Original Meaning

MANY READERS OF the Bible are familiar with the ending of Jude’s letter, although most probably do not know it comes from Jude. This doxology is frequently used by pastors as a liturgical form of dismissal, primarily because it is one of the longest and most beautiful doxologies in the New Testament. Jude expands the usual doxology “form” (see the “Bridging Contexts” section). Some of his additions may have simply been picked up from traditional phraseology, but others relate back to some important themes from the letter.

We should also note what is absent from the end of Jude: the typical matters, such as greetings and prayer requests, that close New Testament letters. The omission of these typical epistolary forms gives Jude the flavor of a sermon. Indeed, a doxology was often used in Judaism to conclude sermons, and so Jude’s use of it here fits well.

All of verse 24 describes the one to whom glory is due. Jude has gone into some detail here in order to conclude his letter on a fitting note. The theme of “keeping” has been prominent in the letter. Positively, it refers to God’s preservation of Christians in his love (vv. 1 and 21); negatively, to God’s “securing” sinners for judgment (vv. 6 and 13). Jude now sounds the positive note one more time, although he chooses a new verb to do so: “guard” (phylasso; NIV translates “keep”).

God’s guarding has the purpose of keeping us from “falling.” Jude may mean that God is seeking to keep us from sin (a form of this same word is used to denote sin in James 3:1). But more likely he means that God is working to preserve us from ruin in the final judgment.1 The second part of Jude’s description of God expands on this idea: God is able “to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.”

Jude refers here again to the Day of Judgment, when all people will have to stand before God to give an account. God, Jude assures his readers, is fully able to make us appear before him on that day “without fault.” The word that this phrase translates (amomos) was originally applied to sacrifices (cf. Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19), but was then applied generally to moral purity. It is often found in this kind of eschatological context (Eph. 5:27; Col. 1:22; Rev. 14:5). On our own power, of course, we can never appear “without spot” before the Lord. But he is the “Savior” (v. 25); and through Christ, God supplies the moral purity we lack in ourselves. Therefore we can appear before him “with great joy” or “with exultation” (another word that often has an eschatological flavor; cf., e.g., 1 Peter 1:6).

People familiar with Jude’s doxology from liturgical practice expect to hear at this point the words “to the only wise God” (the reading of the KJV). But the word “wise” should not be read here; it was probably added at some point by a scribe from the similar doxology in Romans 16:25–27. The ascription “only God” is, of course, common in Judaism; and it is therefore unlikely that Jude has specially emphasized it to counter Gnostic-inclined false teachers.2

The New Testament frequently calls Jesus “Savior” (fifteen times); less often is God called “Savior” (seven times outside this verse). Of course, while Jesus, through his sacrificial death, has secured salvation for us, God is the initiator of the process.

All the modern English translations add, at about this point in the sentence, a verb. There is no verb in the Greek, but, clearly, one must be supplied. Yet it is not clear that English versions are correct to supply the subjunctive verb “be,” the sense then being that the doxology wishes for these attributes to be ascribed to God. It makes equally good sense to supply the verb “are,” in which case the doxology is a statement about who God is rather than a call to ascribe to him the virtues named.3 With no verb in the Greek, certainty on this matter is impossible.

The four virtues enumerated are commonly associated with God: “glory” (his weighty and majestic presence), “majesty” (his kingly status; cf. also Heb. 1:3; 8:1), “power” (his control over the world), and “authority” (his intrinsic right to rule all things). The NIV takes “through Jesus Christ our Lord” with the understood verb: It is through him that we ascribe to God these virtues. This is probably correct, although the phrase could also go with “God our Savior”: God is our Savior through Jesus Christ.4

Jude’s doxology is a fitting conclusion to his letter/sermon. He has warned the church of a serious and threatening outbreak of false teaching. He has called believers not simply to “batten down the hatches” and ride out the storm, but to reach out redemptively to those who are falling away. Believers can do that because their position with the Lord is secure: He has the power to preserve them intact until the Day of Judgment.

