But you, beloved,
building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
Jude 20
Dear Heavenly
Father. Thank You. Thank You for all
Your provision, for Your answered prayers, for Your gift of salvation through
Your Son. I am truly amazed by You.
Thank You for the opportunity that I can just serve and not worry about hidden
agendas. Please Lord continue to be with
me, my family, my church and my work. In
Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Jude transitions in
this verse to encourage the believer. He
is beginning to close out the letter by giving instructions to the church. To bring deeper understanding to today's
text, let's examine some key words and their companion or similar verses.
"Beloved"
in the Greek is agapetos which means
dear friends, a title for the Messiah as beyond all others by God who sent Him,
Christians loved by God, Christ, and one another, esteemed, dear,
favorite. Root word for
"beloved" is a word that we've studied before, agape.
The church is unconditionally loved by God.
"Building"
in the Greek is epiokodomeo which means
build upon a foundation, following a plan with pre-designed specifications,
build up, edify, finish the structure of which the foundation has already been
laid, give constant increase to Christian knowledge and life conformed thereto,
resting on your most holy faith as a foundation, make progress, rise like an
edifice higher and higher. Colossians
2:7 states "rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as
you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." "Most Holy" in the Greek is hagios which means set apart, sacred,
different, likeness of nature with the Lord, different from the world,
distinguished, distinct, reverend, worthy of veneration (great respect). "Faith" in the Greek is pistis which means belief, trust, come to
trust, belief of Christians, truth, right doctrine, is subjectively
appropriated, mere acknowledgement of divine things and the claims of
Christianity, confidence. Our foundation as Christians is our most holy faith,
our great respect for truth and right doctrine.
We build on this faith to further our lives in obedience to Christ.
"Praying"
in the Greek is proseuchomai which means
offer prayer, to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for
God's wishes as He imparts faith (divine persuasion). Praying is closely interconnected with faith. Proseuchomai is
made up of the word pros which is
towards, exchange and exomai which is to
wish, pray. Ephesians 6:18 states
"praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being
watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the
saints—." Romans 8:26 states
"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what
we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered." "Spirit" in the Greek is pneuma which means wind, breath, full of
majesty, adorable, utterly opposed to all impurity, Holy (hagios) Spirit. We are to switch our wishes with God's wishes
by the intercession of the Holy Spirit.
Faith and trust in
God is the bedrock of the Christian life. We build upon this foundation to further grow in the Christian life. Praying is the means to reconcile our needs and plans for our life with
what God desires for us. Sometimes we
may not pray as we should but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. When we pray, we trust our anxieties,
worries, and cares with God. To pray,
you must have faith.
But you, beloved,
build yourselves up on [the foundation of] your most holy faith [continually
progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], pray in the Holy Spirit,
Amplified Bible
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