Jude 24-25 - Soli Deo Gloria

Chad Werkhoven
Sep 25
4 min read

Doxology is more than just the last song of the service.

Sunset over a lake with silhouetted grass, birds flying, and text: "He Is Able" followed by a biblical quote from Jude 1:24. — Knowing-Jesus.com

Jude 24-25 (NIV)

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

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Point 3 - Total Depravity

Point 4 - Irresistible Grace

Article 17: God’s Use of Means in Regeneration

Just as the almighty work by which God brings forth and sustains our natural life
1. does not rule out
2. but requires the use
  1. of means,
  2. by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise that divine power,
3. so also the aforementioned supernatural work by which God regenerates us
  1. in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel,
  2. which God in great wisdom has appointed to be
    1. the seed of regeneration
    2. and the food of the soul.
For this reason, the apostles and the teachers who followed them taught the people in a godly manner about this grace of God,
1. to give God the glory and to humble all pride,
2. and yet did not neglect meanwhile to keep the people,
  1. by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel,
  2. under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline.
3. So even today it is out of the question that the teachers or those taught in the church
  1. should presume to test God by separating what God in his good pleasure has wished to be closely joined together.
  2. For grace is bestowed through admonitions,
    1. and the more readily we perform our duty,
    2. the more lustrous the benefit of God working in us usually is,
    3. and the better that work advances.
To God alone,
1. both for the means and for their saving fruit and effectiveness,
2. all glory is owed forever. Amen.

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Summary

Today's short passage is a good example of Biblical doxology. If you're familiar with the word doxology at all, you probably know it as the final song sung at the end of a worship service. The word itself is a compound Greek word, but it's not a word that appears in the Bible! The first part, doxa, simply means glory, while the second comes from the word logos. So doxology simply means 'words of glory.'

As he closes his short letter, written to encourage Christians to contend for the faith (v3) against those who seek to pervert it, Jude includes this doxology to give glory to God for two things that God is able to do for you.

First, God keeps you from stumbling. The Canons explain how God ordinarily does this: by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel, under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline. As you participate in what are often referred to as these ordinary means of grace, God uses them to hold you upright and keep you steady.

Secondly, God is able... to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy. I often encourage Christians to be able to present the gospel shortly and succinctly in minute or less, and this opening verse of Jude's doxology would be an excellent way to do that. It perfectly summarizes the entire Bible: God is able to eliminate our fault and re-establish our joyful relationship with Him.

Dig Deeper

Jude's doxology ascribes four key attributes of God. The words Jude uses to do so are words we use and read quite often, but often when it comes to common words we don't really think about what they actually mean. Here's how a good Biblical lexicon defines each one:

...to the only God our Savior be:

glory - to speak of something as being unusually fine and deserving honor;
majesty - greatness, prominence or importance. It's often used to describe kings;
power - strength to rule or control;
authority - the right to control or govern over.

Obviously God our Savior has these attributes in relation to all of creation. But for the last several months we been coming to see how these attributes, which combined together comprise God's sovereignty, have been at work through Jesus Christ our Lord to regenerate and save His elect.

It's because of this that the fifth and final pillar of Reformed theology is Soli Deo Gloria, or glory to God alone! (You can read about the other four pillars here).

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you before His glorious presence without fault
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your activities today would glorify God's majesty, power and authority over all things;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: