Keep Yourselves in the Love of God

Published by

Blake Long

July 4, 2023

“keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” (Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬)

There are several warning passages in Scripture that shed light on falling away from Christ. The Bible doesn’t mince words when speaking to the issue of apostasy. It is a horrible, upsetting, and heartbreaking thing. People, of whom I don’t know personally and those I do, have fallen away from Jesus. I can’t stand it.

They didn’t “keep [themselves] in the love of God.” They went their own way, and kept to the love of themselves.

These warnings in Scripture are hard to swallow and are quite scary. I think any Christian, at times, are afraid of doing this. We are afraid of straying away from Christ—which is a good thing. We ought to be afraid of that. That is all the more reason to keep ourselves in the love of God. Stay true to the Lord. Keep yourself in the Christian community and ensure you stick your head in Scripture. Don’t do these things for their own sake; do them as part of keeping yourself in God’s love.

It’s so easy to wander. We are all prone to wander—prone to leave the God we love. But, by the power and grace and love of the Holy Spirit, may we continue to keep ourselves in the love of God.

8 responses to “Keep Yourselves in the Love of God”

subpopgirl

July 4, 2023

Do the living people who have committed apostasy still have hope if they truly repent? You’re right it seems like so many people are turning away and it’s very scary.

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1. Blake Long
  
  July 4, 2023
  
  Of course. Everybody has the opportunity to repent before death thankfully!
  
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  1. subpopgirl
    
    July 4, 2023
    
    Thank God! I have a brother I am concerned about. So basically, what is the unforgivable sin? I’ve read about it on gotquestions.org and they were saying that particular sin cannot happen anymore because it was directed at the people of that time. Probably too much for you to answer on a question in the comments but if you have a good link, I would greatly appreciate it. I trust what you say because it’s true to the “straight edge” of scripture (as Elisabeth Elliot always said!). Possibly you did a block post on it that I missed or you will be doing one in the future!
    
    In the meantime, have a wonderful Independence Day your beautiful family!
    
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  2. Blake Long
    
    July 4, 2023
    
    That’s correct. The only unforgivable sin one can commit today is unbelief through the point of death. Good idea for a blog post though!
    
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  3. Blake Long
    
    July 4, 2023
    
    Happy 4th to you as well. 🙂
    
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  4. subpopgirl
    
    July 4, 2023
    
    Thank you for taking the time to reply on a busy holiday and give my heart comfort and assurance! Thank you and your wife for loving your readers so much. I hope you both know how appreciated you are.
    
    Oh, that would be a wonderful blog post, and I think you would do a very edifying and helpful post.
    
    God bless you!
    
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  5. Jasper Hoogendam
    
    July 4, 2023
    
    My only reference to an unforgivable sin is sinning against the Holy Spirit. But the Bible passage that mentions that doesn’t explain what it is. A Calvinist reading of the Bible affirms what is called “perseverance of the saints,” meant to assert that once one is a child of God, always a child of God. Again, how does one square that with falling away from the love of God?
    
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  6. Blake Long
    
    July 5, 2023
    
    Hi Jasper.
    
    Falling away from the love of God is simply a warning. If it happens, it would reveal that said person was never “in” the love of God in the first place. As a Calvinist myself, there’s no issue there.
    
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