Thursday, September 3,
2020
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
Contending for the Faith
I have recently been doing a bible study on the book of Jude. It is a small book, nestled in between 3rd John and Revelation, and easily skipped over. The book of Jude is a letter of warning Jude wrote to the Christians of his day, warning them of false teacher who were infiltrating their communities, trying to lure them away from God. They looked like them. They dressed like them. They acted like them – to a certain extent, and they said they were like them. Except these ungodly people were not like them at all. They were idolizing their sinful desires and they were devoid of the Holy Spirit. It sounds a little familiar doesn’t it? The book of Jude and 2020 have many similarities.
Devoid of the Spirit
These false teachers of this time were purposefully deceiving people while
living ungodly lives. They were trying to justify their sinful desires and
refused to let go of sinful behaviors, therefore perverting the grace of God. I
imagine they might have said things like “It’s ok if you wan to keep doing
________. God wants you to be happy.” Or “Even if it is a sin, it is not
hurting anyone, and no one knows anyway.” They were right in that God does
want us to be happy, but true happiness only comes from denying ourselves of
sinful desires that will devour us if we don’t give them up.
But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Jude 10
Jude also said that these false teachers were blaspheming what they do not understand, and they are being destroyed by all that they do understand. They are devoid of the spirit – they do not understand – and they blaspheme the spirit. They do understand their fleshly desires and sin, refuse to give it up, and yet they are destroyed by it.
Jude is writing to them so they will be aware of what is happening all around them. Satan still works this way, sneaking in, unnoticed, and infiltrating the ranks if he can. Our world today is also full of those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and pervert the grace of God. We, like the early Christians, need to contend for the faith now more than ever. Christians are literally under attack, and our own personal faith has been tested almost continuously this year. But Jude gave those early Christians some good words about how they can contend for the faith in a world of chaos.
Are you ready to Contend for the faith? There are some things we need to do to prepare and strengthen our own faith. We knew these things were coming. We have read the words of the apostles talking about the end times and nothing that has happened this year should have surprised us, yet we have been shaken to the core. Now we are trying to regain our balance, but we are cautious it may happen again. We must get ready, be prepared always. The challenge is on and we have a job to do. We must be ready to contend for the faith and strand up against the evil that comes against it.
