Bible Strands
Jude 1:21
keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jude addresses "beloved" believers under pressure from false teachers, issuing a series of imperatives (vv. 20–23) for how to hold firm.
The words — τηρῆσατε (tērēsate, "do keep") is a strong aorist imperative, the language of a sentinel guarding a post. προσδεχόμενοι (prosdechomenoi, "awaiting") is a present participle, making the wait active and continuous rather than passive.
The thread — 1 John 4:16 ties abiding in love to abiding in God; Lamentations 3:25 calls the LORD good to those who wait for Him; Hebrews 9:28 grounds the awaited mercy in Christ's second coming to bring salvation.
Why it lands — It commands a posture—stay inside God's love while you wait—rather than promising an emotional state. The reader is to guard their position and keep their eyes forward until Christ's mercy delivers eternal life.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Cross-references
- 1 John 4:16 And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
- Lamentations 3:25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- Hebrews 9:28 so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
- John 15:9 As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.
- 2 Peter 3:12 as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
- Revelation 12:11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
- John 14:21 Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
- Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Titus 2:13 as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.