Contend for the faith
Contend for the faith
Jude 1:3; A call to defend the faith
Image of St. Jude stained glass window from MyCatholicLife.com (no copyright or location information)
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”
Jude 1:3 NIV
The Epistle of Jude seems to be one of those that is easily overlooked. It’s only one chapter and is wedged between 3 John and Revelation. Jude begins the epistle with a description of himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James”, leading to the conclusion (which is still being debated) that the writer is one of Jesus’ brothers (along with James) born after the birth of our Lord and the marriage of Joseph and Mary. So Jude — also an apostle — is a rather important figure in Biblical history despite being mentioned only a handful of times.
His epistle is written to an unknown audience and was probably dictated to someone more literate than Jude. Jesus was born into a family of common laborers in Galilee, and other than His God-given abilities, it’s likely that none of the rest of the family was able to read or write.
This verse is a call to defend the faith. Jude begins by telling his readers that he was going to write a completely different letter about their shared salvation in Christ, but “felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” From Enduring Word:
i. The letter of Jude is essentially a sermon. In it, Jude preached against the dangerous practices and doctrines that put the gospel of Jesus Christ in peril. These were serious issues and Jude dealt with them seriously.
ii. We should be happy that Jude was sensitive to the Holy Spirit here. What might have only been a letter from a Christian leader to a particular church instead became a precious instrument inspired by the Holy Spirit and valuable as a warning in these last days.
You’ll notice that Jude uses the words “salvation we share”. We are saved as a community of Christ. There is no differentiation in salvation between the good and bad, rich and poor, or between different nations or races. We all come to God the same way. Part of that community is that we share in our worship and praise of God in church, and that is where so many people are failing today. Once again from Enduring Word:
iii. In the 1980’s a survey poll found that 70% of Americans who go to church say that you can be a good Christian without going to church. This doesn’t match with Jude’s idea of a common salvation.
I don’t have any facts and figures to back up my assertion, but I would imagine that the number of churchgoers who say you can be a good Christian without attending church is greater now than it was 40 years ago. Part of Christian life must be the shared experience — it is God’s plan for those who follow Jesus Christ, the Bible instructs of the importance of assembling together, it is where we are taught God’s Word, and it’s where we can use our spiritual gifts. There are other reasons as well why fellowship is a key part of the Christian life.
Jude wrote this letter because he wanted the readers to “contend for the faith”. In the original ancient Greek, the word is ἐπαγωνίζομαι (epagōnizomai) meaning “earnestly contend for.” The English word contend is defined as “to struggle in opposition” and “to strive in rivalry.” Christians both in the First and Twenty-First Centuries are to work hard and diligently for their faith. Enduring Word explains why we are to “contend earnestly for the faith”:
ii. We contend earnestly for the faith because it is valuable. If you walk into an art gallery and there are no guards or no sort of security system, you must draw one conclusion: there is nothing very valuable in that art gallery. Valuables are protected; worthless things are not.
i. We contend for the faith in a positive sense when we give an unflinching witness, distribute tracts, make possible the training of faithful ambassadors for Jesus, or when we strengthen the hands of faithful pastors who honor the Word of God in their pulpits. These are a few among many ways that we can contend earnestly for the faith in a positive sense.
ii. We contend for the faith in a negative way when we withhold support and encouragement from false teachers.
iii. We contend for the faith in a practical sense when we live uncompromising Christian lives and give credit to the Lord who changed us.
iv. Obviously, faithful missionaries and evangelists contend earnestly for the faith. But so do the Sunday School teachers or the home group leaders, who are faithful to the Scriptures. People like this contend for the faith just as much as a front-line missionary does, and each one of us should contend for the gospel wherever God puts us.
This faith was “once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” Once - the faith was delivered one time on the cross and doesn’t need to be delivered again. For all - the faith is for everybody, and we should never try to create our own version of it. Once again from Enduring Word:
We don’t have the option to simply make up our own faith and still be true to God. This faith is for all, but today, it isn’t popular to really believe in the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Instead, most people want to believe in the faith they make up as they go along and decide is right for them. More people believe in “the faith that is in my heart” than the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
iv. In the book Habits of the Heart, Robert Bellah and his colleagues wrote about an interview with a young nurse named Sheila Larson, whom they described as representing many American’s experience and views on religion. Speaking about her own faith and how it operated in her life, she said: “I believe in God. I’m not a religious fanatic. I can’t remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It is ‘Sheilaism.’ Just my own little voice.” We might say that this highly individualistic faith is the most popular religion in the world, but the idea that we can or should put together our own faith is wrong. Christianity is based on one faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints.
There’s a lot in this short epistle! Looking at this single verse gave me the impetus to follow up with a devotional on Jude 1:4 in two days. The lesson Jude provides in today’s verse is simple: as Christians, it is imperative that we strive together to grow the church and spread the Good News.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father, when our brothers and sisters in Christ fight about doctrine, liturgy, denomination and a thousand other things, give us the wisdom and understanding to address the issues that are causing conflict. We know that the faith was once entrusted to God’s Holy People, and recorded in the Word of God, and that is the faith for which we need to contend earnestly. Help us to do this with kindness, wisdom, and love. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.