v.3 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.
(The majority of footnotes are
from the Ryrie Study Bible. They are provided to give further insights on
Scripture that is quoted.)
A continuation of our study of Jude. Jude writes to his recipients the reason why the letter is necessary.
v.3 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.
Beloved- A very tender conveyance of Jude’s feelings
for his readers. They are extremely close to his heart.
Every effort- Whether Jude was thinking about writing
concerning salvation or had actually began the writing is not clear from the
Greek or from the context, but something changed his mind.
To write you…salvation- Salvation was to be Jude’s
topic for this letter. Obviously, this would have been more pleasing for Jude,
however, necessity dictated otherwise. What he wrote was the letter he did not
want to write.
Common- Not in the sense that it is cheap, or
everyone has it. Each believer stands in righteousness because of the same
salvation that Christ paid the price for. One believer is not saved one way
while another is saved another.
An individual Christian may not know it, may not realize it,
or may not understand it, but to be a Christian is not to be a lone believer.
It is to be a part of a world-wide community.
Common salvation- This is the salvation we all share
now. All believers share in an identical salvation. All have been born and
bought by the blood of Jesus. While the majority of world religions and cults
maintain that there are steps to salvation Christianity is different.
Christianity is unique in the fact that there is only one way for salvation,
not one way for the rich and one way for the poor or not one way for men and
one way for women.
And this one way is an experience that is shared by all true
believers.
|
Islam |
Mormonism |
Jehovah’s
Witnesses |
|
The Creed-
"There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is central
to Islam |
Faith in
Jesus- Our spiritual brother and the physical son of God the Father and the
virgin Mary. |
Jesus Christ
when he said in prayer to his Father: "This means everlasting life,
their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you
sent forth, Jesus Christ." (John 17:3) |
|
Prayer 5
times a day facing Mecca. dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after
dark. |
Repentance-
“spend the balance of your lives trying to live the commandments of the Lord
so he can eventually pardon you and cleanse you.” |
Obey God's
laws, which they will decide if you have been doing correctly |
|
Alms giving.
Muslims donate a portion of their income to community members in need. |
Water baptism
must take place in the Mormon Church and is “the gateway through which we
enter the celestial kingdom.” |
Be associated
with God's channel, his organization. Jehovah is using only one
organization today to accomplish his will. |
|
Fasting-Ramadan.
During the daylight hours of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic
calendar |
Laying on of
Hands by a Member of the Melchizedek Priesthood in Order to Receive the Holy
Ghost |
God requires
that prospective subjects of his Kingdom support his government
by loyally advocating his Kingdom rule to others. |
|
Pilgrimage to
Mecca |
And other
steps |
|
I felt- Jude felt a compelling to write on a
different topic. He was driven to this change of topic.
The sudden change must have been a prevalent problem in the
church at this time, since the topic had been changed from salvation to the problem
of the churches slipping. Jude realized the great need to keeps the churches
from moving to the solid rock of Christian doctrine to the more esoteric
beliefs that were beginning to be promulgated about Jesus Christ.
Jude was forced by his concern for believers, the
overwhelming majority who were baby or maybe teenage Christians. Very few
solid, mature believers were in the church at this time considering the church
was only about 40 years old or so. Circumstances had arisen that demanded
immediate action, thus presenting an emergency situation. Jude addressed
himself to a recognized problem and exhorted the believers to respond with
positive determination.
The necessity- The letter of Jude is a sermon that
preaches against the dangerous practices and doctrines that put the gospel and
Biblical truth in peril.
To you- The responsibility of each and every
Christian.
Appealing- Jude does not mince words. He has a point
to make that is an extremely urgent point that he will not delay in making.
Contend- (Gr. Epagonizesthai). To contend, to
struggle, to go to war. This is the only appearance of this word in the Greek
New Testament. The basic meaning of this word is that of the intense effort in
a wrestling match. This is a strengthened form of the word meaning “to
agonize.”
The verb form is in a present infinitive, indication that
the Christian faith is to be a continual struggle. Christians are to vigorously
fight for the truth. We get to the point where we begin to take it for granted.
