²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on those who doubt;²³ save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

1) What does it mean to “build yourself up in the most holy faith”?
Be careful not to confuse the language of “building yourself up” here with our Western way of thinking. This isn’t something we have to accomplish on our own strength, but rather something we lend ourselves towards doing. Paul is urging us to dig deeply into knowing God. A cross-reference to Acts 20:32, teaches that it’s the very Word of God that builds us up and sanctifies us (makes us more like Jesus).

2) What does it mean to “keep yourself in the love of God”?
A cross-reference lands us in Acts 13:42-43 where we see an example of Paul using the same language as Jude as he describes people “begging” Paul to come back the next Sabbath and tell them again about the gospel (the love of God). There was a sense of insatiable hunger for God’s love and truth all within the context of community. We grow best in God’s love when we are surrounded by the fellowship of other believers in the Body of Christ. It’s how God designed us to flourish! Note that both of these calls to action (the building up in faith and keeping in the love of God) are tied together by the command to pray. Scripture reading and prayer are the bedrock by which we grow!

3) What is the “mercy” that leads to eternal life?
“Mercy” here doesn’t refer to the moment of salvation, but rather the return of Christ when our salvation is made complete. The work He began in us at the moment we surrendered our lives to Him will be fulfilled on the day of His glorious return!

4) How are we to “snatch others out of the fire?”
The “fire” here is broadly associated with any kind of sin that separates us from intimacy with God. Whether it’s a believer that is living in sin or a non-believer that has not surrendered to life in Christ, our commission is to live out love towards them, showing them mercy just as we have been shown mercy. We “snatch others out of the fire”, by lovingly showing them Jesus, talking about how He has changed us, and how He offers hope and life for eternity.

1) What does it mean to “build yourself up in the most holy faith”?
Easily the most neglected disciplines of believers are prayer and regular time with God. We skip out, don’t prioritize, get bored, and give up on every New Year’s resolution to “read my Bible everyday”. This breaks God’s heart! It goes directly against His deep desire to grow intimacy with us. To be built up in the faith is to grow in Him and know Him better. The language here isn’t that we should do this on our own, but rather it’s the idea of being invited in to where He is already waiting. The invitation is to come, grow deep with Him.

2) What does it mean to “keep yourself in the love of God”?
Like the first admonition, this isn’t a call to make sure you are keeping yourself in God’s salvation. Rather, it’s an insistence to surround ourselves with the active love of God. This looks like studying His word, but also being in fellowship with other believers, praying, and being active in the Body of Christ, both globally and in the local church. We need the constant reminder to be anchored in the truths of God’s love, which naturally allows us to extend His love to others!

3) What is the “mercy” that leads to eternal life?
This verse talks about “waiting” for the “mercy” of Christ, but this waiting is a very active verb. A cross-reference to Titus 2:11-13 provides more insights as to what waiting for this merciful reappearance of Christ should look like. It’s training in godliness, renouncing sin in our lives, and interacting with outsiders for the purpose of showing them Christ’s love. Waiting for Jesus isn’t about making ourselves better, but rather about giving ourselves away to love others for the sake of Christ.

4) How are we to “snatch others out of the fire?”
Sharing Christ can be scary. We worry about offending others and pushing them away, but we forget that Jesus Himself has warned us that His message is indeed offensive and we will not be embraced for sharing it. This passage also reminds us that it’s only through genuine love and authentic mercy that we should engage people. Sharing the hope of Christ is not an option for Christ-followers, but neither are respect and kindness. The motivation of sharing the gospel should always be rooted in deep, compassionate love for the lost because we see and understand that, without Jesus, we are just as desperately lost as the person we are trying to reach.

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
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Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Adoring!