Well this is it. For three or four
posts now, we have been looking at some of the latter verses in Jude.
Like I said in the first post, Jude is one of those books you can
blink and miss, but contains a truckload of truth. Here we come to
verses 24-25, which read,
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 forever. Amen.
So here we go. Jude bookends this
entire passage, not by sharing five ways to hook your listeners, but
by focusing on the believer’s spiritual health. In looking at verse
20-21, we talked about “keeping ourselves in the love of God.”
And here we see that the author highlights the foundational element
of holiness in a believer’s life. This is a critical point.
Evangelism isn’t primarily about the pitch or eloquent public
speaking. Successful witnessing is carried out by the believer who is
abiding in Christ and living a life committed to holiness. Only such
a life will bring God’s blessing on our efforts.
Notice the wording of the verse.
It is not “work harder to keep from falling, and present yourself
faultless.” Jude offers praise to the One who keeps us from falling
and is able to present us to Himself as faultless. This is obviously
none other than Jesus Christ. By His death, He presents us faultless
and cleansed of our sin. We are no longer under condemnation, and we
are “spotless to stand before the throne.”
Jesus Christ not only cleanses us
forensically, but He is also the power by which we can lead lives
pleasing to Him on Earth. In my opinion, this is one of the trickiest
applications in the Bible. If you try to lead a holy life in your own
strength, you will fall flat on your face. Guaranteed. However, you
don’t see “Let go and let God” anywhere in the Bible either.
The biblical doctrine of abiding in Christ involves fervent prayer
for Christ to strengthen us in temptation, solid study in the Word of
God, and a daily, conscious decision to live as He desires.
I don’t pretend to have all the
answers to this in-depth application of an even more in-depth
doctrine, but I do know this: we will only be successful in our
evangelism when our eyes and lives are focused on Him who is able to
keep us in the righteousness He gave us.
