Lesson 3 – Jude

Verse 3 NIV Dear friends although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

     Here we have the reason for the letter. Jude had been engaged on writing about the Christian faith, but there had come news that evil and misguided people had been spreading destructive teaching. So he lays aside his theology lesson on salvation and pens this letter. We get a little glimpse of the heart of any good pastor… When they think their flock is in trouble they rush to the defense. I am reminded of the verse in the twenty-third Psalm “your rod and your staff they comfort me.” A shepherd’s rod was used to knock predators in the head!!! How does it feel to know God is very protective of you?

     Jude was protective of this group of believers. He reminds them this faith was entrusted to them. This could also be translated delivered to us. The facts of the Christian faith are not something we have discovered for ourselves (even though we independent folks love to think that). J What we have, has been taught or handed down to us, is really in the truest sense of the word - tradition. Tradition is not something simply given in cold print, it is something passed from person to person through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is true, that many write what God gives them, usually because it is so special to them, thankfully we have these writings. But the chain of Christian tradition is a living chain whose links are men and women who have experienced the wonder of the facts. Personally, I often think of tradition in a negative sense but when I re-think of it in this relational way I can see how true and wonderful it is.

     “The faith” phrase in this passage (te pistei-Greek) must be understood as the sum of that which Christians believe: faith which is believed, not in the sense of faith by which we believe. The faith, or the Christian religion as a whole, is committed to not only sound doctrine but also by the life they live. We just finished an entire study on Christian beliefs and terms titled “Do you know what you believe and why?”  If you were not part of this study, I can re-send these lessons to you independently, just let me know.

    Another way to translate “to the saints,” can be God’s consecrated people. That is to say, the Christian faith is not the possession of any one person but of the community – the church. It comes down within the people of God, it is preserved within the body of faith, and it is understood by the church together. Pastor Steve often says, “Christianity is very personal but never private.” How do you feel about that statement?

    Another thing we glean from this verse is that the Christian faith is worth defending. Every Christian must be its defender! If the Christian tradition (teaching) comes down from generation to generation, we must hand it on uncorrupted. Sometimes this is difficult. The word Jude uses for contend is epagonizesthai, which contains the root word meaning agony or fight. The defense of the faith may well be costly, but that defense is a duty that falls on us all as the community of Christ. It is so much easier to go with the flow and not make waves but we must hold true to what God’s Word says. As new discoveries are made, as we understand language better we may grasp new things in the faith but the basics never change. Jesus Christ came into the world and lived and died and was resurrected to bring salvation to mankind. Now, that’s worth fightin’ for. Can you think of any episodes in the past month where the faith needed defense? What was your response? Could you have done it better?

 Information from “Beacon Bible Commentary - Jude” by Delbert Rose and “The Letters of John and Jude” by William Barclay