Presented Faultless! Wow, that's a very intense statement. Sobering, too. But not presumptious, and here's why - it's all by His doing, not mine. In me, there is no good thing. Nothing good. But in Christ, I have been made the Righteounsness of God. How can that be? Simple, by grace alone.
Jude 1:24-25 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Please feel free to join me on this Blog journey of discovering grace in everyday life.
Presented Faultless is an examination of the incredible Grace of God in His exchange of my sinfulness for His Righteousness. Salvation by Grace alone. What does it mean? Does it apply to you as well as me? Is it a done deal or do I have to do (or not do) something to keep it?
From the Scribe
I am a Christian deeply concerned by the lack of clarity in the presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Is Salvation by Grace alone? Or is it gained by our good works? Where does repentance fit in? Join in, let's discuss the issue.
David Summer
Grayslake, IL
David Summer
Grayslake, IL
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General Disclaimer and Private Joke.
I was thinking about some small print here to the effect that not all views expressed are necessarily those of the management but I suppose if you are mature enough to comprehend three and four syllable words then you will recognize that fact. In reality, I just thought the title here was too pfunny to not use. Keep it real, keep it nice, and try to keep it real nice.
I was thinking about some small print here to the effect that not all views expressed are necessarily those of the management but I suppose if you are mature enough to comprehend three and four syllable words then you will recognize that fact. In reality, I just thought the title here was too pfunny to not use. Keep it real, keep it nice, and try to keep it real nice.
5 comments:
Hi Dave. I'm a fellow Free Gracer. It seems to me that being presented faultless is a matter of reward, not imputed righteousness. Colossians 1:21-23 states we will be considered faultless only if we continue in the faith - an obvious reward issue. In 2 Peter 3:14, Peter tells us to be diligent to be found blameless, even more obviously a reward issue. The key word is diligent. Are we faultless positionally? Of course we are. But the phrase in the NT that you are using as the title of your blog appears to clearly be a matter of personal righteousness and reward.
Hey Dave. See the comment above.
Danny,
I think the context is that the fact of being "presented faultless" is one of imputed righteousness and not earned reward. I'm no Greek scholar and only claim limited ability with English but the tenses in Jude 24 shift from present tense "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling," to future tense "and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."
While the presentation referenced here is future, the faultlessness aspect of Salvation is present the moment one places their faith in Christ alone as shown in myriad scriptures: Jn 3:16, Jn 6:47, Jn 5:24, Eph 2:8,9, ICor 5:21, Tit 3:5-7, et al.
Thus, we agree that Salvation/Imputed Righteousness is of God's Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone. It is through His blood and that alone that anyone can be "faultless" thus my interpretation that this speaks of His imputed righteousness.
Now, the issue of rewards for faithful disciples is valid but those rewards will be for those that are "less faultful" in terms of their walk with Christ and obedience to the Great Commission but we can never rise to the level of "faultless" outside of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Jude clearly lays out Salvation/Imputed Righteousness as an accomplished event v.1 "them that are sanctified", "preserved in Jesus Christ".
He then moves in to the main purpose of his letter as a v.3 STRONG exhortation to "earnestly contend for the faith", and to v.5ff root out "certain men crept in unawares", comparing them to v. 5 the unbelieving Israelites, v.6 the fallen angels, v.7 Sodom and Gomorrah, etc using very strong language of v. 4,8, 10 "ungodly", deniers, dreamers, defilers, despisers, evil speakers, ignorant brute beasts and so forth through verse sixteen.
Jude then shifts his attention to further instruction of the beloved on their walk with Christ, "building up yourselves...faith" (read the Word), "praying"(hmmm, pray), "keep yourselves in the love of God"(walk the talk), "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (by death or the rapture), "of some have compassion, making a difference" (disciple and mentor others - fellowship in a local church), "others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh" (live a separated life - be in the world but not of the world)
And he concludes with the benediction of v.24 & 25 of which the focus is again on God and His imputed righteousness that will “present us faultless”. That’s my take on it and thus the selection of the phrase for my blog title. Thanks for stimulating this quick study!
As far as justification is concerned, yes, we're presented positionally faultless. Jude may be dealing with that aspect only as your well-thought post showed. You touched on the reward issue in your comment by saying that faithful believers will be less faultful in terms of their walk. I take it that you agree with me that unfaithful Christians will be presented faultless positionally, but will be considered blameful and full of reproach when it comes to rewards. I think you agree with me that Col 1:23 and 2 Pet 3:14 refer to reaching a personal level of blamelessness (which is met with rewards), right?
It's an interesting duality that we have. The extreme example of Jewish believers who turn their back on the Gospel because of persecution in Hebrews 10:26-31 is a strong illustration. Hebrews 10:1-18 makes it clear that we have total forgiveness and are sanctified once-for-all by His death. Then in 10:26-31, some of these once-for-all sanctifed believers may count the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctifed (10:29) a common thing, and subject themselves to a punishment worse than death (at the judgment seat).
The phrase "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" in 10:26 is similar to 10:18 - where there is forgiveness, there is no longer an offering for sin. When you compare verses 10, 14, and 18, with verses 26 and 29, it becomes obvious that these are believers. The meaning of the words wouldn't change in the same context. 10:14 makes it clear believers are sanctified forever. 10:29 says that the sanctified man who turns away from the faith is trampling the Son of God underfoot. Since Jesus' sacrifice was the final/once-for-all sacrifice, there is no sacrifice under the law of Moses that can shield the once-for-all sanctified believer from a terrifying experience at the Judgment Seat (10:27,29,31).
In the case of these people, they are obviously sanctified, so positionally faultless. Yet turning away from the faith will subject them to terror at the Judgment Seat (v. 31). Explaining the dichotomy is hard. Lordship folks balk at Grace theology for this reason. Obviously, the tension is there in Scripture, but trying to wrap your head around it is tough. I guess we could answer that God's anger won't last forever toward these believers, so being presented faultess positionally benefits them there. What do you think?
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