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. 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. (Jude 3–4 ESV).
Jude begins the body of his epistle by
calling his readers beloved. This word should immediately refer us back to the
first verse as he identifies his intended recipients as “believers.” However, it
is also a reference to the familial relationship he has for them. This was a
common use of the word in that day. A father would often refer to his child as
beloved. We should note that since we are called slaves of Christ, we are also
beloved in God the Father. With our common status as being loved by God,
Christians are family, calling one another beloved. And, the entirety of this
letter is written out of the overflow of Jude’s love for his brothers and
sisters in the faith. He is not going to use hard words simply to be shocking,
rather he is going to tell them difficult truths out of love.
Notice Jude says he was “very eager” (v.
3) to write to them. Jude’s purpose for writing was not to call out and condemn
the false teachers in their midst; instead, he wanted to write a letter about
salvation. He admits that he was very eager to write about this topic, but
necessity dictated that he write concerning other matters. He does identify the
topic as “our common salvation.” This phrase could also be translated as our
common security. As such, Jude is subtly nodding at a common Roman idea of his
day. During the first century, the Roman Empire was still expanding, and this
expansion led to new enemies facing the empire. Thus, many politicians would
write about the conquests being necessary for the common safety of Rome. The
degree of its usage is likely similar to “national security” in our present
day. Thus, Jude is saying these things he will write are essentials to the correct
Christian concept of salvation.
And, of course, none of us would argue
with the importance of the essence of our message. It is the gospel, which is
the only answer to the problem of sin. Though we were created to live in
sinless communion with God, our sin destroyed that hope. The good and holy God
can only look upon sinful humans with judgment and wrath (cf. Romans 3:23). But
by the grace of God, the Son of God was made flesh, lived a sinless life, and
died in our place. The shorter version so often stated is that Jesus paid the
price I could never pay; and, died the death I deserved! That is our gospel!
He quickly pivots to the presence of
these false teachers within the church who were teaching something other than
the gospel. His pastoral heart for the people being deceived led him to fight
on their behalf. He says that he writes “appealing” to them. Jude is not simply fervently asking believers,
as some might interpret the word “appeal”. Instead, this appealing is an
exhortation, a call to action. He is pleading for his beloved to make
modifications to their behavior in response to the circumstances that he is
bringing before them.
So, “to contend for the faith” is the
very heart of Jude’s letter. The concept of contending in Greek was often used
for high intensity challenges, such as sports, warfare, personal growth in
virtues, and debates. The usage of faith here is to be taken as referring to
the basic principles of Christianity. Faith is fundamentally the placing of
one’s confidence in something, but in this case, it refers to what we are
placing our confidence in, namely the atoning work of Christ. The gospel is too
important to not defend with all our might. Of course, contention within
Christianity must never be done physically or violently. The follower of Christ
will never seek to defend by the sword but rather by the Word. Instead, we
battle by building one another up in the true faith (Jude 20), seeking to
rescue the deceived (Jude 23), and disavow the wolves (cf. 1 Corinthians
5:11-13).
To “contend earnestly for” (epagonizesthai)
is an expressive compound infinitive which appears only here in the New
Testament. The simple form of the verb (agonizomai), which appears as
‘agonize’ in its English form, was commonly used in connection with the Greek
stadium to denote a strenuous struggle to overcome an opponent, as in a gladiatorial
match. Then he says this gospel was “that was once for all delivered to the
saints”. The truth of God was delivered by the divine revelation of God. The
fact that it was delivered emphasizes that its truth is not of man but of God. One
of the hallmark characteristics of false teaching is that they introduce a new
teaching or new thought in addition to the sacred tradition of Scripture. The
truth of Scripture was given once for all, and any addition to it is not
Scripture. This is the only basis for which we know the foundation of the
gospel. Anything else must be held up by measuring it against what has been
given to us in the Scripture. It is the only final word!
If ever there was a time to contend for
the Scripture it is now. It is assailed on many fronts. False teachers seek to
subtly modify the Scripture to fit their goals and desires. That is ultimately
destructive to faith!
