Jude 1
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
Jude (aka, Judas) the half brother of our Lord Jesus who describes himself as a Slave of Christ (love that!) is writing to a group of believers who are under siege by false teachers. What I'd like to focus on is how Jude DESCRIBES the believers to whom he writes.
FIRST, he describes these believers as CALLED. The word "called" here is the word (Klay-toss) and means to summon, to invite, like to a party. In theology this is known as the "effectual" call. Properly defined, the effectual call is the, "Act of God the Father speaking through the proclamation of the gospel, in which He summons people to Himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith" (Grudem 693). Every person who is a Christian is so because AND ONLY because God invited you to be. No one gets to come to the Salvation party without an invitation. May I remind you again that the effectual call is not a call to service, rather a call to Salvation. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent me draws him..."(John 6:44).
SECOND, he describes these believers as BELOVED. The word translated beloved is the word (Ah-gah- pah-oh). Generally speaking in Scripture, love is defined as a selfless commitment toward another. For example in John 3:16 the writer states that God LOVES the world... the writer does not mean that God has warm, romantic feelings for the world, BUT that He is selflessly committed to the world, so much so that He gave His Only son as a sacrifice for the world's sin. Now thats love. Every true believer is beloved of God. In other words, God is selflessly committed to every believer. Now lets dig alittle deeper. The word beloved here according to Greek grammar is what you call a perfect passive participle. This means that at some point in the Eternal past God made a commitment to you, AND that commitment will endure throughout all eternity. The passive element of the participle simply means that you had NOTHING, WHATSOEVER to do with God committing to you. God did not make an Eternal commitment to you because, "He saw the best in you". No!!!, His love for you is solely based on and within Himself (Eph 1:6, 9, 11, 14).
THIRD, he describes these believers as KEPT. The Greek word for kept is the word (Teh-reh-oh) and means, "to be guarded, to be secure, to retain in custody". Listen!!! God's people. In Christ YOU ARE secure. Jesus put it this way in John 6:39 "this is the will of the Father who sent Me, that all he has given Me I should lose nothing..." Again, Jesus states in John 10:28-30, " And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and my Father are one. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 8, that,"NOTHING can separate us from the love God which is in Christ our Lord". If you're living under the threat that you are in danger of losing your Salvation, May I assure you on the authority of Scripture that you have NOTHING to fear. He who began a good work in you WILL COMPLETE IT (Phil 1:6). Can I add this? The verb "kept" here is ALSO Passive and indicates that believers don't keep themselves. There's nothing that I can do or must do to secure my salvation. Good works don't secure me, good thoughts don't secure me, Tithing doesn't secure me, busyness in ministry doesn't secure me , religious ceremony doesn't secure me, Church membership doesn't secure me. IT'S ONLY Christ who secures us.
Listen, dont you ever forget this. You are loved by God and will be loved by God throughout All eternity. You are securely kept by God and will be throughout ALL eternity. You are a Child of God NOT because of ANYTHING in you or because of anything you've done but ONLY because He invited YOU to be one.
To the praise of the glory of His grace.
Todd
