The sport of wrestling has its roots in Ancient Greece and has remained popular throughout history for a good reason. When two athletes square off, lock arms, and attempt to overpower and outmaneuver each other, it may not seem like much is happening, but the amount of power and exertion demanded of those athletes is practically unmatched by any other sport.
As Jude sat down to put pen to papyrus and write a letter to believers, he initially wanted to write about the wonderful salvation that we have in common. But as the Holy Spirit began to move him, his focus was shifted to exhorting the believers “to earnestly contend for the faith.” The word translated “contend” was the word used by the Greeks to describe those wrestlers who faced off in the ring. It speaks of exerting all of one’s energy to overpower or outmaneuver an opponent. These words are a call to action. As much as we would enjoy basking in the wonders of the Gospel, we cannot sit idly by while false doctrines spread and undermine our faith.
For what are we to earnestly contend? Jude designates it “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Certainly, this means that we must defend the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, including the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, His substitutionary atonement, the literal resurrection, and salvation by grace through faith alone. But that is not all that we should defend. Our faith is not based on portions of God’s Word, but all of God’s Word. Jesus said that man is to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” All of the Word of God must be believed and defended!
If you are in a fight, then you must have an opponent. In this case, the opponents Jude identifies are those who spread false doctrines. You might think it would be obvious if there were false teachers in the ranks of Christendom, but these “ungodly men” are said to have “crept in unawares.” Jesus warned that the false prophets come in sheep’s clothing. Satan is a master of disguise, so it should be no surprise that those who do his bidding (either knowingly or unknowingly) would also be experts at blending in. Even “good” churches, institutions, and movements are susceptible to infiltration by teachers of false doctrine. We cannot take it for granted that because an individual or group has historically believed a doctrine that they will always believe it. We must not ignore the ongoing attempts of Satan to “hack” the faith and corrupt it.
Interestingly, the doctrine that Jude specifically mentions as being corrupted by the false teachers is the doctrine of grace. Through their teaching, these “filthy dreamers” turn God’s grace into a license to sin and in so doing, deny the person, work and teaching of Jesus Christ.
In recent years there has been a resurgence of this error. The attractional model of church growth (aka, “Seeker Sensitive”), seen most recently in the “emergent” church movement, has popularized a perversion of grace that encourages the lowering of standards or the wholesale abandonment of them. Though it was never popular to begin with, the doctrine of separation from sinful influences is now taught as being incompatible with the Gospel message. This perversion of the Gospel appeals to our carnal natures, so it is no wonder that the churches which teach it draw many people. However, the ability to draw a crowd does not negate the fact that any teaching which uses grace as an excuse to indulge the flesh is a perversion of the doctrine of grace and, ultimately, of the Gospel itself.
As Fundamental Baptists, we find ourselves in a crucial time. With greater frequency, young people are coming up in our churches and graduating from our schools only to join forces with compromised denominations or leave the faith altogether. We dare not deny that Satan has succeeded in luring many believers away from doctrinally sound churches and in diluting their influence for Christ with carnal living. We must do more than ever to contend for the faith because the enemy is doing more than ever to corrupt the faith. We must proclaim the truth of God’s Word with more clarity and greater frequency so that it might be heard above the noise of modern ecumenical evangelicalism. We must stand tall and proclaim loudly, “This is what we believe, and this is why we believe it: God’s Word says so.” We have to let our voices be heard. And when asked why, we must answer intelligently and graciously, but also faithfully and boldly. We must “reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
Why must we contend for the faith? Because, like a wrestler in the ring, we have an opponent who is trying to defeat us. Satan and those following his lead are actively seeking to corrupt the faith. If we do not engage the enemy, if we do not “resist the devil,” then he will continue to wreak havoc on our churches, our schools, our institutions, and our families. “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us,” so let us “stand therefore having our loins girt about with TRUTH.”
For these reasons, God has brought together a group of likeminded people and given us the privilege of building a brand new platform for the truth, EarnestlyContend.org. We have a burden to proclaim the truth of God’s Word to this generation, and our hearts desire is to encourage you, the believer, that the Word of God is worth defending. We “exhort you, to earnestly contend for the faith!”
© 2020 Steven Chambers. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
