Tags
Bach, benediction, Bible Study, doxology, false teaching, Jude, justice, Mercy, Soli Deo Gloria, Trinity
One of the most frequent questions I get asked about my blog is why I put the phrase “Soli Deo Gloria” at the end of each post. I will readily confess, it is not an original idea. I first learned about it in Junior High School Music class. Johan Sebastian Bach wrote “s.d.g.” for Soli Deo Gloria, at the end of all of his compositions. It is reported that he was using this as shorthand for a quote from Jude 25- to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Bach believed that there was no separation between our sacred and secular life, and for him this meant everything he composed was to glorify God, be it a glorious Cantata like “St. Matthew Passion” or a towering Concerto like “Brandenburg”.
This is why I spend time in study and why I write this blog. I want to put God’s glory first in everything I do. And while Bach used shorthand to refer to Jude 25, to me it reminds me of other truths in that short epistle. After the opening greeting, Jude opens his letter by getting right to the point. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (3-4). Isn’t it amazing that this was written more than 2000 years ago, but could just as easily be written today. The fallen nature of human beings remains, and will do so until Christ returns and fully conforms us to His image. And those who want to rebel against God try to convince us to do the same. It is important to keep looking to the Scriptures, God’s direct means of communicating His character and will to us.
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. (Jude 5) What a beautiful reminder of the shared essence of God and Jesus. But also a reminder that God expects us to exercise faith in his promises and show that faith by our actions. The Israelites described here are those who were brought out of Egypt, but then not allowed to enter the Promised Land because they failed to believe God’s promise to give them the land. When we read about these people in Numbers 13 and 14, we can marvel that they so quickly forget the great deliverance God worked in rescuing them from the Egyptians, and feared to claim what God had promised them. Yet how often does fear keep us from stepping out in faith, from speaking out for God’s Glory, or for standing in His truth? For me, fear paralyzes me more often than I would like, and certainly more often than is pleasing and honoring to Jesus Christ.
Jude’s letter continues pointing out God’s perfect justice, which is leveled against men and angels. He gives many examples that an audience at the time would have been familiar with, but which may seem strange to us. But all of them revolve around those led astray by false teaching, which was not in line with the truth of God. Jude uses several metaphors to describe the dangerous deceptiveness of those who teach things contrary to God’s Word. These are hidden reefs (dangers that could cause a shipwreck in what looks like calm waters) at your love feasts (celebration of The Lord’s Supper), as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds ( not delivering life-giving water), swept along by winds(not anchored in God’s truth); fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars (planets, which are not useful for navigation because they orbit the sun too, and would lead one astray), for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. (12-13)
Jude then uses the Greek form for emphasis, by repeating the same word- ungodly- several times in the same sentence. He is making the point that false teachers are rebelling against God, and they will be punished when Christ returns to judge the earth. It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”(14-15) Jude then points out that there are many ways that rebellion against God can manifest itself. These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. (16)
We are not left with these harsh words that evoke fear. Jude concludes with a beautiful reminder that none of what happens in the world surprises God. But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. (17-19) And we are entreated to combat influence of heretical teachers in our lives. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. (20-21) Notice that to build our faith, we are to rely on the entire Trinitarian nature of God- praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God and waiting for the mercy of Jesus the Son. This is what leads us to eternal life, which is a brilliant contrast to the bleak judgment awaiting those who rely on things that are not from God.
The fact that this holy, magnificent, triune God desires to guide us and is more than able to keep us walking in his path causes Jude to break into a song of praise. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (24-25) And as Bach joined Jude’s doxology, so do I each time I write and say….
Soli Deo Gloria,
Diane