We don’t think about how wondrous the glorious message is that has been
delivered to us. We forget that the Bible is not just a book. It is not a
feel-good collection of writings. It is God’s message, spoken then written down
expressly for us.
Contend earnestly- Be an unflinching witness,
distribute tracts, help make possible training for those in the ministry,
strengthen the hands of pastors who are faithfully teaching and exegeting the
Word of God.
When we withhold our support and encouragement from false
teachers, we are not feeding the jackals and hyenas of the ministry.
We live uncompromising lives and let the world know it is
Jesus that allows this, not our own flesh and desires.
The faith- This is why Jude was so concerned. The
faith, the essential body of truth that has been given once and for all from
the teachings of the apostles, is not to be added to or subtracted from. This
truth, the Christian faith, cannot be changed. Its foundational truths are not
negotiable. This conviction is not peculiar to Jude. Others wrote remarkably
similar to what Jude is writing here:
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who
called you[1] by
the grace of Christ, for a different gospel,
7 which is really not another; only there are some who are
disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ.[2]
8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach
to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be
accursed.[3]
9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you’re a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6-9
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching
of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both
the Father and the Son. 2 John 9
These truths are of the ultimate value. We must guard these
truths and fight for them.
Once-
(Gr. Hapax) Once only and forever. Though we deliver it over and over, we
deliver the same message.
It has been done in the past and there is nothing to add to
it now. There is nothing more to go along with what we have been given. Some
descriptive words give a better idea of what we mean here:
1.
Complete- Does not need any extra work. We
cannot improve upon that which is perfection.
2.
Inviolate- Not violated or profaned. This work
is pure.
3.
Sufficient- We do not need to add to it. The
Bible is complete concerning salvation, man does not need to add anything. The
Bible is complete on the person of Christ. We do not need any extra.
4.
Eternal- There will never be a time when the
Holy Bible and the truths it contains are irrelevant.
5.
Immutable- It does not change. Murder is wrong
and always will be wrong.
The apostles gave us all that we needed to know. Erdman
says, “There is no other gospel, there will be none, its content will be more
fully understood, its implications will be developed, its predictions will be
fulfilled; but it will never be supplemented or succeeded or supplanted.”
For
all- For every Christian. Every Christian should use the Bible to derive
the truths that they live by. We do not have the option of accepting one part
of the Bible but ignoring other parts that might not resonate with us. Nothing
more is to be added (such as Papal proclamation, Studies in the Scripture,
Dianetics, Book of Mormon) and nothing is to be taken away from it.
This is
not popular today. Many today want a “cafeteria” view of the Bible and the
truths delivered to us. “I like the part of loving my brother, I really like
the judge not part, but it upsets me the wars and battles of the Old
Testament.” As Guzik writes, “More people believe in “the faith that is in my
heart” than the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” Most of us want to
listen to ourselves and decide what faith means to us. We want to make God in
our own image.
Saints-
(Gr. Hagiois). The ones set apart by God for Himself. All believers have
been set apart for God’s own unique and special purpose.
This
holiness is broken down into two spheres of existence:
1.
Positionally- This was done by God when we
accept Jesus Christ as the only way to God. We are set in the heavens and can
never be taken away from them. We are given a new life in Christ and that can
never be taken away from us.
2.
Experientially- Or, our walk, the path of our
life. How we guide our lives while we reside in this mortal flesh. This is
growing and maturing where our walk is more and more pleasing to Him. This
growing is accomplished by the Holy Spirit and by the truths as revealed in
Scripture that we live by.
[1] Deserting
Him who called you. I.e., God the Father. They were deserting grace to
retreat into law, and they bore the responsibility for their defection.
[2] The
gospel of Christ. The good news of God’s grace in Christ, who gave Himself
for our sins (who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of
this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, Galatians
1:4). Those who taught any other way threatened the true gospel.
[3] Accursed.
Literally, anathema, or devoted to destruction. Ecclesiastically, it was
accompanied by excommunication.
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