The saints are supposed to contend for the faith once for all delivered to us, Jude 3. But what is this faith, and how does one appropriate it? And once appropriated, how does one retain it? Also, what is the outcome of this faith in the life of the believer? These questions will be pondered as we consider Jude’s admonition, and what is meant by that one little word, “faith.”
To put it very neatly, faith in Jude’s case is belief in the gospel. It is confident trust in the message given from the beginning, first by the Lord Jesus Christ, then His apostles, and then their successors, down through the ages unto us. The gospel, as defined by its chief proponent in his time, is related thus: “That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,” 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4. This is what Paul later refers to as the simplicity that is in Christ, 2 Corinthians 11:3. The gospel message is simple and sublime. It portrays our Savior, Jesus Christ. It relates what He has done, who He did it for, and why. Christ died (what He did), for our (who He did it for) sins, according to the Scriptures (why He did it). And if you believe this message, then you are born again, born from above, regenerated, adopted into the household of God.