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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
20-21 On the Antidote to the False Teachers. The way to minimize the influence of the scoffers is to live proactively as a follower of Christ (cf. "contend for the faith," v. 3).
20 praying in the Holy Spirit. That is, in the sense of praying in harmony with the leading of the Holy Spirit, rather than according to one's own agenda (cf. Rom. 8:26-27; Eph. 6:18). The context here suggests the idea of praying in the Spirit in a general sense, rather than the specific sense of speaking in tongues described in 1 Cor. 14:14-19.
21 Keep (or guard) yourselves in the love of God is the main clause in vv. 20-21 and is modified by the two participles ("building," "praying") in v. 20 and the participle (waiting) in v. 21. Christians keep themselves in God's love by growing strong doctrinally, persevering in prayer, and "waiting" for the Lord's coming. Christians are to keep themselves in God's love, and vv. 1-2 and vv. 24-25 teach that God keeps them as well. Ultimately, God promises to keep and preserve the faith of his own people, so that no true believer will ever lose his or her salvation (cf. notes on Heb. 6:4-8; 2 Pet. 1:10).
