Keep Yourselves in the Love of God by T. E. Bowen

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 16, 1916

“Keep Yourselves in the Love of God”

By T. E. Bowen

T. E. BOWEN

“Ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 20, 21.

In this scripture there are four very definite things laid out for us to do:—

1. “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith.” Rotherham’s translation puts it, “Upholding yourselves with your most holy faith.” This seems to give the idea, for we are to build upon the one foundation which has already been laid for us—Jesus Christ. That foundation is sure and cannot be moved. It is a living rock, and our character building must be upon this one foundation. The building material is our “most holy faith,” drawn from and based upon that which God has done for us and has promised to do for us, as revealed in the Word.

It is incumbent upon us that we build. With our spiritual tools we are to work out our own salvation by building for eternity a character structure after the pattern shown us in the Christ-life. A foundation laid, and left with no work done upon it looking toward completion, is a disgrace to the builder. So we must build, and keep at it, and each must build for himself.

2. “Praying in the Holy Ghost.” To pray in the Spirit means much. It is more than saying our prayers. To pray in the Holy Ghost is to pray according to the mind and purpose of Jesus concerning us. And this means prayer that will be answered, for Christ will listen to every prayer in the Holy Ghost. And “if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” 1 John 5: 15. There will be no asking amiss, therefore, to those who actually learn to pray “in the Holy Ghost.”

3. “Keep yourselves in the love of God.” How can we do this? Perhaps we can best see how by looking at some things we are not to do. About the quickest way to fail in keeping in the love of God is to indulge freely in evil speaking, backbiting, jealousy, envy, and the like. To “keep yourselves in the love of God” will mean also to keep yourselves in love with the brethren; for “he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” And Jesus said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” What a world of heart anguish would be shut out if we were truly thus to “keep” ourselves “in the love of God”!

4. “Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” What does “looking for mercy” mean? We know of no like expression made in connection with the coming of Jesus. Rotherham puts it: “Awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto life.”

Every one of us must be saved in the day of his coming through the exercise of Christ’s mercy toward us. It is written on the first table of stone, “Showing mercy unto thousands of them [generations] that love me, and keep my commandments.”

If it is true that all who are saved in the day of his appearing are saved through the merciful kindness of our God, surely it behooves us to be very merciful one to another now, in our associations with one another. And very likely the bestowal of God’s mercy in that day will have some connection with the question whether or not we have shown mercy to those who may have injured us, or to those who need to have compassion and mercy shown them, as in Christ’s stead we seek to pull them “out of the fire” in our efforts to save their souls.

In these days of special stress, when the waves of temptation surge about us, let us not forget to build “with” our “most holy faith,” to pray “in the Holy Ghost,” to “keep” ourselves “in the love of God,” and to look for and hope in “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ” when he comes to give “eternal life” unto all those who are found so doing.