Essay 4-l
God our Savior is a Correct Indirect Reference to the Trinity
Jude 25
KJV
To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
NASV
to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, domin- ion and authority before all time and now and forever.
Critical Greek texts omit wise in the only wise God, and they have additional phrases through Jesus Christ our Lord and before all time, and the NASV (& NIV) omits wise and includes the two additional phrases.
Regarding wise in the Received Text, that term always characterizes God, and relates directly to the role of God as our Savior, for His wisdom alone certainly is essential to the salvation of mankind. Regarding the phrase before all time in the critical text, the assertions by Jude in verses 24 and 25 take the form of the present and future tense in relation to the present existence of this writer and the newly revealed New Testament order at his time in history, so a past-tense declaration seems inappropriate; the traits of God noted clearly do apply to eternity past, but that doesn't appear to be part of the writer's testimony here where he dwells upon the present order, referencing the past only for the purpose of relating it to the present order.
Regarding the phrase through Jesus Christ our Lord, this is certainly a true statement, but it appears not to be part of the autograph text since the term God our Savior is an all-inclusive reference to the Trinity, including the Father, the Son and the Spirit, who are all God, and are all involved in mankind's salvation, and joining them together by the term one God supports the unity of essence that is part of the nature of the Trinity. The KJV rendering is completely authentic, and we easily conclude that the Spirit who inspired the Greek provides an indirect reference to the Trinity to show us salvation as made possible by all three persons so that we are reminded that God is involved in this through His entire personage. Thus through Jesus Christ, while entirely orthodox and truly expressive of the holy sacrifice of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ in His role in our salvation, appears not to be intended in the original writing.
