The Unstumbling Salvation: The Final Word Text: Jude 1:24-25
Introduction: The Solid Foundation
The book of Jude is a stick of dynamite. It is a short, sharp, and severe letter, written to men and women who were in grave danger. Ungodly men, like spiritual saboteurs, had crept into the church unnoticed. They were grumblers, malcontents, and sensualists, turning the grace of God into a license for immorality and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude spends the bulk of his letter marking these men, describing their character, and reminding the church of God's swift and certain judgment upon all such rebellion, from the unbelieving Israelites in the wilderness to the angels who abandoned their proper domain.
After such a blistering polemic, after such a stark warning, after laying out the anatomy of apostasy, it would be easy for tender consciences to become discouraged. It would be easy to look at the threats within the church, to look at the weakness of your own heart, and to conclude that the whole Christian enterprise is a fragile, teetering thing, always one clever lie away from total collapse. But that is not where Jude leaves us. He does not leave us staring into the abyss of apostasy. He does not leave us trembling in our boots. He concludes his letter not with a warning, but with a doxology. He ends with a thunderous ascription of praise to the God who is the only answer to the problems he has just described.
This is crucial. Our security, our perseverance, our final salvation does not depend on our ability to outwit every heretic or to perfectly police the borders of the church. It does not depend on our own strength of will or the purity of our resolve. Our final salvation depends entirely upon the God who is able to keep us. This final doxology is not a pious platitude tacked on at the end. It is the foundation that makes the whole letter stand. It is the anchor that holds the ship fast in the storm Jude has so vividly described. We are to contend for the faith, yes. We are to build ourselves up, pray in the Spirit, and keep ourselves in the love of God, yes. But the ultimate reason we can do any of this, and the ultimate reason any of it will be successful, is found here. Our keeping is grounded in His keeping.
The Text
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(Jude 1:24-25 LSB)
God's Keeping Power (v. 24a)
Jude begins this crescendo of praise by focusing on God's unique ability to preserve His people.
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling..." (Jude 1:24a)
The word for "stumbling" here means to trip up, to fall. It does not mean that God prevents us from ever sinning. The Apostle John tells us that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8). Rather, it refers to a final, fatal fall. It speaks of apostasy, the very thing Jude has been warning about throughout the letter. The promise here is that God is able to keep you from the kind of stumbling that takes you out of the race for good.
This is a direct assault on the man-centered gospel of our day. The modern evangelical project is riddled with a low-grade anxiety because it ultimately places the burden of perseverance on the believer. It says, "Christ did His part, now you have to do yours." But the gospel of Jude, the gospel of the apostles, is that God does not drop you off at the trailhead and wish you the best of luck. He is the one who carries you through to the end. As Paul says, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). Our confidence is not in our ability to hold on to God, but in His ability to hold on to us.
Notice the language: "to Him who is able." This is the language of divine power. It is not that He is willing, though He is. It is that He is able. The security of the believer is grounded in the omnipotence of God. Jesus says of His sheep, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28). The apostates Jude describes are those who were never truly His sheep to begin with. They went out from us, because they were not of us (1 John 2:19). For the true believer, the one who is "kept for Jesus Christ" as Jude says in his opening verse, the final outcome is not in doubt. He is able to keep you.
God's Presenting Work (v. 24b)
God's keeping power has a specific goal in mind. He is not just keeping us from something, a fatal fall, but for something: a glorious presentation.
"...and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy," (Jude 1:24b LSB)
There is a great day coming, a day of final judgment and vindication. On that day, every human being will stand before the throne of God. For many, this will be a moment of unimaginable terror. But for the Christian, it will be a moment of presentation. And notice who does the presenting. God Himself will "make you stand." You will not shuffle in, hoping for the best. You will be placed there, firmly and securely, by the one who brought you.
And how will you stand? "Blameless." This is the miracle of the gospel. The Greek word is amomos, meaning without spot or blemish. This is the language used for a perfect sacrifice. How can a sinner like you or me be presented as blameless before a holy God? It is only because on the cross, our sin was imputed to Christ, and His perfect righteousness was imputed to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are presented as blameless not because we have achieved a state of sinless perfection, but because we are clothed in the perfection of another. He presents the church to Himself "in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:27).
And the mood of this presentation is not one of grim, relieved duty. It is one of "great joy." Or, as the King James has it, "exceeding joy." This is not just happiness. This is explosive, triumphant, uncontainable joy. It is the joy of a bride being presented to her husband. It is the joy of a son welcomed home by his father. It is the joy of seeing the glory of the one who saved you, and knowing that you are secure in His presence forever. This joy is not a flimsy emotion; it is the objective reality of our final state. God does not just save us from hell; He saves us to joy.
The Recipient of All Praise (v. 25)
Having described the magnificent work of God, Jude now turns to formally ascribe to Him the praise He is due.
"to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 1:25 LSB)
Jude is careful to identify who this God is. He is the "only God." This is a direct shot across the bow of all polytheism and all modern pluralism. There are not many paths to God. There is one God, and He has revealed Himself. And He is "our Savior." This is His fundamental character in relation to His people. He is not primarily a cosmic principle or an abstract force. He is a rescuer, a deliverer.
And this salvation is mediated "through Jesus Christ our Lord." The Father is the architect of salvation, the Son is the agent of salvation, and the Spirit is the applier of salvation. We cannot get to the Father except through the Son. Any attempt to praise "God" in some generic sense while sidelining the Lordship of Jesus Christ is to praise an idol of your own making. Jesus is not an optional extra; He is the only way.
To this God, Jude ascribes four things. "Glory," which is the manifestation of His infinite worth and weightiness. "Majesty," which speaks of His supreme greatness and royal splendor. "Might," which refers to His active power and dominion in the world. And "authority," which is His right to rule, His sovereign jurisdiction over all things.
And the timeframe for this praise is absolute. It belongs to Him "before all time and now and forever." God's glory is not a recent development. He was glorious before the universe was spoken into existence. He is glorious now, even in the midst of the apostasy and rebellion Jude describes. And He will be glorious forever, long after the last enemy has been put under His feet. This doxology is a statement of eternal fact. Our praise does not create His glory; it simply recognizes what has always been, is, and will always be true.
Conclusion: A Confident Amen
The final word of the letter is "Amen." So be it. Let it be so. This is not a word of resignation; it is a word of confident affirmation. It is the believer's hearty agreement with the truth of who God is and what He has done.
In a world full of stumbling blocks, and in a church infiltrated by those who would cause us to stumble, our ultimate hope is not in our own vigilance, but in God's omnipotent grace. The same God who judged the wicked angels and the cities of the plain is the God who is able to keep you. The same Lord who is denied by the apostates is the Lord through whom all glory and majesty flow to the Father.
Therefore, we are not to be a people characterized by fear. We are to be a people characterized by a robust and joyful confidence. We contend for the faith not as though the battle is in doubt, but as those who know the final outcome is already secured. We fight against sin not in order to be kept, but because we are being kept. Our salvation is anchored to the very character and power of the triune God. He is able to keep you from stumbling, and He will present you blameless with great joy. To Him alone, through Christ alone, be all the glory. Amen.