00B.08 Chapter I -- Contending For The Faith
I. Contending for the Faith
"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:1-4.)
1. Jude. The writer of this Epistle tells us who he is in a way that anyone who is acquainted with the New Testament will understand. He is Jude or Judas, and he announces himself as a servant or a bond servant of Jesus Christ. This would not identify him as there are many Judases and as all Christians are bond servants of Jesus Christ. He, therefore, tells us that he is a brother of James. This would indicate that James was well known to those who would read this Epistle. The fact that he used James to make himself known proves that James was already well known. This is the James who wrote the Epistle that bears that name and he is the James who acted as chairman in the consultation about circumcision. (Acts 15.) He was said to be a pillar in the church at Jerusalem. (Galatians 2:9.) He is the one to whom the apostle Paul reported when he came to Jerusalem, bringing the money that he had collected throughout the country. (Acts 21:18.) When men came down from Jerusalem to Antioch they were said to have come from James. (Galatians 2:12.) But, and here is the point of emphasis in this study, James is said to be the Lord’s brother. (Galatians 1:19.) This, then, makes Jude also the Lord’s brother. We have the names of the Lord’s four brothers given in Matthew 13:55 and they were: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. This is the Judas who wrote the Epistle. It is noteworthy that Jude makes no mention of the fact that he was the Lord’s brother. This indicates Jude’s humility. He did not want to claim any advantage over the people t o whom h e wrote or over any other disciple o f Christ. Christ is not now in the flesh and fleshly ties receive no recognition in the kingdom of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16.) Jesus taught while he was here on earth that everyone who does the will of the father is his brother or sister. (Matthew 12:46-50.) Jude understood this spiritual relationship and therefore made no mention of the fact that he was the Lord’s brother and had been reared in the same family circle. This is a strong condemnation of those who speak of the Jews as being related to our Lord in the flesh and therefore having any advantage or connection that all other human beings may not have. This also is a condemnation of those who exalt and beatify Mary because she was the mother of our Lord’s body. Whatever credit Mary may deserve for this service of God does not extend into the kingdom. Mary is never mentioned after the kingdom of God came with power or after the Son of man came in his kingdom. (Mark 9:1; Matthew 16:28.) The last time that Mary is mentioned is in the first chapter of Acts. The coming of the kingdom and the coronation of Christ is told in the next chapter.
Constrained t o Write. Jude intimated that he was writing under compulsion. He had been giving all diligence to this matter. This indicates that he was reluctant to write and that he had been considering it thoughtfully and prayerfully, but he felt constrained to write this Epistle. The fact that he made the Epistle very short shows that he was not afflicted with the mania seribendi. He wrote only what was necessary but he covered a wide field in these short verses. He had something to say and felt impelled by the importance of his message and by the exigency of the moment to say it.
Our Common Salvation. Jude calls the subject about which he was writing our common salvation. It was common in that these persons addressed shared it with Jude. They were his fellow Christians, and he announces by this expression that he has no intention of writing something new or of imparting to them information that they did not already possess. He is simply writing an exhortation and is warning the brethren against dangers that had then come upon them. This salvation may also be called common in that it embraces Jew and Gentile alike. It is intended for all men. (Titus 2:11.) The expression "our common salvation" and "the faith" mean the same thing. Paul speaks of "the common faith." (Titus 1:4.) The common faith and the common salvation mean the same thing.
The Faith Once for All Delivered t o the Saints. Here again Jude disclaims any intention to write something new to the disciples. In this we see his humility further manifested and we also see that this Epistle deserves a place in the canon even if Jude was not inspired. He does not reveal anything but pleads for that which had already been revealed and which was then a common possession of all saints. He declares that this had been delivered once for all. The King James Version says once delivered, but a thing that has been delivered once certainly has not been delivered twice or repeatedly and the meaning is therefore the same. It was delivered one time for all time. This is an impeachment of those who come to us with new revelations or visions or dreams. The Lord did not intend that his will should be made in installments, these installments to be given as the centuries pass by. He delivered the faith to the saints and expects them to keep it unto the end. This passage alone is sufficient to refute the claim of the Roman Catholic Church that the voice of the pope is the voice of God and that God continues to speak through any such living representative. It is also a refutation of such pretended revelators as Joseph Smith, Mrs. Ellen G. White, or any other person who claims to speak by inspiration or revelation today. If what these persons say is exactly the same as the faith once delivered, then there is no need for their revelation. If it is in any way different from the faith once delivered, then it must be repudiated. We, therefore, should give especial emphasis to Jude’s exhortation to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints."
