication of the mercy, peace, and love of God? So here we are, Jude has laid the ground work for what is to come. Over the next few weeks we are going to see a contrast between unbelievers and false teachers with those that are the beloved, called, and kept of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m excited to dive into that over the next few weeks but let’s pray and then we can talk about what we’ve looked at tonight.