‘Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen’ (Jude 24-25).

During the Second World War there was a concern that enemy agents could be circulating in Britain.  This notion was played to great comic effect in the TV comedy ‘Dad’s Army’ with various humorous discussions about how they might identify Nazi agents who were dressed as Nuns!  As ludicrous as it sounds, I was assured there was some truth in that notion by my Mother who lived live through the Second World War.  Nuns are well covered up; therefore it was thought to be a good disguise for an enemy agent to adopt!  Feasible or not, the situation with the Churches that Jude[1] was writing to was not dissimilar as he was highlighting that there were false teachers circulating among them unnoticed!

Indeed, the theme of Jude’s letter is that his readers should: ‘contend for the faith’ (v3) as: ‘certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ’ (v4).  The danger was very real.  Jude was writing about: ‘people who may write Christian books, speak at Christian conferences and sound very convincing and liberating.’[2]  He was launching an attack on those who were seen as popular and influential Christian leaders and denouncing them as pagans!

The essence of what Jude then writes, by giving examples from Jewish history, is that these people often passed themselves off as believers.  But he points out that they are highly dangerous due to their teaching and that they will eventually be judged by God!  The notion that such people were circulating in the Churches must have been deeply disturbing for Jude’s readers and would have cause a real sense of alarm!  I suspect those reading his letter would have had two reactions.  Firstly, they were worried they could be taken in by this false teaching.  Secondly, it was hard enough being a Christian with the opposition that came from outside the Church, but how were they going to contend with attacks from within?  When it comes to ending his letter, Jude tackles both these attitudes.

Verse 24 starts by picking up the theme from the start of the letter.   They are: ‘kept for Jesus Christ’ (v1).  Therefore, there’s no way they can fall away.  But it also deals with those who were disheartened by possible attacks from inside the Church.  Jude’s point in writing the letter is so that they will not stumble.  So, if they take on board what the letter has been saying, they will be protected from any heretical teaching from within or without the Church.  In this way this blessing reinforces the fact that they are the Lord’s, and nothing can snatch them from him.  And that is what they have to remember. This is God’s work as they have been saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8).  So, it is he who will present them: ‘blameless before the presence of his glory’.  The verse ends on an appropriate note as this is such a wonderful truth it will be a source of great joy to them.

The emphasis on this being God’s work continues in verse 25.  How is this made possible?  quite simply: ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord’.  Michael Green notes that this phrase: ‘may refer either to the fact that it is through Christ that God saves man, or the fact that glory can only properly be given to God through Jesus.’[3]  Either way, he’s the means by which God has carried out his work and he’s the way by which we glorify God!  The way that Jesus is introduced with the word: ‘the only God, our Saviour’ again illustrates this is a work that has nothing to do with a person’s good works or religious devotion, rather, It’s thoroughly dependent on the Lord’s initiative.

Jude ends the letter with a threefold reference to the extent of this praise.  John Benton mentions that: ‘This is probably another way of subtly underlining the uniqueness and pre-eminence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The false teachers denied him as only Sovereign and Lord. But Jude turns our attention to the praise of God and astutely raises the question of how God was praised before ages.  Jude tells us that he was, within the unity of the Trinity, given “glory, majesty, and power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages.”’[4]  The key thing is that Jude wants his readers to realise the total sovereignty of God, and for that alone, this extraordinary God is worthy of praise well beyond human imagination and ability!  It is he who enables us to worship him, and Jude invites his readers, and us, to acknowledge this by joining him in the: ‘Amen.’  That’s something, every Christian will be only too willing to do!

[1] There are six people referred to as Jude in the New Testament. However, the most likely contender for the author of this letter is the Lord’s brother as here he refers to himself as the brother of James who we know to be the Lord’s brother. He clearly has a sense of humility, as rather than using this in an authoritative sense, he refers to himself as: ‘a servant of Jesus Christ’ (v1).
[2] Dick Lucas and Christopher Green, The Message of 2 Peter and Jude, the Promise of His Coming (Leicester, Inter-Varsity Press, 1995) 179.
[3] Michael Green, 2 Peter and Jude, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Leicester, Inter-Varsity Press, 1968) 192.
[4] John Benton, Slandering the Angels, The Message of Jude (Darlington, Evangelical Press, 1999) 176.