|
Plainly Speaking
with Karl J. Forehand
Contending
for the Faith
by Karl J. Forehand
Jude, a bond-servant
of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved
in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was making every effort
to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you
appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all
delivered to the saints. For certain
persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out
for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into
licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1-4)
I’ve
been enjoying the Olympics, even though most of the Winter Olympics events
are not really sports. Why do I say
that? Well, as you many know, to be a
sport requires two things: There must
be a ball (or a puck, etc.) and there must be someone trying to stop you from
doing what you are doing. So most of
the Olympic events are not really sports.
Despite that, I still enjoy watching the athletes compete.
Jude
tells us to contend for the faith.
Unlike the Olympics there is not a certain amount of gold available to
us. The tragedies of September 11th
also taught us that sometimes we have to contend for the things we already
have. This faith was “once and for
all delivered” to us; but we sometimes have to contend for what we already
have. We have to try to take it to
others. We have to struggle to
understand it. As we see in this
passage, we have to strive to protect it.
The Army
Often
women are better at selecting greeting cards. They carefully select just the right words to express their
feelings. This greeting, by Jude,
seems to be carefully crafted.
Although simple, it identifies the army that is contending for the
faith.
In
the past, the army is “set apart.”
For believers, sanctification is a past work – it is a done deal. It is not by our work, but rather the work
of the Father. He has set us apart to
do His work. He has made us part of
the army.
In
the present, He is calling and loving us
In the Greek, the word “called” is added to the end of the greeting,
almost like we should understand that all those that are set apart are also
called. The 1st century
believers understood that if you are in the army, you are also a
soldier. For us, the question is not
whether we are soldier; but whether we are good soldier.
In
the future, we are “kept” (preserved)
How are we kept. We are kept
by, for and in Jesus Christ. What
makes my salvation secure is mercy, not merit.
The army
is identified, the orders are given, and it will be preserved forever. But who is the enemy?
The Enemy
When we
see the word enemy, we automatically think of people “out there.” The enemy, in this passage is not someone
outside the church, but inside. They
are identified as “ungodly” and “deceitful,” so we assume they are being
influenced by Satan. Those are
certainly a couple of his calling cards.
But, how specifically is he working in this instance? He is convincing some that grace is a
ticket to licentiousness.
Grace
does not free us to cast off moral restraint. We are not freed in Christ to do whatever we want. Paul stressed that we should not use grace
as a license to sin (Rom 6:1). We
are freed from the bondage of sin. We
are NOT freed to sin. Grace frees us
to pursue holiness. Often, believers
take the grace God gives them and use it as a license and end up becoming just as sinful as they
were before Christ.
What is
the enemy? It is Satan’s work in us
and others that comes in through the side door and produces ungodly character
in us – specifically, using grace as a license to sin.
Jude
continue to give further clarification in verses five through sixteen,
including the consequences for those in the past that continued in sin.
The Remedy
But you, beloved, building
yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God,
waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal
life. (Jude 20-21)
Battle
preparation – for the individual soldier. The platform, or foundation, is the faith. Of course, we find that faith in God’s
Word. We don’t build on anything that
will crumble, but upon the very faith that is “kept” by Jesus Christ. The power is prayer in the Spirit. This type of prayer is a dependent,
submissive relationship that can be lived with our God. It is not a wish list type of prayer. It is an ongoing, conversational
relationship of prayer. The practice
is to stay in the love of God. We
love God and others and accept love from God. The Bible continues to instruct us about abiding. We will never earn God’s love, but we must
abide in it. Then, patiently,
we wait on the mercy of God. We are
undone without it.
And have mercy on some, who
are doubting; save others, snatching
them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the
garment polluted by the flesh. (Jude
22-23)
Orders
– toward others. To the weak
(those that are doubting and flirting with sin), we are to give them
mercy. We should never give them what
they deserve. Often, we must give
them mercy. In other words, don’t
shoot the wounded. To the willful (those
that are willingly being sinful), we sometimes must attempt to “snatch them
from the fire. This may be a strong
word or prayer or, sometimes, going to physically bring them back. The warning is that Satan is
tricky and when pulling someone from the fire, you must avoid getting
burned. In other words, don’t end up
doing the very thing you are trying to rescue someone from.
Some Questions to Think About:
-
Is your faith worth contending for?
-
Are you willing to contend for it?
-
Do you understand that you are soldier in the
Lord’s Army?
-
Have you been a good soldier? Are you contending?
-
Are you IN for the long haul?
|