Jude, A Call To Arms

Jude 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

The introduction to verse 3 is prefaced by beloved, as mentioned earlier. Those that are beloved share with Jude a common salvation, and with that common salvation they share with him all things. “Now all who believed were together, and had in all things in common,” Acts 2:44. This togetherness is more than spatial. It was a shared realization of purpose and peace, administered through the Holy Spirit, by virtue of the blood of Jesus Christ, who washed away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself.

That was why Luke could write that believers, followers of the Way, or Christians, had all things in common; there was genuine spiritual togetherness. They practiced love as the Bible defined it, and that love undergirded the infant church and gave them an envious unity; unfortunately it was a unity that would be invaded little by little by the end of the first century. That was not to say that the church was overthrown by outside forces; rather, as Jude, Peter and John would warn, certain men crept in with damnable heresies and divisive doctrines to divide the church and lead people away. Apostate Christianity, or false Christianity in the spirit of Antichrist masquerading as the genuine article did not take long to infiltrate and disseminate amongst the brethren, Acts 20:30.

Jude makes it clear that his intention was to write regarding the common salvation he shared with his fellow believers. In his words, he was very diligent. But what he wanted, and what the Holy Spirit saw fit for the good of the church body happened to be very different things. As Peter warned would happen in his own epistle, Jude declared had come to pass; there were wicked men, bereft of faith, boldly walking in the midst of the saints for nefarious purposes. This letter might be addressed to a church body Jude once hailed from, and now, concerned for them because of this troubling development, he wrote to warn them of the danger in their midst.

Turning from the reality of the common salvation all Christians share through the message of the gospel, Jude writes that he found it necessary to exhort (strongly encourage) his fellow believers to earnestly contend for the faith.

“Contend earnestly,” in the Greek is actually one word, “epagonizomai,” and it translates, “to struggle for, or to contend about a thing as a combatant.” This particular use of the word is used just once in the New Testament.

As an aside, we must remember as Christians we are not called to do battle for the faith  in the physical sense. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesian church, writes that our true enemies are the spiritual hosts of wickedness, namely Satan and his army of demons, Ephesians 6:12. Our Lord said that, if oppressed, we are to turn the other cheek, Matthew 5:39. In that same verse, our Lord simply says, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person.” When Paul went to war, so to speak, with Jewish skeptics and Gentile philosophers, it was with words; in fact, it was with Scripture, Acts 17:2, 17, 18. Peter, in alignment with Paul, wrote, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear,” 1 Peter 3:15. This verse–and others like it–is where the concept of Christian apologetics is derived from. Our war is to bring Christ behind enemy lines so those taken prisoner by Satan may be set at liberty and made a brother or sister. The lost aren’t our foes; they are prisoners of war, as we once were. The Lord has already won the war; we are just messengers sent out to proclaim His victory. Those who wish to be partakers of His spoils receive pardon and citizenship in Heaven. Any professing Christian that promotes acts of violence motivated by his faith is steeped in gross error and does our Lord’s gospel a grave disservice. We are called to peace, Colossians 3:15, and to live peaceably with all men, Romans 12:18.

Now, what is Jude vying for us to contend about? The faith. This can be the gospel in particular, or the whole of the revelatory masterpiece that is the Bible. It is expected when forces outside of the church attempt to dismantle Scripture, proclaiming it as fallacy or mythology, as bigoted, etc. But it is an ever growing trend of great sorrow that many who claim to be followers of Christ end up being another Judas, betraying their professed Lord with sweet words and a kiss. The examples could be (and are) legion. Genesis is a myth. Eden never existed, neither did Adam or Eve. The Flood never happened, and neither was there a Noah or an ark. Israel was never led out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Portions of the Old Testament (Daniel, Deuteronomy, etc.) are written hundreds of years later than their proposed date. Christ was a good teacher, but never claimed to be God. On and on it goes. These are challenges to what Jude calls, “the faith.” And the diligent Christian must be ready and capable to answer them.

This faith was once for all delivered to the saints. This good news was delivered once, in the sense that Christ, “once, at the end of the ages…appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,” Hebrews 9:26. Of course the latter portion of the passage describes the inclusive universality of the gospel message. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved,” John 3:16, 17. God’s message of salvation through the vicarious death of Jesus Christ is for everyone, without consideration of one’s age, gender, or ethnicity. It is universal in its scope, and universal in its efficacy. It cleanses the foolish and the wise, the strong and the weak, the old and the young. It cleanses all who believe it. This is the promise of the Lord, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life,” John 5:24.

The criterion for eternal life is faith, then. Believe the message delivered once for all, and you join the company of saints who will dwell in bliss with the Father forever. Listen to our Lord explain the security of the gospel’s power. He says that most assuredly (you may be doubly assured) anyone who hears the gospel of Christ and believes has, as a present and eternal possession, life from God. No more will such a one enter into judgment; that is, judgment for their sins at the Great White Throne. Rather, our position has been changed, and everlasting life becomes our present possession to enjoy on this earth, and forever when death or Rapture call us home. Viewing the momentous gift of God, even at a glance, one can see why Jude compels his readership to earnestly contend for this faith. This is a matter of life and death. Eternity is at stake, and the corruption of the gospel (and the Bible in general) is the goal of those who invade the church. Paul warned in no uncertain terms that ANY deviation from the gospel creates “a different gospel,” which does not save; but it does damn those who trust in its false message, Galatians 1:6-9. With Jude’s newly intended purpose briefly examined, he will go on in verse 4 to detail the nature of the specific threat. We will explore this next time, God willing.