²⁴Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, ²⁵to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

When we focus on living for God’s glory and not ours, then our faith secures the assurance of what God can do for us. Yes, there is a benefit to us in glorifying God. We strive to be entirely altruistic, but the reality of our experience and the testimony of Scripture is that we are not there yet. God does use our self-interest to motivate us. Fear of God’s judgment, for example, motivates us to run to the cross for salvation, simply because it is to our maximum benefit to do so! Hardly does a sinner consciously think, “I want to be saved so that God will be glorified.” But God wants to move us from grasping at what is beneficial to ourselves to desiring what is good for God first. And what is good for God is that we glorify Him, for He made everything in existence to showcase how great He is. The Lord simply wants us to get on board with His eternal program.

When we get this right, the benefit to us is the assurance of all His promises to us. In this closing benediction, Jude reminds us of “Him who is able . . .” Whatever God says He will do, He can do. He never commits to something beyond His ability or desire to accomplish. Implied in this statement of His ability is His desire to perform what He has promised.

Two promises are now given. First, God is able to keep us from stumbling in our faith. This is a great relief to all who feel that faith is ultimately the Christian’s responsibility. If left to ourselves, we would never remain faithful. God is walking alongside us, strengthening our faith. At times He may chide us with, “O ye of little faith” (e.g., Matt. 6:30), but we recognize those as the words of a loving God showing us where our faith needs to grow, whether concerning earthly needs or spiritual fears. The phrase “keep you from stumbling” has the biblical sense of preventing complete failure, not just temporary setbacks. God can keep us from falling away from faith altogether.

Second, God will make us “stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.” We have no fear that God will hold our weak faith against us or condemn us for falling away from faith. He is able to keep us and make us stand, and glory of all glories, we will stand blamelessly before Him. There will be great joy, both for God and for us. We will share in His joy because we share in His glory. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Lord, may You be glorified, forever and ever. Amen and amen!