The Doxology of God and the Security of the Believer
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The Doxology of God and the Security of the Believer
Jude 24-25
Main Idea: Christians are saved by the grace of God in Christ, and they are preserved for all eternity because God in Christ saves them eternally.
- Believers Are Secure in the Power of God (24).
- God will preserve us.
- God will protect us.
- Believers Are Secure in the Promise of God (24).
- We will see his glory.
- We will share his joy.
- Believers Are Secure in the Person of God (25).
- He is our Sovereign.
- He is our Savior.
- Believers Are Secure in the Praise of God (25).
- Praise him for his glory forever.
- Praise him for his majesty forever.
- Praise him for his power forever.
- Praise him for his authority forever.
Few doctrines of Scripture are more precious and comforting than the doctrine of eternal security. Spurgeon said, “If there is one doctrine I have preached more than another, it is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints even to the end” (“Perseverance without Presumption”). The Abstract of Principles, penned by Basil Manly Jr. in 1858, addresses this wonderful doctrine in article XIII, titled “Perseverance of the Saints”:
Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. (See Works Cited.)
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 also speaks to this issue in article V on “God’s Purpose of Grace.” It repeats much of the language of The Abstract of Principles. It states in paragraph 2,
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. (See Works Cited.)
I believe the doctrine of eternal security is absolutely necessary to a correct understanding of the gospel and the truth of the Bible’s concept of eternal or everlasting life. The bottom line is this: If it can be lost, it is not eternal; if I can lose it, it is not everlasting; if I can work my way out of salvation, my salvation is ultimately dependent on me and not God. If I can lose it, my confidence, comfort, and hope are pulled out from beneath me, and I am suspended in uncertainty as to my final destiny.
Fortunately the Bible addresses the doctrine of our security clearly and repeatedly. In John 10:27-30 Jesus says,
My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.
In Romans 8:38-39 Paul writes,
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In Ephesians 1:13-14 Paul adds,
In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
The author of Hebrews writes,
Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them. (Heb 7:25)
In Hebrews 13:5 he states further,
Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.
In 1 John 2:19 the beloved disciple writes,
They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
And in 1 John 5:13 he affirms,
I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Now to all of this Jude adds, in a glorious doxology of worship, praise, and adoration, that our God “is able to protect [us] from stumbling,” and that our God will “make [us] stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy.” Thus the praise of God and the perseverance of the believer are joined in a tightly woven piece of spiritual cloth never to be torn or separated.
Limiting ourselves to just these two verses, we can see at least four biblical reasons to believe in the eternal security of the believer.
Believers Are Secure in the Power of God
JUDE 24
Every theology of salvation will either start with God or with man; it will be either theocentric or anthropocentric. The author of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is the author and finisher of faith (Heb 12:2). Jude began his epistles telling us we are “kept for Jesus Christ” (v. 1). Now he closes by telling us we are kept from stumbling and falling prey to false teaching by “him who is able.”
God Will Preserve Us
God has power to keep us from stumbling. “Protect” has the idea of “guard” or “preserve.” Yes, we are to keep ourselves in the sphere of God’s love (v. 21), but our Lord keeps us from “stumbling” or falling. The Greek philosopher Xenophon used the word for a sure-footed horse who does not stumble, and the Stoic Epictetus used it to speak of a good man who does not lapse morally (Vaughan and Lea, 1, 2 Peter, 234). God watches over us and by his omnipotent power keeps us from falling into the error and the sin of false teachers. He preserves us in Christ.
God Will Protect Us
He will keep “you” from stumbling. The promise is personal and individual, corporate and all-encompassing for every child of God. The one who preserves us is God. The one who protects us from stumbling is our Father. We are related to him who has the sovereign power to keep us. We are under his Fatherly care, which protects us from falling away. Hebrews 12:5-13 is so helpful here. There the author of Hebrews explains that even God’s discipline shows his vested interest in preserving those he loves. Discipline is a sign of our security.
Believers Are Secure in the Promise of God
JUDE 24
My eternal security as a Christian is grounded in God’s power, not mine. Likewise, my eternal security is grounded in God’s promise, not mine. In the latter part of verse 24, there is a truly magnificent promise of hope and assurance. We will be kept from stumbling by “him who is able”—God. Kept where? Kept for what? These are great questions with equally great answers.
We Will See His Glory
Because he keeps us from stumbling, he will present us “without blemish.” Being unblemished means we are faultless, irreproachable. The same idea is applied to Jesus in 1 Peter 1:19, where he is said to be “an unblemished and spotless lamb.” In the same way that God looked on his sinless Son, whom he placed on the cross as our sacrifice, so he will look on you and me. He will see us as sinless, faultless, and clothed in the imputed righteousness of Christ. But now note the place of this presentation: “in the presence of his glory.” We will not simply stand faultless; we will stand faultless before the presence of the glory of God. Because of his promise to bring our salvation to completion, we will see his glory. We will know his glory. We will enjoy his glory forever. This will be our joy.
We Will Share His Joy
Jude says in his presence, as we see and experience his glory, there will be great, exceeding joy. There will be a celebration with rejoicing and exulting. In Revelation 19 we catch a glimpse of this joy in the marriage supper of the Lamb. Four times there is the shout, “Hallelujah,” and verse 7 tells us why: “Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.” What a promise of security!
Believers Are Secure in the Person of God
JUDE 25
Eternal security has its source in the person and character of God. An intimate, personal, and biblical understanding of God will aid our assurance and confirm our confidence in the Lord who saves and saves completely.
