A Call to Contend

Scripture Reading

Jude 1–4 NIV84

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Introduction

We began last week with our study in the book of Jude. We simply began by looking at who the author of this letter is and something of his background, who he wrote to when writing this letter, and then the fact that he introduces his letter by bringing a fair amount of encouragement.

You will recall that as Jude opens his letter, he focuses in on who these people are as God’s chosen people, the love that God has for them, and the fact that Christ would keep these believers since they belonged to Christ.

This morning, we’re going to focus our attention in on verse 3 of this letter, which deals with the essence of the reason for Jude writing the letter that he does.

Verse 3 of this letter contains a basic summary reason that Jude presents for the purpose of his letter to these believers. We’re going to delve into something of the detail and significance of that reason this morning, but just as a summary for us as we begin: the reason that Jude writes is to call believers to “Contend for the Faith.”

Before we delve into that, I must reiterate the fact that this letter was not written to pastors and elders. It wasn’t written to those who have committed their lives to apologetics, defending the faith etc. Rather, it was written to the church of believers, to ordinary Christians, so that ordinary Christians might diligently give themselves to this task of contending for the faith.

To Contend for the faith is a critical function of the church, and we are all, as the body of Christ, united and actively involved in the task of contending for the faith.

God expects and calls His people to stand fast in the faith, in the truths of the Gospel and to defend that faith against every attack that is launched upon it, particularly within the church as it concerns protecting the flock from heresy and error. This is what the Epistle of Jude is all about.

This important address in terms of contending for the faith is driven by love for Christ and the people of God. As Jude begins in verse 3, note that he addresses these believers as “Dear Friends.” His affection for them and his care for them is evident. He writes what he does out of genuine and deep concern and care for these people. He repeats this same address in verse 17, and in verse 20. This is the attitude of Jude as he writes.

With all of this in mind, let us turn our attention to these words from Jude.

We will consider this text under 3 main headings:

The Common Ground upon which we Contend

The Critical Call for us to Contend

The Complete Faith for which we Contend

1. The Common Ground upon which we Contend

We notice firstly from our text “The common ground upon which we Contend” as believers.

As Jude begins this letter, he says to these Christians that he had an initial desire to write to them, but that the content that he had envisaged in terms of writing this letter that he was going to write, was initially intended to be very different to the letter he ended up writing.

He writes in verse 3, “although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share...”

He states that he was very eager to write to these Christians about salvation, and the fact that this is a common salvation.

We need to realise firstly that this is no insignificant matter about which he initially intended to write. In fact, the subject matter for Jude that he originally intended to write to them was of great importance. We have great letters in the New Testament that beautifully convey and speak about this wonderful salvation, and the unity that there is because of this common salvation. Jude himself says here that he had felt within him a very urgent desire to write about this subject matter.

We see in the wording used that Jude had a great zeal for this subject that he had originally intended writing on. The word translated in the NIV as “very eager” demonstrates for us the importance of the subject to Jude. The word he uses speaks of a sense of urgency and zeal. It is variously translated as, “earnestness”, “zeal”, “diligence” etc.

Clearly the common salvation that he had intended to write to them about was very close to His heart, and of great significance and importance to him.

But it is also this very salvation that he speaks of, that he wished to write about to these believers, which forms their common ground and unity as believers. They are united together in life because of the salvation message.

Jude writes that this is the “salvation we share.”

When Paul wrote to Titus, introduced his letter with these words: “To Titus, my true son in our common faith.”

As Jude had envisaged a letter to these believers, he had in his mind writing to them about the dear truths concerning the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. About the deep need for a Saviour to deliver a people out of bondage and slavery to sin, and into the family of God, and this through Christ.

These are the beautiful truths that unite believers into the family of God.

And it is this precise unity in Christ through a common salvation that forms the foundation and ground from which they as God’s people must take to heart and carry out the exhortations that he will now bring to them.

And this leads us to consider our second main point this morning, and that is...

