I often go to the doxologies of the New Testament epistles for illumination about how to pray for our churches, for my family, and for myself. Jude 24–25 has my attention, “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.” The “him” is later identified as “the only God, our Savior.”
Jude is most likely ending his epistle as he began it—with reference to the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit’s activity is mentioned in 19–20. Therefore, the Father is he who is able to guard you (cf. Numbers 6:25). He is like a sentinel keeping watch over the church. The verbal construction is followed by the direct object “you all” and the modifier “free from falling” — ὑμᾶς ἀπταίστους.
Jude claimed that the church is a people whose quality is described as free from stumbling because of the Father who keeps them. How does the Father keep so well? The answer: through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We understand that the person and work of Christ provides the church access to the Father’s keeping power, much like what we read in John 10:29. Not only is the Father able to keep you, but also the Father is able to present or place you. Where does he place us—before the face of his glory! As I read these words as a sinner, the prospect of standing before the glory of the Father is concerning. Nothing is hidden to his sight; however, the text describes the church’s quality as it stands before him—blameless! Not only blameless but with jubilation, with gladness!
If the church is to bear such a quality before the Father—free from stumbling and blameless with joy—it can only be the result of his glorious plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. For this reason, he is worthy for all glory, majesty, dominion, and authority to be ascribed to him before any age, presently, and forever. Amen.