Bridging Contexts

SOME UNDERSTANDING OF the background and usual form of New Testament doxologies will help us better appreciate Jude’s purpose in closing his letter the way he does.

The word “doxology” comes from the Greek word doxa, “glory,” which is usually the central virtue ascribed to God in these brief formulas. Early Christians undoubtedly picked up the doxology from their Jewish environment. Jews often used doxologies, though benedictions (“blessed be God …”) were much more common. They sometimes used doxologies to conclude prayers and sermons. Perhaps for this reason New Testament doxologies often conclude letters or major sections of letters (e.g., Rom. 16:25–27; Eph. 3:20; Phil. 4:20; 1 Tim. 6:15–16; 1 Peter 4:11; 5:11; 2 Peter 3:18). The authors naturally felt that their sermons in letter form were appropriately concluded with a reminder of who God is.

New Testament doxologies tend to follow a common pattern, with four basic elements:

(1) The person praised (usually God);

(2) A word of praise (usually “glory” [doxa]; hence the name “doxology”);

(3) An indication of time (usually “forever” or “forever and ever”);

(4) “Amen.”

These doxologies “Christianize” their content with the addition of the phrase “through Jesus Christ” (as does Jude). Jude’s doxology follows this general pattern, but the author expands it, so that his doxology is one of the longest in the New Testament. The additions tailor the doxology to the point of the letter that it concludes. While it is appropriate, then, to use Jude’s beautiful doxology in isolation, as an element in a worship service, we should also appreciate how its specific content functions within this letter.

Contemporary Significance

WHAT CAN WE say in a few sentences about the glorious truths that we find in this doxology? And how can we say it in such a way that we do not detract from the simple beauty of this ascription of glory to God? Not for the first time, I feel as if commenting is something of an impertinence—who do I think I am to add to what Jude has already said? But let me at least try to suggest some things we need to learn from this text.

What is most important is that we be careful that these words do not become on our lips a thoughtless and even hypocritical recitation of words. Here, of course, lies the danger in using Jude’s doxology in worship. We hear the words so often that they cease to have any meaning for us; they are all jumbled together in our heads (“To-him-who-is-able-to-keep-you”; “to-the-only-wise-God”). Thus, we need to pause and reflect on what these words really mean—and be prepared to live as if we meant them!

Think of the marvelous security promised to us in verse 24: God is able to preserve us so that we can stand before him on the last day spotless, forgiven, assured of an eternal “home in the heavens.” Doubt and anxiety are constant companions on our earthly pilgrimage. We worry about our health, about money, about our children, about our jobs. In sober moments we perhaps become anxious about death. God does not promise to take away these worries, but he does take away from us our greatest worry: where we will spend eternity. Do we reflect this confidence in the way we live? Do we truly value heaven enough so that our earthly worries, while sometimes pressing, fade in importance in light of our eternal destiny?

Or think of the simple words “the only God.” We have little trouble believing this—although many of us probably need to be more guarded about the way we talk of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in light of this truth; we are often perilously close to “tritheism,” the belief in three different gods. But do we live as if this statement is true? What idols might we be worshiping even as we recite these words? God is the only God; he demands all of our worship and obedience, and nothing must rival our affections for him.

James, using familiar biblical imagery, compares God to the bridegroom to whom we are betrothed. This is why he can accuse his readers of adultery, for by trying to remain “friends” with the world, they have not been faithful to their all-consuming allegiance to the Lord (James 4:4–5). If we claim that God is the “only God,” then we must be sure that he is the only God for us. He will brook no rival. In other words, we must be sure that nothing, bad (illicit sex, love of money, desire for promotion or prominence) or good (our families, our ministries), becomes of higher importance than God.

Consider, finally, the implications of ascribing to God “glory, majesty, power and authority … before all ages, now and forevermore!” Reciting these words should create in our minds a fresh picture of the all-consuming power and wonder of our God. Perhaps only by dwelling on these words—to use the old-fashioned term, meditating—can we truly appreciate what they signify. And thus will we be drawn inevitably to worship.