“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” — Jude 24-25
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In 2016 at the ACC women’s cross-country championship, the ultimate act of sportsmanship was on full display.
Exhausted Boston College runner Madeline Adams had stumbled just 20 yards from the finish line. As many other runners whizzed past her, Adams suddenly felt arms around her, steadying her. It was Clemson’s Evie Tate, a competitor who was sacrificing her time in the race to help a competitor.
Moments later, with Adams walking slowly toward the finish line while Tate supported her on her left, Louisville’s Rachel Pease came alongside her on her right. Together, the trio was able to cross the finish line. Without the help of Tate and Pease, Adams would have stumbled and fallen. She would not have been able to cross the finish line.
When it comes to living the Christian life, you and I would certainly stumble and fall into condemnation without God’s help. Simply put, we would not “endure to the end.”
Without a relationship with Jesus, our hearts are utterly incapable of pleasing God. We would stumble into eternal anguish in hell. But the Good News of the Gospel is that our Heavenly Father — in His great grace — sent Jesus to take the penalty we’ve earned for the sins we’ve committed. Our debt has been paid and our sin is no more.
But the Gospel message is incomplete if we stop there. Jesus also bestows on His children the righteousness that He earned through His perfect life. At the same time, the Holy Spirit actually comes to dwell in us, and His presence in us gives us the ability to choose what is pleasing to God.
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit — the one true God — keeps us from stumbling. When Jude, Jesus’ half-brother, wrote the closing words of his short New Testament letter, it is to this glorious truth that he pointed:
“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 24-25).
So have no fear! God Himself has promised to preserve His children until Jesus comes again. God keeps us from stumbling. It is God who carries us across the finish line. Like Jude did, let’s praise His holy name today.
— Kevin Mercer
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