He Is Our Sovereign
He is the only God, the monotheo. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1:17 he is “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God.” Jude is quick and concise. He is the only God, the only Lord, the only Sovereign to whom and with whom we must reckon and give an account. All will stand before him. None will escape. He is our sovereign. But, for those who know him, he is more still.
He Is Our Savior
Jude tells us this God is “our Savior.” Our God is a saving God. He is a saving Father, saving Son, and saving Spirit. The Father saves us, the Son secures us, and the Spirit seals us. God did not save me to lose me. He saved me to keep me. That is the kind of God he is.
Believers Are Secure in the Praise of God
JUDE 25
Jude brings this short but powerful letter to a close with a doxology, a word of praise to the only God who is our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. A fourfold acknowledgment of the greatness and awesomeness of God is made. A quick look at each is instructive, especially since Jude charges us to recognize these truths about our God “before all time, now and forever.”
Praise Him for His Glory Forever
“Glory” is doxa in Greek, from which we get our word doxology. Glory is the honor rightly ascribed to God for who he is and what he has done. It is the outshining of his character and nature. In one sense glory is not what God has but what God is. James Merritt well says,
Glory is an attribute that is inherent and intrinsic to God. Glory is as essential to God as light is to the sun, as blue is to the sky, as wet is to water. You do not make the sun light, it is light. You do not make the sky blue, it is blue. You do not make the water wet, it is wet. Likewise, you do not make God glorious, God is glorious. You do not really give God glory; you acknowledge the glory that God already has. (Unpublished sermon notes for “No Doubt about It: Jude 24-25”)
Glory is indeed the outward manifestation of the inner essence and character of our God. It is what he is, and we will spend eternity extolling him because of his glorious goodness.
Praise Him for His Majesty Forever
“Majesty” is megalosune in Greek. It speaks of our Lord’s greatness, his awesome and marvelous transcendence, his status as the King and Sovereign over all. It is his greatness being loosed and spread throughout all of his creation.
Praise Him for His Power Forever
“Power” or dominion is kratos in Greek. It speaks of his control over all creation. Our God is omnipotent, capable of doing anything consistent with his character and attributes. He is not limited by might, space, or time. The past is his, the future is his, and the present is his.
Praise Him for His Authority Forever
“Authority” is the Greek word exousia. Moo says it is God’s “intrinsic right to rule all things” (2 Peter, 301). It informs us that all things are in his hands. It is humbling to think that the same truth that children learn in Sunday school—“He’s got the whole world in his hands”—will inspire us to worship for eternity.
God’s authority means the world is not running willy-nilly out of control, in a course with no direction, with no one at the helm. Human extinction is not a possibility because he has all things in his hands. Nuclear annihilation is not a possibility because he has all things in his hands. Evangelistic defect is not a possibility because he has all things in his hands. Missionary failure is not a possibility because he has all things in his hands. Losing my salvation is not a possibility because he has all things (including me) in his hands.
In the end our God wins! He is glorious and majestic. He has dominion and power. For his glory he will keep me. In his majesty he will keep me. Through his power he will keep me. By his authority he will keep me. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Conclusion
I conclude with a word of practical application. It’s worth considering why people lack assurance, doubting their eternal security. I believe there are at least five possible reasons this is such a troubling issue for many Christians today. There may be
- faulty understanding of the fact that it is God who does the saving;
- faulty methods of assurance at the time of salvation (works, tongues, etc.);
- doubt of God’s faithfulness to keep his word;
- lack of proper teaching on the Christian life; or
- presence of sin in one’s life.
What can we do to help people settle the issue and gain the security they should experience in Christ? First, we must look to the cross and use God’s Word, remembering two crucial truths: by his work on the cross Jesus obtained my salvation, and by his work in heaven Jesus maintains my salvation. Second, we can ask questions about their experience of the Christian life. These questions are not complicated theological tests but the basics of the normal Christian life:
- Do you believe the gospel and trust Christ?
- Do you experience remorse over sin and have a desire to please God?
- Do you see any evidence of fruit in your life?
- Does the Holy Spirit witness to your spirit that you are a child of God?
- When you sin, do you experience the discipline of the Father?
Someone who is walking with Christ and trusting in his gospel has good reason to rest in the preserving grace of God. Augustus Montague Toplady said it beautifully:
My name from the palms of His hands eternity will not erase;
Impressed on His heart it remains, in marks of indelible grace.
Yes, I to the end shall endure, as sure as the earnest is giv’n;
More happy, but not more secure, the glorified spirits in heav’n. (“A Debtor to Mercy Alone,” 1771)
Psalm 37:23-24 provides a fitting final and encouraging word:
A person’s steps are established by the Lord,
and he takes pleasure in his way.
Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,
because the Lordsupports him with his hand.
Secure in him. Secure forever.
Reflect and Discuss
- How does the idea that you can lose your salvation relate to works-based righteousness?
- Can eternal life be lost? Why or why not?
- How does God’s power ensure the believer’s security? Does it matter if we are weak and sinful?
- What promises of God guarantee the perseverance of God’s people? Where do you find them in Scripture?
- What other characteristics of God speak to the believer’s security in salvation?
- What is the connection between God’s preserving work and the praise he receives from his people?
- What might be misleading about the oft-used phrase, “once saved, always saved”?
- Consider the five possible reasons someone might doubt their security in Christ. Have you struggled with any of these?
- How does the presence of sin in the Christian’s life affect his or her eternal security? How does it affect assurance of security?
- Write your own psalm, expressing praise to God for his saving and preserving work.