Rooted, Tested, Invested: How to Persevere in Your Faith from Jude 20 to 23

How do you keep going in your faith when culture mocks it, people offend you, and life gets hard? Jude gives the answer in one line: build yourself up in your most holy faith. Perseverance grows from three things: being rooted in Jesus, being tested under pressure, and being invested in God's mission.

What does Jude tell believers to do when faith is under pressure?

Jude tells you to build yourself up. The short letter warns about scoffers who mock holy things, spread rebellion, and refuse correction. Then it turns to the faithful.

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Jude 20 to 21

A scoffer is someone who mocks holy things, gathers fellow mockers, and refuses correction. Pastor Marty Sloan's response was simple: when God calls something holy, we don't mess with it, and we sure don't mock it.

Building yourself up is your part. Pastor Marty put it bluntly: "I can't do in 30 minutes what you won't do all week long." Consider the gym, his own example. Nobody walks in and asks the manager how the gym plans to help them grow today. You go in with goals and do the work. Come to church already prayed up and worshiped up, because worship should happen all week long.

Jude also says to pray in the Spirit, show mercy to those who doubt, and snatch others from the fire. Christians should be the most gracious people on the planet. We love people and we hate sin, and we don't make room for what is evil.

Why do you need to be rooted in Jesus?

Roots hold you up when the wind blows. Whatever you are planted in will shape the fruit you grow.

Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Colossians 2:7 to 8

You won't grow deep roots if your teaching comes from social media. If the loudest voice in your house is a cable news channel, you are growing in the culture, not in Christ. Make Scripture part of your daily diet.

Perseverance is the fruit that grows when you are rooted, grounded, and anchored in Jesus. It comes from Christ, so you don't have to generate it yourself. Your anchor isn't the economy, your health, or your status. It is Jesus. Pastor Marty pointed to three books for going deeper: Transforming Worldviews by Paul Hiebert, Disciplism by Alan Hirsch, and Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer.

Why does God let your faith be tested?

Testing shows how deep your roots go. Pastor Marty said, "You cannot show strength when there's no weight on the bar."

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7 to 8

A tree stands because of its roots, not its leaves. Pastor Marty warned about "leafy Christians." They know how to say amen on cue and raise a hand on the right song, but when a storm comes they blow away.

For example, many people are tested less by obvious sin and more by offense inside the church. Someone took their seat. The pastor forgot to shake their hand. The band didn't sing their song. Pastor Marty observed that easily offended people often lack spiritual depth. When offense comes, a rooted believer can say, "My hope is built on Jesus, not on someone's comment."

He pointed to his own marriage of 31 years. Through parenting, money struggles, medical reports, and moves between states, deep roots kept them together. That is what testing proves. It is also why you need the church. Community holds you up when you are being tested.

How does being invested help you keep going?

You stick with what you invest in. Ask yourself an honest question: what are you full of? If you're full of the culture, of self, of political narratives and cultural noise, where is there room for Jesus?

When many followers walked away from Jesus, He asked the Twelve if they would leave too.

Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

John 6:68

If your mindset is "I can always go somewhere else," your roots are already halfway out of the ground. Jesus is plan A, and there is no plan B. Pastor Marty compared it to marriage. He tells his wife she is number one and there is no number two.

Being invested also means joining God's mission. Pastor Marty used a Latin term for it: missio Dei means the mission of God. The church exists because God has a mission. Groups, services, and events all serve that mission. Nehemiah refused to stop rebuilding the walls to answer his critics, because he was doing a great work. When you are on mission, distractions lose their pull.

Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). What you invest in, you care about, and what you care about, you stick with. Paul tied endurance to the same mission: stand firm, always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, "because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58). Your perseverance runs on Christ's power.

Common questions

What does Jude 20 mean by building yourself up in your most holy faith?

It means you take responsibility for your own spiritual growth. You read Scripture, pray in the Spirit, and worship all week, so you aren't depending on one Sunday service to carry you.

How do you persevere in faith?

Pastor Marty Sloan gives three words: rooted, tested, and invested. Stay rooted in Jesus through His Word, let trials prove your roots instead of uprooting you, and invest your life in God's mission so you have no reason to walk away.

What is a scoffer in the Bible?

A scoffer mocks holy things, spreads rebellion, looks for fellow mockers, and refuses correction. Jude 18 says scoffers will come in the last times and follow their own ungodly desires.

Why do Christians leave the church when they get offended?

Offense often reveals shallow roots. When faith rests on people or preferences instead of on Jesus, a slight can knock it loose. A believer rooted in Christ can let the offense go and keep standing.