What God Is Able to Do
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, To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24 and 25 KJV
What does it mean that Jesus Christ can keep a young boy or a man, a young girl or a woman from falling? What does it mean that He can present us to His Father without fault, and with great joy? These are things I have meditated on and things that have comforted me for most of my life. My understanding of these words has grown with time, and I suspect God has much more to teach me as I age. But let me share with you something of the riches of these words.
We are not sure when the epistle of Jude was written. One thing seems certain from what he shares, namely that most if not all of the apostles had already died. If the author of this letter is indeed the brother of James, the son of Mary, then he is also the half-brother of our Lord.
Jude writing in the last decades of the first century is concerned about certain false teachers who have crept into the church, and sought to corrupt the core truths of the Christian faith, especially the Gospel of grace for their own personal profit and gain. These evil and influential leaders promoted a life-style characterized by a thirst for power, sexual immorality and greed. Jude wants the church to represent Jesus Christ in the world with integrity, by holding fast to its theological roots [especially those core truths about the person and the work, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ]. He wants a church committed to passionate prayer directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and to lives characterized by a fervent love of God, a love which reaches up to Him and extends its arms out for others. Then as he comes to the end of his little letter, there is this sudden burst of passion for God, in which Jude encourages the saints of all ages to persevere in the faith, because our God in Christ is able to keep us from falling, to present us before His Father without fault, and to do so with great joy. Let me unpack this for you. First, Jude tells us that…
- I. Jesus Christ Is Able to Keep Everyone Who Trusts in Him from Falling.
The Greek of our text could have been translated, “To Him who is powerful to keep you from falling.” The English words dynamic, dynamite, and dynamo are derived from the Greek word employed in our text. It is not merely that God in Christ is potentially able to keep us standing in the faith, but that He is powerful to do so, and I might add the New Testament teaches not only that He will do so, but that He actually does so even in present time.
Many authentic Christians live in fear that some tragedy, some illness, some broken relationship, or succumbing to some great temptation, might so try them that they might give up the faith and fall from God’s grace and favor. Others fear they might be tempted to fall for a lie, finding themselves on the road to spiritual oblivion. But Jude wants us to know that for those who presently desire to follow Christ no matter the cost, there is a divine provision of power to preserve us in Christ which will assure our standing in heaven before the Father. Our task is to commit to Christ and the Gospel of grace, and make our stand to follow after Him, and God will see that we do not fall.
But what does Jude mean by “falling” William Barclay the great New Testament scholar, writing on this text says,
“God is able to keep us from slipping. The word is aptaistos. It is used both of a sure-footed horse which does not stumble and of a man who does not fall into error…To walk with God is to walk in safety even on the most dangerous and the most slippery path. In mountaineering climbers are roped together so that even if the inexperienced climber should slip, the skilled mountaineer can take his weight and save him. Even so, when we bind ourselves to God, he keeps us safe.” Wm. Barclay
I can hear the apostle Paul piling up words to expound on the keeping power of God for those who believe,
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him , graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?…No in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31a-39
What peace and assurance this brings when a believer is tested by illness, injury, or death itself. I’m thinking of 24 year old Amee Copeland who was injured while zip lining in Georgia. A flesh eating bacteria began a ruthless attack on her body. It took her hands and arm, and leg and part of leg. She is rehab now, and being fitted for prosthetocs. Her needs are staggering by any measure. Yet in spite of all she and her parents have endured in the furnace of affliction, they have experienced the keeping power of God. A few weeks ago, her father Andy wrote this in a blog:
Monday, July 2, marked the 59th day of Aimee’s recovery. It also marked 59 days of intense and focused prayer; 59 days of topsy-turvy prognoses; 59 days of extreme trial and tribulation, and most of all, 59 consecutive days of God’s blessings. Many people do not understand how we can profess to be blessed…
“…We now progress through the maze of rehabilitation, not knowing exactly what the cost of Aimee’s prosthetics will be. We have come to realize that $150,000 for prosthetics may have been a conservative estimate. Aimee will require a set of body-powered limbs and a set of myo-electric limbs. She will also require ongoing fittings for the ever-changing condition of her amputated limbs, which is required for continued comfort…
… At this point we continue to trust in God that He will provide the answers we seek. He has been faithful to us in every way possible and we know that He will never abandon us. Unlike human insurance plans, our God does not have a limit to His days or the extent of His coverage. He operates on a different time schedule than we do. He is not a 59-day God; His power is infinite and absolute and we will continue to trust in His perfect will.” Andy Copeland
I wonder if you know something of the keeping power of Jesus Christ. If not, hang in there for a few more minutes, there is more to say, because it is not just that God in Christ is able or powerful to keep and preserve us for Himself, but that He is able to present those who trust in Him to the Father without fault!
