Jude 3 - “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.”
This short letter is named after one of Jesus’ earthly brothers, son of Joseph and Mary, and written towards the end of the first century. He originally planned on writing to Christians to encourage the salvation they shared, but something was creeping into the early church that he felt necessary to mention.
This early heresy was a teaching that later was called “Gnosticism” which claimed a special revelatory knowledge that only they had and was against the teaching of Jesus and his church. Here, he says it is the job of the saints to make sure these false teachings don’t spread. This gospel has been delivered to the saints, so what is our responsibility?
The word he uses is a first century Olympic Games word, called “agonidzomai” that we translate “contend.” It is a picture of straining in competition and this is what Jude says we must do for our faith. By faithful Bible knowledge and understanding, faithful gathering with other Christians, sitting under faithful teachers and preachers, and the Holy Spirit and prayer - we protect the truth from being twisted into a lie.
This is a serious thing. We saints have been given good news and we are called to make sure it continues for generations to come, until he returns.
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