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. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 3–4 (ESV)
The following article is by J. Ligon Duncan. Dr. Duncan is Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary, and also a council member of the Gospel Coalition. This article is entitled Defending the Faith.
Do you think of yourself as a theologian? You are, you know. And there are only two kinds of theologians: good ones and bad ones. Jude’s writing this letter, and he makes it clear in verses 3 and 4 because he wants you, as Christians in the pew, to be good theologians. Do think of yourself that way?
Or do you think that’s something better left to the professionals? Do you care greatly about the purity of biblical teaching in the church? Jude just puts it in black-and-white: He wants you to. He’s writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit telling you what God wants, and God is telling you in Jude 3 and 4 that He wants you to be greatly concerned about the purity of biblical teaching in the church.
Do you see it as your personal responsibility to uphold historic, biblical, Christian doctrine? Jude says it is. He’s not just writing to the elders–we’d understand if he was saying to the elders, ‘You’ve got to uphold the faith once for all delivered.’ We’d understand that. But he doesn’t just say it to the elders; he says it to the congregation, ‘You’ve got to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered.’
You twelve- or thirteen-year-olds who’ve just joined as communing members this fellowship…You were covenant children, members by the grace of God signified in baptism. You’ve professed faith now; you’re communing members of the church. Do you realize it’s your responsibility to contend earnestly for the faith? High school students, college students, graduate school students, young folks who have just started out in your careers, grandparents, great-grandparents–it’s your job if you are a part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to care about pure, biblical teaching. Jude says so.
Are you wide-eyed to the false teaching in the Church today? Are you aware of the false teaching that even goes on in the evangelical churches today? Well, everything that Jude says in this letter presupposes that it is every Christian’s important duty to know the truth of the faith, to care about it, and to protect it in the congregation.
There are two parts to this passage that I want you to see today. First, Jude’s exhortation to you that you care about truth…or we might even say that you care about the truth. You see that in verse 3. And then, secondly, Jude’s exhortation that we would be aware of the continuing threat against the truth that comes…not from out there, but from within the Church. So, first, to care about the truth, and secondly, to be aware of the continuing threat against the truth.
Let me show you those three things. First of all, notice how Jude speaks to this congregation. What does he call them? “Beloved.” Now I know that that’s part of standard greetings in the Greco-Roman world of the time, but when Jude uses this phrase it is shot through with Christian significance. He is manifesting a real pastoral love and concern for this flock, for this congregation. He is a loving and concerned pastor and he wants them to embrace the truth and to hang onto it and to contend for it because he cares about their lives. “Beloved,” he says. No harsh words from Jude–tender, affectionate words from a wizened, mature, balanced Christian pastor.
Secondly, notice that Jude says, ‘I would rather not have to talk about this.’ Jude is not by temperament inclined to fix on anything that is a matter of controversy and focus on that. He doesn’t just like to find out only the areas where you disagree with him and talk about that the whole time. He says, ‘I would rather talk with you about the common faith that we share, but necessity is laid upon me. I’ve got to talk about this.’ “I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith.”
Thirdly, notice that the reason why he is motivated for them to engage in this discussion about the truth is that they would grasp the faith–not something peripheral and minute, but that they would grasp the main thing, the central thing, the faith which has been handed down: “That you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” He wants to talk to them about the prime things, the essential things, the foundational things of faith. No, no, Jude is ready to engage in controversy. He’s ready to get into theological argument. He’s ready to ask this congregation to be good, faithful theologians with their eyes wide opened to falsehood around them. But he’s not temperamentally a nitpicker or a hack. He’s a wise, loving pastor who cares about their souls. And what he says is that he wants them to contend for the faith.
And then he tells you why. Look at verse 4. He says, ‘This is why you need to care about the truth, because there is a present reality that you are facing, and that present reality is false teachers in the church.’ “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Jude is saying, ‘Here’s why I’m writing to you. There are people in your own congregation,’ he says, ‘who have the name Christian, who say that their teaching is Christian, but they’re leading you astray. They’re teaching you false things. They’re teaching cheap grace. They’re denying Jesus Christ.’ And, of course, that fulfills what Jesus Himself said to His disciples. When you look around and see false teachers in the church today, rejoice! Cheer up! It’s a proof that Jesus is divine. Jesus told His disciples that there would be false prophets in their own midst.
Paul told the elders in Ephesus that wolves, ravenous wolves would come up even from their own number who would hairy the people of God. And so, Jude reminds us of this. He says, ‘Look, there are godless persons already among you. They’re subtle, so be on the lookout. And these godless persons,’ he says, ‘they’re pre-condemned. God’s already passed His verdict on them long ago. So, you look at them from God’s perspective. Yes, they’ll say that what they’re teaching is true and good and helpful, but it’s not in accord with the apostles’ teaching. It’s not in accord with Scripture, so you be on the watch. And you assign God’s verdict to them, not their own verdict to themselves.’
And notice two things that he says that they’re teaching. “[They] turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord.” They do two things: they use grace as an excuse to live a life of indifference and sin, and they deny Christ, what the Bible teaches about His person and work. They say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter how you live as long as you’re sincere. It doesn’t matter what your life is like. You’ve signed a card, prayed a prayer, made a decision. It doesn’t matter what you believe about Jesus as long as you’re sincere.’ That’s what they say. And Jude says, ‘Both of those are practical denials of Jesus Christ.’ One denies the result of His grace; one denies His person which is absolutely essential for grace. And Jude urges us here to contend for the faith and to beware of false teachers who make grace into licentiousness and who deny the Lord Jesus Christ, and he’s just reminding us that there are always false teachers amongst the church.
And so, here’s Jude speaking to a group of Christians who lived in a pluralistic society, a relativistic culture that followed after many gods and many truths and many fashions and fads and saying, ‘Contend for the truth.’ And, lo and behold, here we are 2,000 years later in a culture that’s very relativistic and pluralistic following after many fads and many fashions and many gods. And Jude is saying to us again, ‘Care about the truth. Cling to the truth. Believe the truth. Be savvy enough about the truth that you can tell a false teacher from a faithful prophet. Stick close to the Bible. Stick close to God’s word. Stick close to Jesus Christ.’ He’s saying all those things to us. And that word is just as fresh today as when he spoke it. Let’s pray.
Our Lord and our God, help us to know and appreciate and cling to truth unchanged, unchanging. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Soli deo Gloria!
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