Contending Earnestly for the Faith

Contending Earnestly for the Faith

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Jude 1:1-2 (NKJV):  “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.”

Jude was living in a time much like our own time, a time much like every other time.  He brings a message of hope to all those who have answered the call of God, have accepted sanctification and know that they are secure in the covenant sealed by Jesus on Calvary. 

Jude 1:3-4 (NKJV) “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.”

As it was in the first century, so it is in the twenty-first.  Wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing have crept into the Church bringing humanistic doctrines that seek to obfuscate the purity of the gospel with humanistic philosophies and secular psychologies that place man as the supreme authority over himself and that declare the Word of God as out of date and out of step.

Continuing in Jude:  Jude 1:8 (NKJV) “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.”   Jude could have come the same conclusion while watching all the political falderal on a television news show, any television news show.

Furthermore: Jude 1:16-19 (NKJV) “These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.”

Therefore, we must contend for the faith without walking in condemnation. Jude 1:20-23 (MSG) “But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven. “ 

 Christians must repent of individual sin and then for the sins of the previous generations in their families.  American cannot be healed until individuals are healed.  Healing will come as more  people trust Jesus as Savior and Lord.

It seems to me that  time and again when we confess our sins, we confess only the behaviors associated with the sin.  We are not aware that sin is rooted in our mindsets and our attitudes.  We must ask God to reveal to us the sinful root of our behaviors.  Many times that root is fear.  Fear leads to doubt and doubt to mistrusting the guidance of the Lord and settling for the guidance of the secular world.

Unfortunately, many times only questionable people are willing to run for office.  We should vote even when we don’t like any of the candidates.  We must ask the Lord for guidance and vote for those who are most likely to stand for Christian values. Moreover, we need born again, Bible believing Christians in every level of government. 

 

It is the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit that will lead believers into repentance and  then into actions that will deliver the fruit of the spirit into our culture.  The first fruit of spirit is love that transcends our situation.

 Jude 1:24-25 (NKJV) “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.”