Jehovah is both good and severe (Romans 11:22). He who is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29) and into whose hands it is fearful to fall (Hebrews 10:31) also delights in mercy, compassion, and forgiveness (Micah 7:18-19). Whether you experience God’s goodness, or His severity depends upon your choices and behavior (Romans 11:22).
To those who have answered Jehovah’s invitation of sonship via the common salvation in Christ and thus have called upon the Lord in harmony with His immutable requirements, He has sanctified and they are preserved in Jesus Christ (Jude 1).
This body of people—designated in the Bible as “the church”—enjoys all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3), including divine mercy (i.e. God’s pity and compassion), peace (i.e. spiritual rest and well-being because they have been reconciled to God), and love (God’s personal, attentive, wise, and holy concern for their best spiritual interests).
In his words, “mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” (v. 2), Jude expresses his ceaseless desire for his readers (then and now). It is a prayer for an ever-increasing blessing of the abundant life (John 10:10) found only in Christ.
To enjoy such, you must “keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21).