The question may arise as to whom these saints were. The claim is made by the Roman Church that these were official representatives of the Lord and that the faith was from them passed on to their successors. This claim is refuted by the fact that the faith was common. It did not belong to a specially chosen group of officials but it belonged to all of God’s servants. Some people think that a saint is a heavenly being and that no mortal person or earth dweller could be a saint. Those who hold this idea have never read the New Testament—or the Old either—very carefully. All Christians are saints and they are called saints in the New Testament more often than they are called anything else. This word is applied to God’s children fifty times in the New Testament. It is also applied to God’s servants in the Old Testament. It is used thirty times in that part of the Bible. It is sometimes used to designate heavenly beings or angels, and the saints on earth are spoken of in contrast with some saints who are not on earth. (Psalms 16:3.) The word literally means "holy ones" and it may easily be applied to heavenly beings as it is in Deuteronomy 33:2 and Daniel 8:13. All the New Testament uses of the term, however, apply to Christians or children of God. The faith has, therefore, been committed to God’s children. Paul tells us that this gospel was given to the saints just as Jude does. (Colossians 1:26.) He also speaks of having the gospel entrusted to or committed to him. (Titus 1:3 : 1 Timothy 1:11; Galatians 2:7.) He and the other apostles were ambassadors through whom this faith was given to all the saints. (Ephesians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20.) They were the inspired and miraculously empowered agents to whom the faith was committed and through whom it has been given once for all to God’s children. We are to hold that faith and to contend for it throughout the Christian age. (Hebrews 2:1-4; 2 Timothy 2:2.)
5. What Is the Faith? The explanation of the faith has already been implied in what has been said in the paragraph above but, that there may be no misunderstanding, we shall give a special explanation and emphasis to this part of the exhortation. The expression "the faith" is found often in the New Testament. Paul says some shall depart from the faith. (1 Timothy 4:1.) He speaks of some who denied the faith. (1 Timothy 5:8.) He said some make shipwreck of the faith. (1 Timothy 1:19.) But Paul declared that he had kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7.) The faith means the gospel or the Christian religion. In Galatians 1:6-9 the apostle declares that he had preached the gospel and pronounces an anathema on any man or angel who preaches another gospel or a different gospel from that which he had preached. Yet in this same chapter, Galatians 1:23, he says he preached the faith. Therefore the gospel and the faith are one and the same thing. He also says that he had formerly made havoc of the faith. He did this by persecuting Christians or by trying to exterminate Christianity. This makes it plain that the gospel, Christianity, and the faith are all just different expressions that have the same meaning. The question may arise as to why the gospel is called the faith. It is because it is a system of salvation by faith. In this respect, the gospel is different from anything that had ever been offered to man up to that time or that has ever been offered since that time. The Jews had a system of law and this meant salvation on human merit or worth. Men had to keep the law and thereby obtain righteousness that would entitle them to heaven. No one was ever able to reach this goal. The gospel presents a Savior who through his atoning sacrifice took away our sins and through his righteousness covers us with a robe of purity. We accept this gracious offer by faith. In this, the gospel of Christ is different from any religion that the heathen world, ancient or modern, had ever conceived. In our day we hear much of comparative religions. Courses in college cover this field. Students are taught to compare Christianity with Buddhism, Confucianism. Shintoism. The teachers often try to make it appear that these older religions excel Christianity. They imply and sometimes assert that Christianity was borrowed from these ancient religions. The young student might not be expected to see the fallacy in all this. Christianity is not to be thought of as in the same class with these religions. They are not comparable to the religion of Christ. Even if certain ethical principles could be found that are equal to or excel the principles of the gospel, there would still be no comparison. The gospel is not merely a system of ethics, though it contains the highest ethics the world has ever known. The heathen religion simply gives lofty principles by which men are to regulate their lives. They present to man a blueprint by which he is to build his character. If, therefore, their followers should attain perfection according to their standards, they still would be lost sinners and all that they had would be their own achievement of which they might rightfully boast, but which would not entitle them to heaven. These religions present no Savior, but leave men to save themselves. They present no grace and mercy, no healing fountain, and no atoning sacrifice. The gospel of Christ offers all of these things to a fallen race. In it we have help for the helpless, pardon for the condemned, and salvation for the sinful. All this offered freely by love divine.