2. The Critical Call for Us to Contend

Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, it came to the attention of Jude and it burdened him that there were false teachers that had begun infiltrating the church. Verse 4 says that they were secretly coming into the church.

As a result of this, instead of continuing to write about this glorious and common salvation, Jude felt compelled to address a very serious topic that, if not dealt with effectively, would lead to a complete undermining and ultimately even a possible destruction of the very salvation message that was cherished so dearly. It would lead even to a destruction of the church, the bride of Jesus Christ.

Notice that Jude says here “I felt I had to write.” The word used speaks of force and compulsion. So significant was this particular subject matter that it became his urgent task to address this with the church. He could not resist what became a critical matter on his heart for the people of God.

So what was it that Jude felt this urgent need to write about? He says, “I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith...”

Again, the sense of urgency comes through very clearly in the wording. Jude urges these believers. He is exhorting them, even imploring them as a body to action. He is calling them to a particular task.

And the particular task to which he is calling them is that of contending for the faith. The word “contend” here from the Greek conveys the idea of struggling or fighting for something; putting in a maximum effort in this struggle towards maintaining or keeping something. It speaks of straining hard at something, through difficulty and pain.

The term used is one from which we get our English word “Agonize”, and is used here in an intensified form, so that it really urges the believers to apply their best and maximum efforts in this task.

This was no small or insignificant matter for Jude. Right from the outset he speaks very clearly about the fact that the faith must be contended for by the church, and it is going to be a hard work, a serious battle.

When we consider the Scriptures more broadly, we get a very clear picture of just how important it is for Christians, for the church as a whole, to be fully engaged in the task of fighting the spiritual battle in this world.

We must consider that the very first battle in this world as we know it came about as Satan entered into the Garden of Eden in order to deceive man. Deception and false information was Satan’s goal, and once that goal was achieved, there was a separation between God and man. The spiritual battle has waged on since that day.

This same battle was being waged by Satan in Jude’s day, as these false teachers came secretly into the church.

Paul said to the Ephesian believers:

Ephesians 6:11–13 NIV84

11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Do we realise dear brothers and sisters that this call to battle is for us even today.

The church has always found its existence in the center of the spiritual battle ground!!

Paul says to young Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:12 NIV84

12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

When that same Paul approached the end of his own life, he used these words to describe his own Christian life:

2 Timothy 4:7 NIV84

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

In speaking about the kind of exercise and training needed for us to fight this spiritual battle, Paul said to the Corinthian believers...

1 Corinthians 9:25 NIV84

25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Dear friends, there is nothing relaxing about our spiritual lives. There is nothing relaxing and laid back about our own spiritual condition and readiness for this Gospel faith. It is a task more important than any in this world, and we are called to rigorous spiritual exercise in order to ensure the defense of the faith that is under constant attack.

This is a war cry, to the war concerning truth, the truth of God Almighty. And there exists within the church a grave danger of apostasy and people turning away from the true and living God because lies and deception infiltrate the church. This battle is about knowing the truth and rejecting the lies, and standing firm through the false accusations that will come your way for taking your stand.

With that said, we need to look further at what Jude says it is that is being contended for, which leads us to our third point for consideration:

3. The Complete Faith for which we Contend

Jude writes that he is urging these believers “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.”

Some people have taken this faith to mean a person’s subjective experience of faith. In other words, they believe that this verse is teaching that you have to guard your own faith, and protect your own experience of that faith.

But that is not what Jude is speaking about here at all. Rather, he is speaking about a definitive body of truth, and objective truth, that has been once for all entrusted or given to or handed down to the church. The “faith” is defined. It is not an ever-changing body of human opinion.

The faith that is spoken of here is not man’s evolving response to the world. It is not possible for this objective truth that has been once for all handed to the saints to evolve with time, and to evolve and morph and change in meaning over time as man learns and grows in understanding.

We live in times where people, particularly younger generations, believe that the people of yesterday, with all their lack in understanding and technological advancements were somehow weak in understanding and knowledge. They are frowned upon as being outdated and irrelevant.

