Jude 1:24
Now to him who is able to preserve you without sin, and to present you spotless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Ei autem qui potens est vos conservare sine peccato et constituere ante conspectum gloriæ suæ immaculatos in exsultatione in adventu Domini nostri Jesu Christi,
- Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
- Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ φυλάξαι ὑμᾶς ἀπταίστους καὶ στῆσαι κατενώπιον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ ἀμώμους ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει
Haydock's commentary
On verses 24 to 25
Now to him, &c. St. Jude concludes his epistle with this doxology of praising God, and praying to the only God, our Saviour, which may either signify God the Father, or God as equally agreeing to all the Three Persons [of the blessed Trinity], who are equally the cause of Christ's incarnation and man's salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who being God from eternity, took upon him our human nature, that he might become our Redeemer. (Witham)
To whom, O Lord, can we give the glory of our salvation, unless to thee, to whom all is due? To whom can we consecrate our hearts, but to him who has redeemed them with his blood, sanctified them by his Spirit, and who is to make them happy by his glory? Reign there, O Lord, as on thy throne, now by thy love; that you may reign there hereafter with glory, magnificence, and sovereignty in heaven.
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Clement of Alexandria The Stromata, or Miscellanies, Fragments of Clemens Alexandrinus
“Now to Him,” he says, “who is able to keep you without stumbling, and present you faultless before the presence of His glory in joy.” In the presence of His glory: he means in the presence of the angels, to be presented faultless, having become angels. When Daniel speaks of the people and comes into the presence of the Lord, he does not say this, because he saw God: for it is impossible that any one whose heart is not pure should see God; but he says this, that everything that the people did was in the sight of God, and was manifest to Him; that is, that nothing is hid from the Lord.
St Augustine A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace, All Perseverance is God’s Gift
Is such an one as is unwilling to be rebuked still able to say, “What have I done, I who have not received?” when it appears plainly that he has received, and by his own fault has lost that which he has received? “I am able,” says he, “I am altogether able, when you reprove me for having of my own will relapsed from a good life into a bad one, still to say, What have I done, I who have not received? For I have received faith, which worketh by love, but I have not received perseverance therein to the end. …
St Jerome Against the Pelagians, Book I
24. C. If it is impossible for man to be without sin, what does the Apostle Jude mean by writing, “Now unto Him that is able to keep you without sin, and to set you before the presence of His glory without blemish”? This is clear proof that it is possible to keep a man without sin and without blemish.