Soteriology : Conversion - 10. The Keeping Power of God.

Php 1:6  For of this I am confident, that He who has begun a good work within you will go on to perfect it (complete it) in preparation for the day of Jesus Christ. WNT

2Ti 1:12  That indeed is the reason why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know in whom my trust reposes, and I am confident that He has it in His power to keep what I have entrusted to Him safe until that day. WNT

Jud 1:24  But to Him who is able to keep you safe from stumbling, and cause you to stand in the presence of His glory free from blemish and full of exultant joy--

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling - This ascription to one who was able to keep them from falling is made in view of the facts adverted to in the Epistle - the dangers of being led away by the arts and the example of these teachers of error. Compare Jud_1:3. On the ascription itself, compare the notes at Rom_16:25-27.

Rom 16:25  To Him who has it in His power to make you strong, as declared in the Good News which I am spreading, and the proclamation concerning Jesus Christ, in harmony with the unveiling of the Truth which in the periods of past Ages remained unuttered,

Rom 16:26  but has now been brought fully to light, and by the command of the God of the Ages has been made known by the writings of the Prophets among all the Gentiles to win them to obedience to the faith--

Rom 16:27  to God, the only wise, through Jesus Christ, even to Him be the glory through all the Ages! Amen.

The phrase “to keep from falling” means here to preserve from falling into sin, from yielding to temptation, and dishonoring their religion. The word used (ἀπταιστους  aptaistous) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means properly, “not stumbling” as of a horse; then “without falling into sin, blameless.” It is God only who, amidst the temptations of the world, can keep us from falling; but, blessed be his name, he can do it, and if we trust in him he will.

And to present you faultless - The word here rendered “faultless” is the same which is rendered “unblamable” in Col_1:22. See the sentiment here expressed explained in the notes at that passage.

Before the presence of His glory - In his own glorious presence; before himself encompassed with glory in heaven. The saints are to be presented there as redeemed and sanctified, and as made worthy by grace to dwell there forever.

With exceeding joy - With the abounding joy that they are redeemed; that they are rescued from sorrow, sin, and death, and that heaven is to be their eternal New Life, Eternal Lifehome. Who now can form an adequate idea of the happiness of that hour?

Be assured of your Salvation because God not only planned it but has the Power and intelligence to bring it to pass.

2. The True Nature of the Transformation which takes place in the Believer.

According to the Word of God we have been Born Again by the Spirit of God. In this regeneration we have become New Creatures in Christ and thus receive New Life - ETERNAL LIFE.

2Co 5:17  So that if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old state of things has passed away; a new state of things has come into existence.

Therefore if any man be in Christ - The phrase to “be in Christ,” evidently means to be united to Christ by faith; or to be in him as the branch is in the vine - that is, so united to the vine, or so in it, as to derive all its nourishment and support from it, and to be sustained entirely by it. Joh_15:2, “every branch in me.” Joh_15:4, “abide in me, and I in you.” “The branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine; no more can ye except ye abide in me.” See also Joh_15:5-7, see the note on Joh_15:2. To be “in Christ” denotes a more tender and close union; and implies that all our support is from him. All our strength is derived from him; and denotes further that we shall partake of his fullness, and share in his felicity and glory, as the branch partakes of the strength and vigor of the parent vine. The word “therefore” (Ὥστε  Hōste) here implies that the reason why Paul infers that anyone is a new creature who is in Christ is that which is stated in the previous verse;  they undergo such a change in their views and feelings as to make it proper to say of them that they are new creatures. Barnes Notes

A new creature -. The idea evidently is, not that he ought to be a new creature, but that he is in fact; not that he ought to live as becomes a new creature - which is true enough - but that he will in fact live in that way, and manifest the characteristics of the new creation. The phrase “a new creature” καινὴ κτίσις  kainē ktisis) occurs also in Gal_6:15. The word rendered “creature” (κτίσις  ktisis) means properly in the New Testament, creation. It denotes:

(1) The act of creating Rom_1:20;

(2) A created thing, a creature Rom_1:25; and refers:

(a) To the universe, or creation in general; Mar_10:6; Mar_13:9-11; 1Pe_3:4.

(b) To man, mankind; Mar_16:15; Col_1:23.

Here it means a new creation in a moral sense, and the phrase new creature is equivalent to the expression in Eph_4:24, “The new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” It means, evidently, that there is a change produced in the renewed heart of man that is equivalent to the act of creation, and that bears a strong resemblance to it - a change, so to speak, as if the man was made over again, and had become new. Barnes.

Rom 6:4  Well, then, we by our baptism were buried with Him in death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Father's glorious power, we also should live an entirely new life.

Rom 6:5  For since we have become one with Him by sharing in His death, we shall also be one with Him by sharing in His resurrection.

Rom 6:6  This we know--that our old self was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our sinful nature might be deprived of its power, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin;

Knowing this, etc. — The apostle now grows more definite and vivid in expressing the sin-destroying efficacy of our union with the crucified Savior.

that our old man — “our old selves”; that is, “all that we were in our old unregenerate condition, before union with Christ” (compare Col_3:9, Col_3:10; Eph_4:22-24; Gal_2:20; Gal_5:24; Gal_6:14).

is — rather, “was.”

crucified with him — in order.

that the body of sin (the Sinful Nature)— not a figure for “the mass of sin”; nor the “material body,” considered as the seat of sin, which it is not; but (as we judge) for “sin as it dwells in us in our present embodied state, under the law of the fall.”

might be destroyed — (in Christ’s death) - to the end. (Deprived of its power)

that henceforth we should not serve sin — “be in bondage to sin.

Now we reign in Life By One Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 6:12  Let not Sin therefore reign as king in your mortal bodies, causing you to be in subjection to their cravings;
Rom 6:13  and no longer lend your faculties as unrighteous weapons for Sin to use. On the contrary surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead, and surrender your several faculties to God, to be used as weapons to maintain the right.
Rom 6:14  For Sin shall not be lord over you, since you are subjects not of Law, but of grace.