There can be no wonder that the gospel is spoken of as the faith, since faith is the ground of our salvation. Faith, not works; grace, not law; a gift, and not an achievement. Paul speaks of the law age as a time when faith had not come. "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring u s unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:22-29.) Does it seem a little strange that he could speak of faith as not having yet come; "the faith" as not yet revealed when we know that all the ancient worthies from Abel down lived and served by faith? (Hebrews 11:1-40) They wrought mighty things by faith. Abraham is the "father of the faithful." In the last day when all of the redeemed—redeemed by faith—stand on the plains of judgment the man at the head of the class will be Abraham. Yes, these men had faith as individuals and conquered. But "the faith” that i s the salvation that is on the ground of faith, had not then been revealed. This faith came when Christ came and died and rose again, ascended to heaven, and sent back the Holy Spirit to preach the good news of salvation through his death and suffering. We are now the children of God by faith. (Galatians 3:26.) We are justified by faith. (Romans 5:1.) Our hearts are purified by faith. (Acts 15:9.) And a contrast is clearly drawn between the law and the faith, between the doing of that which was required by the law and the accepting by faith that which is offered in the gospel. Paul says, "Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident: for, The righteous shall live by faith; and the law is not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them." (Galatians 3:11-12.) Here are two methods of living described. One man lives by doing, the other man lives b y faith. Surely, then, we will not preach that man lives by doing today. Nothing we do has any merit in it. Our obedience deserves no reward. Our salvation is on the. ground of our faith.
Some reader may conclude that this would exclude obedience and make any act of obedience nonessential. This is sometimes done by our denominational friends. They argue that, since we are saved by faith and not by doing, we do nothing; that we simply reach a certain mental or heart state in reference to Christ and that we are then and thereby saved. This is a mistake, as may be clearly seen from many passages of Scripture. It seems pathetic that people who will put such splendid emphasis on salvation by faith in contrast with works of merit cannot see that the "obedience of faith" is not works. Our obedience is not something added to faith but it is faith itself: faith manifested, faith actualized, faith made perfect. This is so forcefully expressed and so plainly argued by Dr. Stifler that I beg here to quote a paragraph. He says: But must it not be said now that Paul has abandoned his theme, salvation by faith, in substituting the word "baptism"? Why did he not say, "All we who believed into Christ," a common phrase in the New Testament (10: 14; Galatians 2:16), "believed into his death"? The difficulty arises from the modern wrong conception of the New Testament meaning of the word "baptism," that it is a mere rite, an act to be done, at the best, because one believes in Christ. The New Testament writers never separate it from the faith which it embodies and expresses. It is the fixed sign for faith, just as any appropriate order of letters in a word is the sign of an idea. The sign stands for the thing and is constantly used for the thing. Hence, Paul can say that Christ was "put on" in baptism (Galatians 3:27), and Peter does not hesitate to declare that "baptism doth also now save us" (1 Peter 3:21). It is referred to as the "laver of regeneration" (Titus 3:5), and said to "wash away sins" (Acts 22:16). To refuse to be baptized is to reject God, and the opposite is to accept him (Luke 7:29-30). Every one of these passages—and there are more like them—would teach salvation by a rite, salvation by water, but that the word for baptism is used as a symbol of faith. Faith SO far IS not one thing and baptism another; they are the same thing. The faith that accepted Christ in Paul’s day was the faith that showed its acceptance in baptism. The water without the preceding faith was nothing. The faith without the water could not be allowed. Believers were baptized into Christ or they were not considered TO be in him. The word being so used, it is easy to see that Paul has not departed from the gem doctrine of justification by faith; and by employing it he has gained definiteness of statement. Faith is a wide term and shows itself in many ways, each exhibition being exactly appropriate to the way in which faith is then exercised. The exhibition is an exponent of the faith. In faith of a coming flood, Noah appropriately built an ark. In faith that Israel would one day leave Egypt, Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones, that they be not left behind. In faith that one dies with Jesus, he is buried with him in baptism, the faith taking this fit form. The Romans had a broad faith that ran out in many lines, and it was known far and wide. (Romans 1:8) Just one of these lines led to salvation—the one that found its appropriate exhibition in baptism. When Paul said they were baptized into Christ, they knew instantly to what hour (see on Romans 16:7) and to what line of their multiform faith he referred— the faith that saw the man and not merely his sins on the cross and in the tomb, so that to show itself appropriately the whole man must be buried with Christ in baptism. The act of baptism is an exponent, first of all, not of the remission of sins, but of the death of the believer in Christ, so that his sinfulness is atoned for. He himself has died to sin. (The Epistles to the Romans, a Commentary by James M. Stiller, D.D., professor of New Testament Exegesis in Crozer Theological Seminary, Chester, Pennsylvania. Publisher, Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, Chicago, Toronto.)
