Jude 24-25
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
The Letter of Jude opens with a call to all true believers for contending for the faith (v. 3) and then gives a singular, sobering reason as to why the call is necessary. It is because “certain men” have “crept in unawares.” Unaware to the true followers of Jesus in local churches, there are individuals who have joined themselves to those churches who have never been born again. Through deceit and a façade, these individuals have crept into the local church and have gone about sowing seeds of division and sin within the body. This is often very subtle and unnoticeable to the majority in the church, hence the term “unawares,” but it is there nonetheless. Through hypocrisy and deceit, these individuals have weaved there way into fellowship and service alongside the people of God. Jude 4-16 is given to identify those individuals–that we have referred to by the term “apostates”–by the fruit that is born in their lives and to provide a sobering reminder that, while they may have escaped the watch of God’s people, they have not escaped the omniscient gaze of God. After identifying the individuals by their fruit and warning the church about them, in the final portion of the letter (v. 17-25), Jude provides some final instructions about what God’s true people are to do. Over the past two weeks we have looked at the first four of five things that we are called to do. So far, we have learned that we are to know God’s Word, focus on growing in godliness, live in the hope of the return of Christ, and warn others. This week, we will conclude our series on the letter by looking up to the One who alone is able to save and preserve His people. Jude’s last call to us is to trust in His power. He provides three things that Christ, in His power and present work, does for His people.
First, He safeguards His people. In verses 22-23, Jude has just issued the call for believers to warn others in the church who may be in danger of being an apostate or under the influence of one. He concluded that section by calling us to confront them but to do so with “fear” by “hating even the garment spotted by flesh.” As believers engage with the lost world and with apostates in the church there will inevitably arise temptations and dangers from encountering sin because we are weak human beings. One result of being aware of this is a fear that pushes us away from fulfilling our calling of engaging with a sinful world. While we are called to do so with wisdom and avoid some things that may cause us to stumble, we cannot altogether withdraw from the world around us. Verses 24-25 provide a powerful reminder that ultimately our Savior will take care of us as we carry out the mission He has given to us. Jude reminds us that He “is able” (powerful and capable) of keeping us “from falling.” “Falling” here does not refer to keeping us from ever sinning, but refers to preventing believers from falling absolutely or in finality. It means that Jesus prevents those that belong to Him from falling away. He does so by His own power. John 10:27-29 provide a wonderful assurance that believers are doubly secure in the hands of the Son and the hands of the Father once they truly belong to Him. Believers are “sealed with the Holy Spirit” at salvation and preserved by Him “until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Ephesians 1:13-14). That means that the Holy Spirit keeps us as a down payment from God until Jesus comes to call us home. 1 Peter 1:5 tells us that we “are kept by the power of God.” Inevitably, those that are lost will be sorted out and fall into judgment, but those that are saved are kept saved by God’s own power, not by any work that we do. Psalm 37:24 speaks of a righteous man, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.” Proverbs 24:16 tell us, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Like Judas, those in Scripture who fell away after being used by God or a part of His people were those who were never truly saved to begin with (1 John 2:19). God will preserve His people and one day weed out the tares from the wheat. In the meantime, if we have truly been born again, we can declare with the Apostle Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” He promises to “never leave” us “nor forsake” us (Hebrews 13:5). He safeguards His people.
Secondly, He sanctifies His people. One of the ways in which Jesus safeguards us is by working in our lives to continually sanctify us. We battle with sin, not just in the lives of others, but also in our own hearts and lives. What prevents that sin from overtaking us or ruling us? It is His work in us to sanctify us and set us apart from that sin. God’s work of sanctification is one of the greatest evidences that we truly belong to Him. We come to Jesus just as we are, but He does not leave us just as we are. Sin is no longer our master (Romans 6:12-14) because Christ has set us free from its rule (John 8:31-36). He “is able” not only to “keep” us “from falling” but also to “to present” us “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” God carries out sanctification through His loving discipline as our Father in our lives (Hebrews 12:5-11). Trials and persecution are actually part of the way that He keeps us humble and dependent upon Him so that we might be submitted to Him and grow in godly character. That process will continue until we stand before Him one day “faultless.” He will one day raise us up apart from all sin and defilement. Everything He does in our lives is moving toward that day. Despite our present imperfections, we can trust that “God worketh in” us “both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” And we have this promise that He will finish the work He started. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Lastly, He saves His people. Jude’s final words are a doxology (a word of glory) praising Christ as “the only wise God” and “our Savior” to whom belong “glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.” Since Jesus is the eternal God who is also our Savior, He “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). He does not fail in His saving work in our lives. We are saved now, but there is a “not yet” aspect to our salvation. One day, He will return for us and we will be raised up anew. We will be completely set apart from sin and spend eternity in His presence serving and worshipping Him. Paul wrote in Titus 2:13-14, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” We rest in His salvation now and we look forward to His salvation in a glorious future.
We have been treading on holy ground in the book of Jude. Its sobering teachings are a wake-up call to God’s people to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). In every era for God’s people, there have been apostates. Our time is no exception. While we are called to identify apostates by their fruit and avoid being entangled with them, the first place we must look is into our own hearts. Do you really know Christ? Are you truly born again? Perhaps these patterns that Jude has identified exist in your own heart and life. Perhaps you have merely adopted the faith outwardly and not been changed by it inwardly. You’ve been playing the part and wearing the mask. The Holy Spirit has spoken to your heart through the Word of God that you need salvation. Come to Christ today.