Called, sanctified, preserved

Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: - Jude 1v1

I have always loved this little treasure chest called the Epistle of Jude. Virtually every phrase is packed with vital and important truths. It is almost difficult to get through the letter without pausing for every detail.

In his introduction Jude reminds us of three important truths about our salvation. The key to all of them is that salvation is of God, not us. We are:

Called
Sanctified by God the Father
Preserved in Jesus Christ

There would be no salvation outside of God’s calling and drawing. All through the Bible we read of His calling of men to Himself. We are sinners, none of us would have come to Christ without God’s marvellous call of, ‘Ho, everyone that thirsts. Come to the water and drink.’ He took the first step. He sent out the call.

Not only did He call, but when we responded He sanctified us. He set us apart from the world and set us apart to Himself. We became His and the world had no power over us. Suddenly we were freed from the power that sin and the world had over us.

He called. He sanctified. Finally – His Son Jesus keeps us preserved in Him. We could not keep ourselves any more that we could saved ourselves in the first place. If our hope of ‘making it’ to the end depended on us none of us would make it.

He calls. He sanctifies. He preserves. Every aspect of salvation is His. Only our faith, which is from His to start with, makes it possible. What an amazing God we have Who would do all of this for sinners who deserve nothing from Him.