Jude 1 Devotional

Kept by One Who Is Able

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—”Jude 1:24 (BSB)

Jude meant to write about the salvation he and his readers share, but he felt he had to urge them instead to contend for the faith delivered once for all to God's people (1:3). Certain people had slipped in unnoticed, turning God's grace into an excuse for immorality and denying Jesus Christ as Master and Lord (1:4). Jude recalls past judgments on unbelieving Israel after Egypt, on angels who abandoned their place, and on Sodom and Gomorrah (1:5-7).

Yet the letter is framed by God's keeping. Jude writes to those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ (1:1). He tells them to build themselves up, to pray, and to keep themselves in God's love while they wait for Christ's mercy (1:20-21), and to show mercy to those who doubt (1:22). And he ends with praise to the One who is able to keep them from stumbling and to present them blameless before his glory with great joy (1:24). Your effort to stand rests on his power to hold you.

To think about: Where do you need to remember today that God is able to keep you from stumbling?