Jude: Contendiang for the Faith

Jude 1–4 ESV

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

You are precious to God.

Jude 1 ESV

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

You must fight for the faith.

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (ἐπαγωνίζομαι)

ἐπαγωνίζομαι - to struggle - to contend strenuously n defence of

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 1

under attack and in need of defense. Although the NT documents had not yet been collected into a complete canon of Scripture, by this time the foundational NT teachings were circulating in oral form through the apostolic circles. In addition, some NT documents had already begun to circulate among the churches (cf. Col. 4:16; also The Canon of the New Testament). A further implication of this verse is that, after the writings authorized by the apostles were included in the NT canon, nothing more could ever be added to Scripture, since the content of the faith had been delivered “once for all.” This is at odds with the teachings of other religions such as Mormonism and Islam, which hold that the NT writings existing today contain corrupted teachings, and that additional authoritative teachings came from God later

It is the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

The faith is what the scriptures call us to believe.

Once for all time!