Word Live: Kept By The Power Of God

How are you feeling about this day? Reflect on these words: ‘When the road is rough and steep, fix your eyes upon Jesus; he alone has power to keep …’*

*Norman J Clayton, 1903–92, ‘When the road is rough and steep’

Bible passage

Jude 1–25

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,

To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

² Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

The sin and doom of ungodly people

³ Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. ⁴ For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a licence for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

⁵ Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling – these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. ⁷ In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. ⁹ But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ ¹⁰ Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct – as irrational animals do – will destroy them.

¹¹ Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

¹² These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm – shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted – twice dead. ¹³ They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved for ever.

¹⁴ Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones ¹⁵ to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ ¹⁶ These people are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

A call to persevere

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Doxology

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – ²⁵ to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen.

Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Explore

This letter begins and ends with God’s power to keep (vs 3,24). Times were hard – and threatening to get worse for the Christians receiving this letter. Their very faith was at risk. They might succumb to pressure from certain interlopers in their midst, whose behaviour was unholy and who denied Jesus as Lord (vs 4,5). Jude warns about the seriousness of all this. He likens it to various scandals and calamities in the Scriptures and other Jewish writings (vs 5–16).

Jesus and his apostles had warned that divisive and unspiritual charlatans would infiltrate the church (vs 17–19; see also Matthew 7:15). Jude urges his readers to take practical action. We need to contend for the faith (v 3). And, he says, whatever else is going on, pay attention to your own faith, holiness and prayer (v 20). Also, try to save any who are caught up, or wavering, in all the confusion around you (vs 22,23).

Jude’s readers might ask, ‘But can we keep going to the end with all this adversity?’ Yes, he replies, God your Saviour is able to do this – and how (vs 24,25)! He is shielding and steering you through your present ordeal – keep close to the keeper (v 21).

Author

Roger Combes

Respond

Give thanks for the successive generations of Christians who contended for (v 3) and lived out the faith before it reached us.

Deeper Bible study

‘For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways’.¹

Most commentators agree that the letter of Jude is written by the brother of Jesus. Jude wants to write about salvation, but he feels that he must warn his readers about people who are perverting the grace of God. This probably refers to an early heresy which taught that being saved by grace meant that people had full licence to sin. Jude is scathing in his condemnation of these people who do whatever they wish and indulge their flesh freely. He employs a long list of historical examples and memorable metaphors in his fierce accusations. 

It may not be popular to speak in such vitriolic fashion today, but we must recognise what is at stake for Jude. Godless teachers are perverting the church, spreading heretical teaching, and he feels he must ‘contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people’ (v 3). Today these dynamics are still true – people seek to deceive and destroy the purity of the Christian faith. It is an awesome privilege and heavy responsibility to carry God’s truth: perhaps the church today could use a bit of Jude’s passion and urgency in defending it.

Jude ends with a powerful word of reassurance to his readers and to us. It is a doxology of praise ‘to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy’ (v 24). What an incredible promise that though we fight against heresy and immoral living, it is God who keeps us and protects us. Although false teachers and treacherous temptations are prevalent, we need not be afraid if we trust in God and are grounded in him.

God presents us before his glorious presence, faultless and joyful. Temptation and error may surround us, but God is our guardian. Trust him and thank him for his protection.

¹Ps 91:11

Author

Daniel McGinnis