We can be so self-deceiving. “I’m dating this girl so that I can witness to her”. “I’m watching this movie so I can relate to my non-Christian friends”. “My boyfriend, who isn’t a Christian, will break up with me if I don’t have sex with him—and since I want to continue witnessing to him, I’m going to have sex with him.” “This show isn’t THAT bad, besides God’s grace will cover it anyways”. We make so many ridiculous excuses for sin. There is a growing movement in churches today to be “relevant”—which obviously means being “secular”. In order to be “relevant”, in order to “reach the world for Jesus” we have to become just like the world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was fighting this very thing in the 1930’s when he wrote The Cost of Discipleship. Bonhoeffer reflects well the heart behind this passage:

Bonhoeffer, unlike many of us today, really understood what is required of a man in following the gospel. Bonhoeffer, would ultimately pay for the gospel with his life. He was hung in a Nazi concentration camp on April 9, 1945.[2] So Bonhoeffer lived what he proclaimed. “The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ.”[3] What Bonhoeffer is saying is precisely the opposite of what these false teachers were saying. They lived by cheap grace. Bonhoeffer understood costly grace. That “little” sin that you are fond of nailed Jesus Christ to a Cross. He spilled his precious blood for your “not such a big deal” sins. Therefore, ALL sin is heinous. We must flee from sin and flee to Christ. But ultimately we must understand that Christ blood DOES cover our sin. We must listen to God’s Word in Galatians 5:13, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Don’t sin—serve!

Ask yourself today:

· Do I use the grace of Christ as a license to sin?
· Does sin break my heart? Do I hate my sin?
· Have I left all to follow Jesus?

I understand that there is a somewhat difficult part of this passage, “who long ago were designated for this condemnation”. It appears that Jude is saying that God has prepared people for destruction. This is, in an oversimplified way, of referring to the doctrine of double predestination. For more information about that difficult doctrine read these articles:

Double Predestination, by R.C. Sproul
The Double Predestination to Holiness and Sin, by W.G.T. Shedd

[1] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. p43
[2] Bonhoeffer was actually hung for being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Which if you know anything about Hitler and his view of church and the gospel then you know that Bonhoeffer’s hope was to preserve the gospel.
[3] Ibid, p51

Francis Asbury, a late 1700’s Methodist pioneer, once wrote, “If you can do but one, let your studies alone. I would throw by all the Libraries of the World rather than be guilty of the Loss of one Soul.”[1] Similarly, the dynamic baseball player turned preacher Billy Sunday commented, “If I had a million dollars, I’d give $999,999 to the church and $1 to education”.[2] Should we agree with these comments? Should we separate “studies” from “soul-winning”? Or is it true that solid Christian living is often equated to solid Christian doctrine? Verse 3 in Jude offers an answer:

“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.”

It appears that Jude was very anxious to write to his readers about their common salvation. Perhaps, he (like many other NT authors) wanted to encourage the church in their unity. But apparently there was something far more serious taking place—false teachers had infiltrated their ranks and Jude needed to encourage the church to “contend for the faith”. In order to understand this verse we must know what Jude means by “faith”. The word can mean to trust in, believe upon, etc. But it can also refer to a body of doctrine or a set of beliefs. And that is what the word here is referring to. We know this by how Jude qualifies it, “that was once for all delivered to the saints.” What Jude is talking about is the gospel message. That which Jesus gave to the apostles, the apostles gave to their followers, who in turn gave it to their followers, and so on and so forth. It is the same gospel message that you and I hear today. Jude is encouraging them to contend for this faith.

People such as Asbury and Sunday (along with many Christians today) fail to understand what Jude is saying here. Contending for the faith means that doctrine matters. What you believe is just as important as how you live and how you act. But this is no easy thing. Contending for the faith is not easy. As one commentator helps us to see, contending is, “to exert oneself without distraction to attain a goal. It means self-denial to overcome obstacles, to avoid perils, and if need be to accept martyrdom.”[3] Jude is concerned with preserving the truth. But in our ever increasingly ignorant American Christianity we must understand Jude is concerned with us working hard to preserve solid Christian doctrine.

Ask yourself today:

· Am I contending for the faith?
· What place does Christian doctrine have in my life?
· Am I as concerned that I believe the right thing as I am that I do the right thing?

Correct believing so often follows leads to correct living. For proof of this check out a recent article by John Piper: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2007/2312_Good_Doctrine_Makes_Better_Teenage_Saints/

[1] Quoted from Os Guiness, Fit Bodies Fat Minds, p29
[2] Ibid, p.32
[3] Hendriksen, William. Commentary on 1, 2 Peter and Jude. Taken from http://www.biblecentre.net