To Him Who Is Able: Jude's Doxology of Keeping

After the fire, a different music.

Jude has spent sixteen verses warning of judgment—the examples accumulating like thunderclouds, Sodom and Egypt and angels in chains, wandering stars and twice-dead trees. The letter crackles with urgency.

But he doesn't end there.

The last nine verses shift. From warning to building. From exposure to protection. From what the enemy does to what God does.

"But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold."

Remember. The verb anchors everything. In the chaos of infiltration, in the fog of false teaching, memory becomes survival. What did the apostles say? What did they predict?

"They said to you, 'In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.'"

They told you this would happen. The false teachers aren't a surprise—they're a sign. Their arrival doesn't mean the faith has failed; it means the prophecy was true. The apostles saw this coming.

"These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit."

Divisive. Unspiritual. Following instinct rather than revelation. The diagnosis is clear. Now comes the prescription:

"But you, dear friends..."

The address matters. ἀγαπητοί—agapētoi. Beloved ones. In the midst of warning, Jude keeps returning to tenderness. These aren't soldiers receiving orders; they're family receiving care.

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

One long sentence. Four commands woven together.

Build yourselves up in your most holy faith.

The faith isn't just doctrine to be defended—it's foundation to be built on. ἐποικοδομοῦντες—epoikodomountes. Construction language. You are the building site. The faith is the material. Keep laying stone on stone.

Pray in the Holy Spirit.

Not just praying about the Spirit, not just praying for the Spirit—praying in the Spirit. ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ προσευχόμενοι. Prayer as cooperation. Prayer as participation in something larger than your own words. The Spirit groans within; you join the groaning.

Keep yourselves in God's love.

A startling instruction. Isn't God's love unconditional? Isn't it his to give regardless of our effort? Yes—and yet. There is something we can do. We can stay. We can abide. We can position ourselves where love flows most freely. ἑαυτοὺς ἐν ἀγάπῃ θεοῦ τηρήσατε. Keep yourselves. Guard yourselves. Don't wander from the warmth.

Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

προσδεχόμενοι—prosdechomenoi. Expecting. Anticipating. Looking toward the horizon for what's coming. The mercy that arrives with Christ's return. The mercy that swallows death. The mercy that brings eternal life.

Four practices. Four grounding points in a world of wandering stars.

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But Jude knows the community is varied. Not everyone stands equally strong. So the instructions expand:

"Be merciful to those who doubt."

Some waver. Their faith flickers. They've heard the false teachers, and questions have lodged in their hearts. Don't condemn them. Show mercy. Doubt isn't betrayal; doubt may be the beginning of deeper faith—if met with patience rather than judgment.

"Save others by snatching them from the fire."

Some have moved beyond doubt into danger. The flames are close. They need intervention—bold, urgent, willing to risk. You reach into fire to pull someone out. It hurts. You do it anyway.

"To others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."

A harder word. Some are so compromised that helping them puts you at risk. Show mercy—but mixed with φόβος, with fear, with holy caution. Hate the sin that clings to them like stained garments. Help them, but don't catch the infection.

The pastoral care is nuanced. Different situations demand different responses. The doubter needs gentleness. The falling needs rescue. The deeply corrupted needs help wrapped in vigilance.

This is wisdom. This is love with eyes open.

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And then.

The doxology.

The letter that began with fire ends with glory. Jude lifts his eyes from the battlefield to the throne, from the struggle to the victor, from the danger to the keeper.

"To him who is able to keep you from stumbling..."

τῷ δυναμένῳ φυλάξαι ὑμᾶς ἀπταίστους—to him who has the power to guard you from falling. After all the warnings about those who fell—angels who abandoned their place, Israel destroyed in the wilderness, Sodom consumed—here is the counter-word. There is one who keeps.

You cannot keep yourself. Not ultimately. The threats are too subtle, the infiltrators too skilled, the path too treacherous. But he is able. δυναμένῳ. Power resides in him.

"...and to present you before his glorious presence without fault..."

ἀμώμους—amōmous. Without blemish. Without defect. The word was used for sacrificial animals, inspected before offering. They had to be perfect.

You are not perfect. You stumble. You doubt. You wander. But he presents you without fault. His perfection covers yours. His standing becomes yours. You arrive before the glory not in your own tattered righteousness but dressed in his.

"...and with great joy—"

ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει—en agalliasei. Exultation. Not mere relief—joy. Great joy. The Father seeing his children arrive home. The Son seeing the fruit of his suffering. The Spirit seeing the completion of the work.

And we share it. Great joy is the atmosphere of arrival.

"...to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."

Glory. δόξα. The weight of God's reality, the radiance that makes all else dim.

Majesty. μεγαλωσύνη. The greatness that surpasses comparison.

Power. κράτος. The strength that sustains galaxies and guards souls.

Authority. ἐξουσία. The right to rule, unchallenged and unchallengeable.

These belong to him. Before all ages—πρὸ παντὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος—before time had a beginning. Now—καὶ νῦν—in this present moment, in this struggle against false teachers, in this cracked and groaning world. And forevermore—εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας—through every age that stretches into infinity.

Amen.

Let it be so.

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Jude's letter could have ended in despair. The enemy has infiltrated. The church is under threat. Fire looms.

But despair is not the final word. Never the final word.

Because the one who guards is greater than those who threaten. The one who presents is stronger than those who accuse. The one who keeps can hold what the enemy tries to steal.

Build yourselves up. Pray in the Spirit. Stay in God's love. Wait for mercy.

And lift your eyes to the one who is able.

He was able before all ages. He is able now. He will be able forevermore.

The wandering stars fall into darkness.

You are kept.

Amen.