What a shame that is. The reality is that irrespective of the changing world in terms of advancements in society (whether beneficial or not) our identity as people remains the same, and the God we serve is unchanging and unchangeable. The immutability of God is a beautiful doctrine, and a steadfast anchor for the people of God.

But inasmuch as we as people are still people, we must recognise further that the needs of people are precisely the same in our day as they have always been. The deepest need is relationship with God, which can only come through Jesus Christ. In world that offers and promises so much, people today are the poorer for it. Discontentment in life has not been solved through all that this world has to offer. If anything, man has simply become more demanding, wanting more, and wanting that more quickly.

But the truth of God is the same. That same objective body of truth, that which constitutes what Christians believe, is the same today as it was in the days that it was handed down.

And the truth is that we have that body of doctrine, those teachings that were handed down, preserved for us in Holy Scripture. God has graciously given to us His perfect revelation of truth for our benefit and edification.

The first need for apologetics arises within the context of the church itself. The greatest pressures in terms of doctrines come from within the church itself. This can present a great burden. These troubles are not new, but formed part of the struggles of the apostles themselves.

God in his providence has not given for the church to have a perfect unity in the faith, but rather has allowed for there to be a fair deal of conflict and struggle for believers.

The faith that we speak about here is thus the truth that was handed down by God in the Old Tesatment, and the teaching of the apostles that is recorded for us in the New Testament writings of Scripture.

When Jude says here that the believers in his day were to contend for the faith, he was telling them to contend for the revelation of God through Christ, as taught by the Apostles, in light of all of revelation history contained in Scripture.

Let us consider just a few references in Scripture that speak to this.

The very first indication that we get of this is very early on after Christ’s ascension, at the establishment of the early church.

Acts 2:42 NIV84

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The early church was already in that infant stage, devoting themselves to teaching from the Apostles.

Later on in the Scriptures, we find that Paul, who was peculiarly called by Christ himself for the task of spreading the Gospel, praised the churches for holding to the teachings that had been conveyed by him to them.

1 Corinthians 11:2 NIV84

2 I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.

Later in the same chapter, he writes, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you...” (v.23) and then he goes on to expound on the teachings of the cross, and the Lord’s Supper.

To the Thessalonian believers Paul writes:

2 Thessalonians 2:15 NIV84

15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

2 Thessalonians 3:6 NIV84

6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

The Apostles were those who were tasked with the teaching for the early church, as Christ himself had commissioned them to teach. The doctrinal truths that were essential for the establishment and functioning of the church through time going forward was established through these teachings for all the church.

That is why, when Paul was encouraging Timothy in the pastoral work that he was doing, he didn’t encourage Timothy to seek a word from God, or to seek some new understanding under influence of the Holy Spirit, but rather Paul encouraged him to pass on this teaching that had been given through the Apostles.

2 Timothy 1:13 NIV84

13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.

And then in the very next verse he says...

2 Timothy 1:14 NIV84

14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

This, dear friends, is the “faith that was once for all given to the saints.” It was something objective that has been entrusted to faithful men, who were then to teach other men who were suitably qualified to take this same body of truth and hand it down from generation to generation. But we must realise that this was a specific and decisive moment in the history of the church where this faith was given.

How seriously is this teaching not under assault in our day. We find, extensively in the so-called church today, people looking for new revelation from God. Or at least they are looking for some specific revelation of God for them, so that they can hear the voice of God to them.

We have in our day self-proclaimed apostles, who claim that they have the same kind of authority that the original apostles in Jesus’ day had. They claim that God gives them revelation, and tells them these new revelations and words to give to the church.

Jude is saying here that there was a body of faith and of teaching that was given to the church, entrusted into the care of the church, that is to be guarded. And it is our responsibility as the people of God to ensure that we take that Scripture teaching, take that body of truth, the truth of the faith, and convey that to the world, and to preserve that within the church.

The essential task of preserving and contending for this faith is seen through other warnings in Scripture which tell us that people who claim to love Christ will not put up with such teaching, but instead will fall away.

