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 Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)
Jude’s closing words carry glorious assurance for the believer. Contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to you because that faith is in a person whose joy you will one day enter. These words end Jude’s letter because he wants his readers to receive hope and strength and delight as we contend.
God is able to keep us from stumbling and in the end present us to himself utterly blameless. Indeed, God will do this very thing for every one of his children. We are “called, beloved … and kept for Jesus Christ,” (Jude 1) preserved for his purposes. No true believer can be snatched from his hand. (John 10:28–29) While Christians may sin, and sometimes in horrendous ways, God promises he will keep us from committing apostasy. We are Christ’s, and nothing can draw us away forever: “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37–39)
What assurance this gives us as we seek to contend on behalf of fellow believers! Because God preserves those who are his, we can have confidence that Christians swerving toward apostasy can be restored to the truth. We can know that no believer will ever run so fast or so far that God will not pull him back off the path of destruction. Not even the most appealing lie can capture the attention of a true Christian forever; those with ears to hear will never grow permanently deaf to the voice of Jesus.
—from Contend: Defending the Faith in a Fallen World
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