How to Keep Your Head on Straight in a World Gone CrazySample

Day 3: Contending for the Faith

Initially, Jude had planned to write a letter about salvation, but his plan was interrupted by the news that error-filled teachings were trying to infiltrate the Church, and we can learn a lot from his writings about how to handle the deceptive teachings of the End Times.

False teachers were trying to wrestle the truth away from believers and replace it with a divergent, modified version, encouraging people to embrace compromise. This is why Jude says, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3, King James Version).

The word “needful” in this verse is the Greek word which describes an urgent necessity, and Jude said that this necessity was to “exhort” the believers. This is the Greek word parakalōn (παρακαλῶν), which means to urge, beseech, beg, or even encourage. This was a practice often used by military leaders before they sent their troops into battle. The commanders would summon their soldiers and explain exactly the kind of battle they were about to face. Rather than deny that a battle was imminent or hope it would just go away, these leaders urged their soldiers to stand tall and march into the fray unflinchingly.

The battle that these believers were facing was the responsibility to “...earnestly contend for the faith...” (Jude 3, King James Version). The words “earnestly contend” are a compound of two Greek words which depict those who fight with all their might to win some type of match. This phrase pictures two wrestlers who both work to gain the advantage against each other and hurl their opponent to the ground, exerting every ounce of their strength to win.

Like a military commander, Jude used his letter to ready all his readers to march into the battle. He was urging believers to get in the fight and wrestle their opponents to the ground, so to speak, not letting the enemy steal away the truth.

The Holy Spirit was calling on Jude’s readers — including us — to take a stance for truth and to refuse to budge from the truth which “...was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3, King James Version). “Once” is the Greek word which means once for all, and it carries the idea of completion and finality.

The Word of God needs no amendments, alterations, or deletions. It is complete, final, and needs nothing more added to it. Rather than trying to change the truth of Scripture like these false teachers were doing, we need to let the truth change us. We need to study it and make sure we are in the process of fully understanding it.

God “delivered” this truth to us, which means He entrusted it to us for safekeeping and also carries the idea of handing something down from one generation to the next. If you make a decision to celebrate your traditions and pass them on to your children, those traditions will last, and the same is true for the truth of Scripture — God’s Word was passed on to you, and you need to pass it on to others.

We may face judgement or hatred from people who think that we are too stuck in our ideas, but we have been entrusted by God with a Word that is complete and needs no additions or deletions, and especially in these end times, it is our responsibility to hold to it and declare it in its purest form.

For Your Consideration:

• The false teachers Jude was writing about were altering the Word of God to make it more palatable for themselves and for the people around them. Where have you seen this kind of alteration to biblical teaching in your life?
• What does it mean to you to be entrusted with the truth of the Gospel? How are you fulfilling or falling short in this responsibility?