Paul writes to Timothy...

1 Timothy 4:1–4 NIV84

1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

2 Timothy 4:4 NIV84

4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

This is the reality. This is what God foretold would happen. Therefore, God has issued an exhortation to His people through Jude, that we are to contend for the faith.

Application and Conclusion

Having considered this call to contend from Jude, I’d like to just bring some further and more specific application to us in our own day.

A.1. Recognise the Need to Contend Today

We live in a day where offense is so easily taken. We live in a day where persecution for beliefs, particularly persecution for Christian beliefs is on the increase, at least in our cultural context.

It is becoming increasingly difficult or uncomfortable for Christians to stand up for what they believe in and to proclaim the truths of the Gospel.

In days such as these, the temptation for many may very well be to tone down or discard certain biblical truths and doctrines due to fear. Fear of persecution and hatred, fear of being mocked.

Jude very clearly indicated to his readers that to contend for the faith would not be easy. He has called them to fight (in the right way, displaying godliness and humility) for the defense of the faith. And this is essential. We are not to back down because the world, and even some who claim to be the church, say that we are unloving due to holding to certain biblical doctrines that our contrary to popular culture.

The call of Jude to you and I today, is that we are to contend for the faith.

More practically, what is our responsibility; what part do I play in this?

A.2. Understand Your Responsibility to Contend

We must acknowledge from the outset that not every Christian will be gifted with the pastoral gifts. Not every Christian will be gifted with the exceptional ability to engage in apologetics.

That said, every Christian has a responsibility to grow and mature in the faith as they commit themselves to the spiritual disciplines, and participate in the ordinary means of grace that God has provided for us. Every Christian has the responsibility to be contributing in some measure to this aspect of defending the faith.

I would like to offer some suggestions for you in order to increase your effectiveness in this matter of contending for the faith. These are not replacements for the ordinary means of grace - attending church regularly, engaging in bible study - both individually and in groups - partaking of communion, baptist - the things that we do together as the church. These are some extras, or perhaps some more specifics that can help and assist in your own responsibility in this area.

A.2.1. Feed on Faithful Preaching of the Truth

This is never to replace your home church’s sermons, even if they’re not the best in the world in terms of polished or deep teaching. Always give first priority to your own local church, wherever that is, provided that your pastor is faithfully teaching the word.

But in addition to that, we are exceedingly blessed in our day to have access to other teachers from around the world that can supplement our understanding of the Scriptures, whether that is on a particular topic, or a particular book in Scripture. The teachers that are faithful are out there. Get to know those who are doctrinally faithful, and be feeding yourself on the word.

A.2.2. Get to Know the Culture, and Get to Know the Scriptures

If you are going to engage in the world around you with the truth of Scripture, there needs to be some measure of growing in your understanding of the culture, and then being able to assess that culture through the lens of Scripture.

Read news articles, and then seek to respond, even in your own mind, with how Scripture speaks to that.

Read books that address the current cultural persuasions, and then apply Scripture in answering.

Listen to podcasts or read blog posts (by faithful, sound authors / theologians) that deal specifically with the thinking of the culture around us, and how we should respond as Christians to that culture.

There is a great need in this area.

A.2.3. Make this a Goal

In order to do this, in order to faithfully contend for the faith, we must make this our goal. It must in fact be a priority to us. There must be a motivation and a reason behind it. Unless we see that this faith that is ours is exceedingly precious, and unless we see the importance of maintaining this faith that was delivered to us, we are not going to pursue a contending of the faith. We will only pursue that which we believe is important.

Let me encourage you today, this faith is exceedingly precious. It is more precious than any worldly pursuit. I would urge you as does Jude to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Grow, dear brothers and sisters, grow in your love for Jesus. Grow in your love for His truth. Feed on His word… no!! Feast on His word!! Grow in your delight in Him. And may be work through you to show the world the exceedingly great worth of Christ, in a world that is dark and gloomy.