Contend

 

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. – Jude 3-4

 

When Jude wrote his letter he had every intention of writing about the ‘common salvation.’ He was diligent in his desire.

 

But something happened. He found it necessary to write something different. God’s spirit moved him instead to write about earnestly contending for the faith. Though not as dramatic as Jude most preachers have had the same thing happen when they were ready to preach a message and God changed it at the last moment.

 

Anyway, back to Jude. His heart was changed so that he was compelled to write about the need to earnestly and diligently contend for the faith in response to the onslaught of false teachers that were around then. The thing is it a letter for all times because we still are called on to contend for the faith today.

 

Contending implies that there is an effort being put forth. It means sometimes that we have to take a stand and fight for the faith like good soldiers. It implies that we have to be active contenders for the cause of Christ. We can’t afford to sit back and hope for the best.

 

It is easy to let others contend while we sit back and ‘support’ but we are all given areas where we must truly contend.

 

Contend – contend earnestly. There is no greater cause.