- II. Jesus Christ Is Able to Present Everyone Who Trusts in Him to the Father without Fault.
Virtually every commentator on this text says something about the word translated “faultless,” or “without fault.” The word ἀμώμος is associated with lambs or goats that might be offered up to God as a sacrifice under the Old Covenant given to Israel. It literally means to be without blemish or spot. Even one blemish or spot made a lamb unfit for Passover. Sin makes us unfit to be in the presence of a holy God. Sin in the Bible is anything that is contrary to the character and the Law of God. Even one violation of God’s commands is considered a violation of the whole Law. Most people today would be hard pressed to list the ten commandments. Even so, most everyone will admit that it is wrong to kill, wrong to commit adultery, wrong to bear false witness, and it is wrong to steal what does not belong to you. But there are ten commandments you know, and they deal with worship, invoking God’s name, and honoring one’s parents. And the Scripture says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it [James 2:10].” The apostle Paul goes even further and says, that all of us have broken God’s law “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [Romans 3:23],” and worse yet, he goes on to say, “The wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23].” But Jude discloses the Good News which trumps the bad news.
Jesus Christ not only possesses keeping power, but He has saving power, for He is able to present us to His Father without a single spot or blemish. How so? Listen to this. The Scripture declares, “God made Him [that is Jesus Christ] who had no sin to be sin [that is to say a sin offering] for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God [2 Corinthians 5:21].” Under the Old Covenant, a lamb without blemish or spot might be sacrificed when someone sinned. The guilty party would put his hand on the animal sacrificed, in effect saying, the innocent died in my place for violating God’s Law. But Christ when He offered up Himself on the cross offered a better sacrifice for us. He was not merely an innocent man, but He was preeminently the righteous one, indeed the only man who had ever fulfilled all of the righteous demands of the Father. And when we by faith acknowledge our sinfulness, and by faith embrace Him as our Savior and Lord, that same Christ now risen and ascended to His throne, forgives our sins, removing the record of them from the ledgers in heaven, and then imputes or counts to us His righteousness, so that when the Father looks at us, He never sees our sins, but only the righteousness of His Son who died for us. What Christ accomplished for us is undeserved. We do not merit it. We can only receive it by faith.
How do we do that? Paul puts it in simple terms. He says, “That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved [Romans 10:9].” To whom do we make this confession? I submit it is made to the Lord. We acknowledge that we do not deserve it, but gladly receive by faith what Christ has done for us. And if what we confess is borne from what we really believe in our heart, we stand before God justified, righteous, in His eyes without spot or wrinkle. But wait there is one more thing. Jesus Christ is not only powerful to keep us and to make us stand before God His Father just as righteous as He is, but Jude declares He is able to do this with great joy!
- III. Jesus Christ Is Able to Present Everyone Who Trusts in Him to the Father with Great Joy.
Whose joy does Jude have in mind? Is it the joy of Christ’s who presents us to the Father? The writer of Hebrews speaks of this when he says, “Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [Hebrews 12:2].” There is little doubt that in God’s eyes we were worth saving, worth the ultimate sacrifice. God so loved us, and for the joy of fellowship with us for all eternity, Christ gladly died. And, the Father too is pleased, for what brings joy to the Son brings joy to Father.
But in our text, it seems the joy is not only that of the Son, or the Father’s or even the angels of heaven, but it is ours to share in as well. Again William Barclay has said,
“Surely the natural way to think of entry into the presence of God is in fear and in shame. But by the work of Jesus Christ and in the grace of God, we know that we can go to God with joy and with all fear banished. Through Jesus Christ, God the stern Judge has become known to us as God the loving Father.”Barclay, Wm.
Do you know God in Christ Jesus, the God who is powerful and able to keep you from falling? Do you know the One who is able to present you to His Father without the blemish of sin? Do you know the Christ the delight of Heaven who knows no greater happiness than to bring you into His family by faith and present you, a trophy of divine grace to His Father, and who wants nothing less than fill you with His joy? Do you know Him, the God who is able? Why not receive Him by faith this morning? In prayer confess to the Father what know in your heart, that you need Him, you need His cleansing from sin, that you receive the forgiveness and the righteousness of Christ. Mean it in your heart and go on now and live in the keeping power of the God who is able.