“Keep” in Jude
Stacy Leigh and I named our firstborn after the Letter of Jude, and therefore the Letter of Jude was the first book of the Bible—so far the only book—we’ve ever memorized. By memorizing a book or long passage of Scripture (we’ve also done Ephesians 1:1-14) you are able to meditate and study the Scripture with greater precision than by merely reading it or studying it on paper. (For more on the “why” and “how” of memorizing extended passages rather than verses outside of their context read the free downloadable pamphlet“An Approach to the Extended Memorization of Scripture.”)
Memorizing the Letter of Jude revealed to us the importance of the word “keep.” The use of the word “keep” or “guard” begins and ends the book while its occurrences within the short 25-verse letter helps to reveal the main themes.
In verse 1, the readers, who are God’s beloved, are “kept” for Jesus Christ. In its lexical form, “kept” is the Greek word tēreō. The word has two basic meanings: The first meaning is to watch or guard someone. So, this word is used of the guards watching Jesus’ tomb in Matthew 28:4 or the guards watching the imprisoned Apostles in Acts 12:5-6 and 16:23. The second meaning is to keep the commands of the Old Testament or the commands of Jesus (1 John 5:3 for example). Here in verse 1, God is the active one. God is keeping his called and beloved people—Jude’s readers—for Jesus Christ.
Verse 6 contains two uses of tēreō. “And the angels who did not stay (or keep) within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he (God) has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.” The first usage is akin to the idea of “keeping” commandments. Jude is comparing the false teachers to these angels—the identity of which is a source of constant debate among biblical scholars and Sunday school classes alike. The angels were active in not keeping themselves in their God-assigned position of authority. Therefore, God is active in keeping them in this spiritual prison where they await judgment.
Verse 13 makes the connection directly to the false teachers: They are “wandering stars, for who the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved (or kept) forever.” Just as the angels are kept for punishment, God is keeping a similar punishment for the false teachers who pervert the grace of God into sensuality.
Adding to the tēreō refrain and causing seeming difficulty for those who believe in the security of the believer, verse 21 says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.” Like in verse 1, love and keep are connected. However, in this instance, the believer is the active party. The believer must keep him or herself in the love of God.
Finally, the Letter of Jude ends with the magnificent doxology: “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (vv. 24-25). In this instance, Jude throws a change-up. Instead of using tēreō, he uses a synonym: phulassō. It has the exact same double meaning as tēreō. In this particular instance, like in verse 1, God is active in keeping his people until the end. But why the change-up? I personally believe that Jude switches to the synonym to give greater emphasis to this point: Yes, believers must keep themselves in the love of God, but ultimately it is God who keeps them for his own glory.
To summarize, all of Jude’s main points are made in connection with the two words meaning “keep”:
- False teachers—like the angels—have not kept themselves in obedience to God.
- Therefore, God has kept a place of eternal judgment for them just as he currently keeps the angels.
- Believers—contrary to the actions of the false teachers—must keep themselves in the love of God.
- However, such a command to believers does not mean that God is passive in the matter. God is ultimately keeping believers until the end, and therefore it is God alone who deserves the glory.
So, we can summarize the main idea of the Letter of Jude as follows:
Jude appealed to God’s beloved, who are kept for Christ Jesus, to keep themselves in the love of God by contending for the faith.
To him be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
