Eyes and Lives On The Savior

     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.