INTERSECT: Jude 3:17-20 Contending for the Faith, Part 1

We are witnessing a major cultural shift in our times. This shift is characterized by the secularization of our society being driven by an atheistic way of understanding. The Judeo-Christian heritage once featured so prominently in this country is more and more a distant memory that our current climate attempts to erase from history. In this climate, often we are tempted to think of ourselves as a highly advanced civilization with the omnipotent power of information and technology with which we are able to solve any problem or crisis. Man is the beginning and end of all knowledge, and with his tools he is able to reconstruct the chaotic realities of this world into his own image.

But there is a serious problem with this formulation of reality. Despite all attempts at managing the chaos of our world, man continues to fail miserably. The news reminds of this constantly. Mass shootings have become all too commonplace. High-profile suicides are the subject of public discourse, highlighting the hopelessness and despair of a society without God. The solution, we are told, is more education, more information, better technology, better policies and regulations, and better laws. With all of these things at our disposal, man will progress in his struggle to contain the chaos of our world.

The Scriptures remind us these solutions will never do. A deeper problem is at work in our world—sin. We must understand the context of this sin: it involves man’s rebellion against the personal Creator. This rebellion brought about a cosmic struggle in the world. Nonetheless, God is in the process of redeeming fallen man and the fallen creation. This is the story of redemption, the good news of the gospel, Christ Jesus standing as the climax of it all.

The words of Jude to the early church address very similar problems. Their context was fully informed by struggles we have just described, mind you, in a first-century form. They not only dealt with the external pressures of the Roman Empire, but they also faced pressures from within the church. These internal pressures arose primarily from false teachers and their erroneous doctrines. In the face of all this, Jude urges these believers “to contend for the faith” (verse 3).

Contending for the Faith

Consider two questions arising from Jude 3:

What does it mean “to contend for the faith” (verse 3a)? The verb “to contend” (epagonizomai) means “to exert intense effort on behalf of something.” The intensity of this effort is marked by Jude’s own attempt to press this exhortation upon them: “making every effort to write to you concerning our common salvation I had need to write to you, exhorting that…” Jude urges with great intensity that they contend earnestly for the faith. This idea is similar to what Paul urges the Philippian church: “that you stand firm in one spirit, in one mind, striving together in the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:29).

It is important not to think of this contention for the faith as simply a verbal dialogue, or an intellectual apologetic against false doctrine. In one sense it is that, but in another sense it is more. Richard Baukaum explains this is not simply “a defense of the gospel; it is offensive, promoting the gospel’s advance and victory . . . it involves a way of life which is faithful to the gospel.”

I believe this is exactly what Francis Schaeffer meant by his apologetic, which I call a transformational apologetic. He explains, “Apologetics should not be merely an academic subject, a new kind of scholasticism. It should be thought out and practiced in the rough and tumble of living contact with the present generation. Thus, the Christian should not be interested only in presenting a nicely balanced system on its own . . . but rather in something which has constant contact with reality—the reality of the questions being asked by his own and the next generation.”

For what are we to contend? “The faith once handed down to the saints” (verse 3b). This leads us naturally to consider the second question, and that relates to the object of our contending. Jude describes it as “the faith once handed down to the saints.” If we work our way through this expression backwards, we see it was handed down to the saints. These are no doubt members of that second generation of believers that lived in the late first century. (Conservative scholars believe Jude must have written his letter just before his death, as late as A.D. 90, but the exact date is unknown.)

We are dealing with a similar setting in Hebrews, when the writer speaks of the things spoken by the Apostles “having been confirmed to us” (Hebrews 2:3). This was a period of persecution, a period in which false teachers were arising within the church. The seemingly fledgling church needed “to contend for this gospel faith.” We also read of false teachers in 2 Peter, described as immoral, living an antinomian lifestyle (i.e., against the law of God type of living).

These late first-century believers living in intensely harsh circumstances had received something: “the faith once handed down to the saints.” Not only was it handed down, but it also was “once” handed down. This indicates the message of Christ was delivered at a specific point in history. That point in time was the life and ministry of the Apostles, who in turn received the faith from Jesus Himself, crucified and risen on the third day.

The resurrected Lord commissioned His Apostles with His teachings, and the Apostles entrusted these teachings to the church. In other words, these first-century believers were not given myths and legends but commended to embrace a living tradition—a Living Word, or the Word made flesh, to use John’s language—which has its source in the living Son of God. It is the Living Word of Hebrews 4:12. As such, it is both a teaching/doctrine and a way of life. It is the life of the gospel. Jude commends these struggling saints to vigorously, earnestly contend for it—a life of obedience to the teachings of the resurrected Lord.

This is why Schaeffer and others are right in urging us to see contending for the faith as both/and. It is both the verbal proclamation of the Christian truth to the world and the lived-out truth amidst our world. It is what John means by reminding us to be in the world, but not of the world.
Next issue, we will look at the challenges the church faces from within and without. May God help us as we join together in the work of His kingdom, “awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternity.”

About the Columnist: Dr. Matthew McAffee is provost and professor of biblical studies at Welch College: mjmcaffee@welch.edu.