Scripture Notes: Contend for the Faith (Jude 3-4)

St. Jude is very clear about why he writes his letter. First, he is “eager,” he says, to write of “our common salvation” (Jude 3). He is driven along by a certain desire to speak the truth, Christian to Christian, to remind his audience about their shared salvation, a salvation brought about by faith and hope and love and especially by the grace of God through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit. But the faith, Jude warns, must not be taken for granted. Rather, he appeals to his readers “to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). 

In other words, this faith, and perhaps salvation itself, is at risk. Christians must not sit back and relax, thinking that they have no more to do. No, according to Jude, they must strive for their faith, exert an intense effort for it (as the Greek verb translated here as “contend” suggests). Indeed, they have a fight on their hands, a struggle in which they must invest great exertion and perhaps even great suffering. 

Why is this struggle so imminent? Jude proceeds to explain that “ungodly persons” have secretly gained admission into the Church (Jude 4). They may seem innocent. They may appear as good Christians. But they are not because “they pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). What exactly does this mean? We are not entirely certain. Perhaps some people were advocating a form of “once saved always saved” and telling Jude’s readers that no matter what they did, God would save them anyway. This is merely presumption, however, and turning one’s back on one’s moral responsibility. It is a form of laziness that rejects the gift of true human freedom that God designed to work in cooperation with Him.

Also, these sneaky folks are somehow denying Jesus. Perhaps they are practicing an early form of heresy that rejected Jesus’ divinity or humanity. Maybe they are saying a firm no to Jesus’ moral teachings and in doing so rejecting Jesus as their Master and Lord, refusing to give themselves over to Him. Both options may be in play. In any case, the Christians Jude is writing to must be very careful. They must contend for their faith against these pervasive influences, making sure that they hold tightly to the truths they have learned and not swerve an inch, even in the face of temptations and trials. 

We, too, are among the Christians Jude writes to. We, too, must contend for our faith just as much as Jude’s original audience. We, too, face temptations and are hounded by lies told by people who seem to be in our community but are really trying to lead us astray. So we must be on our guard and hold fast, learning our faith well and being just as eager to defend and share the truth as Jude is and to lead others into our common salvation in Jesus Christ.