Jude 3 (NKJV) — 3 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.
Stand for the truth. Many will come and “preach” from the Bible but their
teaching is not what is written in the Word of God. We must know the word
of God. The Word of God is to be eaten and devoured. Jeremiah 1:9, “Then
the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to
me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.” God’s Word is not just to
be read it is to be swallowed in our total being. It is the nourishment we
need to follow God and carry out His commandments in our lives.
.
God’s wisdom is spoken by the wise. Not those who are following the ways
of the world but are following the Word’s of God. Proverbs 22:17–18 tells us
to “Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to
my knowledge; 18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let
them all be fixed upon your lips.”
If we do not know the truth we cannot stand for the truth. Jude is exhorting
the church to earnestly stand for the faith. The faith found only in God. We
have been given the Word of God. We need to stand for His truth. His truth
has been given to us in the Word of God, the Bible. We need to eat His
Word. We walk in a world of darkness. This is why the Psalmist writes. Psalm
119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against
You.” And in Psalm 119:105 ,“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”
Jude is writing to the church to “contend earnestly for the faith.” The devil,
Satan is prowling seek to devour. Peter writes, 1 Peter 5:8–10, “Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing
that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
How do we avoid the snarls of the devil? We know the Word of God. How do
we contend for “the faith”? We know the Word of God!
Jude found it necessary to write to the church to stand and plead with them
to contend, to resist the ways of Satan and the world. Is it possible for
Christians to contend for the faith? To stand for the truth of God? Yes it is.
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. Paul writes in
Ephesians 5:18, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation (indulgence); but be filled with the Spirit.” A Spirit filled person knows the Word of God. Who knows the truth of God. Who walks in the ways of God.