1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn’t believe. 6Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. 7Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having in the same way as these given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. 8Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings. 9But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” 10But these speak evil of whatever things they don’t know. They are destroyed in these things that they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason. 11Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah’s rebellion. 12These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. 14About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts—and their mouth speaks proud things—showing respect of persons to gain advantage.
17But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18They said to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.” 19These are those who cause divisions and are sensual, not having the Spirit.
20But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22On some have compassion, making a distinction, 23and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
24Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, 25to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Jude 3: "Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ."
Even though Jude wanted to write about our life in Christ, he felt compelled to address the false teaching, problems, and assaults we encounter as believers. He wanted to write about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and our salvation in Him, but Jude says that he “found it necessary” to write exhorting them to “contend earnestly.” When he talks about contending for the faith, he means, “to strive in opposition or against difficulties; to struggle…as those in a race.” Strong’s Concordance speaks of it as “to struggle upon, appropriately.. with skill and commitment in opposing whatever is not of faith.” I always hate to bring up struggle because it's not very fun to listen to, but much of our Christian journey truly is a struggle against opposition. So why is that? Why does it never let up? Scripture gives us the answer,
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12, KJV).
For our entire lives, we will be in a wrestling match with the rulers of darkness in this world. We will never be done contending for the faith. There will be attacks on the gospel until we go home to be with the Lord. You might be wondering why we must contend for the faith. Well, for one thing, we contend for the faith because it is the truth. Truth is valuable to all men, and it takes men out of bondage. The truth of God’s Word is what will set us free. “32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32, NKJV). It is the truth of Christ crucified and raised that sets us free. It not only frees us from damnation, but it frees us from the power of sin in our lives.
One reason we must contend for the gospel is the freedom or deliverance it offers. It is constantly under attack. The enemy desires to kill, steal, and destroy, but Jesus offers an abundant life (John 10:10). Jude tells us to “contend for the gospel.” It is interesting that Jude is not telling us to “contend for the truth.” By that, I mean that we don’t have to get wrapped up in every current fight for what is true. If we do, all we will be doing is fighting for the truth. Truth is based on objective facts and reality - not imagination or illusion. There are so many untruths and so much false information in society and culture today that if we get wrapped up in fighting on every front, we risk losing sight of the gospel itself. We can become so distracted in fighting every untruth in society that we’ll be sidetracked from THE FAITH that we are told to contend for: Christ crucified, buried, and raised from the dead as the payment for our sins on the cross. Here are just some of the truths of the faith for which we must contend: The proclamation of that blessed hope of Jesus coming again. He will come back for His bride, and then He’ll come at the last battle, the Battle of Armageddon. He will gather His own unto Himself. Wow! That’s something to hope for. These are the things for which we must contend. Let’s not get caught up in fighting every battle on every hill.