6. Why This Exhortation? Jude does not leave us to guess why he was constrained to exhort the brethren to contend for the faith. He tells us that certain false teachers had come in among them, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and denying the Lord Jesus Christ. He says these teachers had crept in privily. The Greek of this passage seems to indicate that they had slipped in by a side door. This means that these men had got themselves recognized as Christians without making a full confession of their faith in Christ as Lord, or else they had made a false statement. It is possible that they had professed great admiration for the teaching of Christ and, as Peter had said, they used "great swelling words of vanity" and had thereby deceived the people into thinking that they had a superior culture; that they were devout Christians, and yet they had not acknowledged themselves as sinners and claimed the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. It is no new thing for false teachers to profess superior spirituality, a higher degree of culture, than others possess. They do not take the word of God at face value. They are not literalists! No, indeed. They profess a deep spiritual penetration. They give the word of God a mystic meaning and therefore one must have a special "key to the Scriptures" before one can share in their superior views. These were the type of men that Jude warned the disciples against. They denied the Lord that bought them, Peter tells us. To acknowledge the existence of sin would not be complimentary to man! The idea of the cross is crude and repulsive! Since they claim man is not a sinner, he needs no Savior. Thus Christ is denied.
7. What the False Teachers Taught. We have indicated in the above paragraph what it was that these teachers denied, but we may see from Jude’s explanation something of what they taught. They turned the grace of "God into lasciviousness." This means that they claimed license to indulge the flesh. Peter speaks of these same false teachers, declaring that they led Christians astray by promising them liberty. (2 Peter 2:19.) They based this license on the grace of God. This means that they claimed since we had been freed from law and are now under grace (Romans 6:14) we are free to commit the sins that were prohibited by the law. There was a class of men in the early church who made this argument. These men are refuted by Peter and Paul as well as by Jude. In history these men were called Antinomians. This means "against law." But it is not probable that the teachers to whom Jude refers were of this class. Jude’s false teachers denied the Lord Jesus, and therefore they did not claim that his grace had made us free. These men evidently emphasized the fact that God is love, and therefore he would not punish men for sin. They claimed that he is too good to inflict punishment upon his children, and thus they based their claim of exemption from punishment upon God’s grace and goodness. Lasciviousness means lust or lewdness. These false teachers, therefore, were corrupt men and spread immorality among those who came under their influence. This was the teaching of the Nicolaitans. This sect taught free love and abolished marriage. (Revelation 2:6.) They justified fornication and any other sin that might be called a natural passion o f the flesh. They were found in the church at Ephesus, at Pergamos and at Thyatira. This sect was later succeeded by the Gnostics or knowing ones. Like our modernists, they professed superior knowledge. In fact, these were typical modernists. They denied the divinity of Christ, vicarious atonement, promised liberty, professed superior knowledge, and practiced free love. But the New Testament tells us that God hated this sect and its teaching, and Jude and Peter warned us against such teachers and exhorted us to reject these errors and t o contend earnestly for the faith.