Jude - Contend for the Faith - Pt 8

 

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 ESV).

 

Jude does something surprising at the end of his letter. Many letters in the New Testament end with benedictions. We’ve become accustomed to the Apostle Paul saying something like this at the end of his letters, “Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s a benediction from God to his readers at the end of the letter. And at the end of Paul's letters, we feel like we need that blessing from God, because usually in the second half of those letters he gives us some difficult challenges, some strong exhortations, some words calling us to action in the Christian life. And by the end of those words of exhortation, we need to rest on the power and grace of God, and so we are delighted to hear those words of blessing come: “Grace, mercy, peace.” Our heart is saying, “Amen, Lord. Yes, we need Your grace and Your mercy and Your peace.”

 

But, here we are with a doxology instead of a blessing. The doxology is a praise to God for His exclusive deity. Jude is reminding us that He is the only God. We bless God because He's the only God. This doxology is ascribed to the only God. And Jude is making this point: There is only one God. There is one God only. The Triune God of the Bible, Jude says, is the only God. Now that's not politically correct. But it's good, Christian theology, and it's plainly stated int the Scripture.

 

However, that is not Jude’s finale. He also draws our attention to the truth that He's not only the only God; He is God our Savior. Jude is reminding us that God the Father is our Savior. Now it's true that the New Testament refers to Jesus as our Savior fifteen or sixteen times, but the New Testament also refers to God the Father as our Savior on at least eight occasions. And that's the focus of Jude here. He is reminding us that the Father is the source of our salvation. And so the focus is on the love and the salvation of the Heavenly Father. And Jude is just reminding us that we must look to God the Father alone for our salvation, that we must trust completely that He is able to deliver. It's God and God alone who saves. It's our perversity to look somewhere else for salvation than the one, true God. And our God loves to save and He delights in salvation, and so we must trust in Him if we are to experience eternal life. And so, Jude praises God for His exclusive deity and because He alone is God our Savior. Now that really is good news!