Articles
Contend Earnestly
Contend Earnestly
Jude 1:3 3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
This has long been a favorite preaching passage. It has been needed in every generation since the revelation of the teaching of the New Testament. Notice the phrases used:
Common Salvation – not ‘ordinary’ in the sense of ‘mundane’, but common in the sense it is that which all believers are to have in common.
Yet, even more pressing to Jude was to write to the saints concerning their handling of such message of salvation.
Contend earnestly – Contend because there will be both opposition from those outside the church but also false teachers that will operate ‘inside’ and change the message. Such as been going on since the beginning and has continued even until now.
The faith – not ‘your faith’ (although hopefully such IS what you believe and trust) but here it is THE faith – the revealed faith, the inspired faith, the word of God. If it is ‘the faith’ you should be able to give book, chapter, and verse showing where it was revealed. Opinions, likes, and desires are NOT the same as THE FAITH.
Once for all – this is an interesting word that in effect means ‘once for all time validity’. If you care to look into how it was used, check out Heb. 9:26-28 where Christ has been manifest ‘once’, and men ‘die once’, and Christ offered himself once’ – all from this same Greek word. Here, it is the promised gospel message, the ‘all truth’ that Jesus promised to the apostles, the preserved words of the apostles’ teaching. It is complete and does not need to be redone or repeated.
Delivered / handed down – The Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all truth and they delivered such revealed truth to the brethren. As Paul wrote: “23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread” (1 Cor. 11:23). Or again, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:4-5).
To the Saints – such revelation was not just to the leaders, elders, or preachers among the saints, but TO THE SAINTS. It was written to be understood by them. It is these saints that are to now ‘contend earnestly for the faith”.
I would add that in such contending we learn not to just be contentious! As Paul wrote: “24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
Hugh DeLong
