Keeping Ourselves in the Love of God

Hmmm… do we keep ourselves in the love of God, or does God keep us in His abiding love? Well, both are correct, but there is an order to them.

Jude 21
keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

There is a ‘keeping’ of ourselves in the love of God.

This word “keep” (Greek “tēréō) has a denotation of watch over, guard, heed, or preserve. Its Greek aorist imperative tense denotes an active, continuous, and mandatory action of watching over, guarding, and heeding ourselves so that we can preserve or keep ourselves in the love of God.

John 15:10
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

John 14:21
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

Notice the order. Keeping ourselves in the love of God begins by keeping the Father’s commandments – His holy requirements, His truth, His thoughts, His ways, and His will. Just as Jesus kept the Father’s commandments and, thus, abided in the Father’s love, we must do likewise – in His image and in His likeness; for this is the commandment of Jesus Christ for us. In fact, Jesus said that only those who keep His commandments are the ones who love Him, and only the ones who love Him will be loved by His Father and abide in His Father’s love.

Thus, abiding in the love of God is conditioned on keeping the holy requirements, transcendent truths, and sovereign will of God. In other words, His ‘agape’ love is NOT unconditional. In fact, by the same token, even receiving the free gift of salvation – an act of love for His creation through the sacrifice of His Son – is conditioned on confessing Christ, keeping faith in Christ, and conforming to the image and likeness of Christ.

John 14:15
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Therefore, if we love God and desire to abide in His love, then we must keep His commandments. This is the truth, the way, and the life for all who desire to abide in the love of the Father and His Son.

We must understand that the love of God and the abiding of His love are two different but overlapping things. The former is the general nature of God towards His creation, while the latter is His specific expression towards those who please Him. God may love all men, including sinners, but He does not enwrap the richness of His love on those whose hearts are quick to err in truth, or whose feet are quick to run towards sin. God may love all men in general, but His deep love and passionate devotion only enwrap those who keep His commandments. It is this enwrapping or abiding love that never fails to keep us in the power and security of the palm of His hand.

Romans 8:37-39
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is truly the grace – the free gift and divine power – of His abiding love when we love Him, keep His commandments, and do His will; both as individual saints and as corporate churches.

Let us keep ourselves in the love of God, so that we may abide in the perfect workmanship of God.

P.S., you may read more about the love of God in chapter seven of Poiēma, God’s Workmanship.

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