Passage: Jude 3-4

The Big Idea

Jude wanted to write about our shared salvation, but felt he had to urge believers to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. “The faith” isn’t our feeling of trust; it’s the message God has given, complete and sufficient. We contend for it because false teaching has always crept in, usually in one of two directions: turning grace into a license to sin, or turning the gospel into a system of works. Contending isn’t being contentious. We judge teaching by its fruit and by God’s Word, gently and humbly, examining ourselves first and keeping the truth by the Holy Spirit.

Why This Series?

To remind us how important it is to believe what the Bible says. Not just what we believe, but what God has given us to believe.
To let the Lord warn us that some people teach contrary to His Word, and many Bible teachers compromise.
To let the Lord urge us to engage in the battle: to proclaim and live a real faith in Jesus revealed in His Word.

I don’t like controversy or confrontation. So this is a big challenge for me too.

The Call (Jude 3)

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write urging you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Necessary. It’s not optional. We need to be willing to go to battle for the faith.
Earnestly. Throw your heart into it. Ask, “Is this truth, or tradition?”
Not contentious. We’re to avoid foolish quarrels, and correct others with gentleness and kindness (2 Timothy 2:23-25).
The faith. Every Christian knows the word “faith.” But “the faith” is something specific. It isn’t talking about the act of trusting. It’s the message of God, the Word of God: the objective truth we put our trust in.
Once for all. Everything that needs to be said has been said. No additions or subtractions needed.
To the saints. The truth has been delivered to all God’s people, not just a privileged few. We’re all called to know it and contend for it.

Why It Must Be Done

Licentiousness

Certain people have crept in unnoticed… ungodly people who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 4).

It was already happening when Jude wrote.
They crept in. Would I have noticed them? Do I notice them now?
We respond not with anger or self-righteousness, but by sticking to God’s Word and helping others stick to it.
They turn the grace of God into license.
Grace is the resource for growth. If you twist it into permission to sin, people can’t grow. Sinning doesn’t help anyone grow.

Legalism

There are many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who are upsetting whole households, teaching things they should not (Titus 1:10-11).

“The circumcision” here means legalism.
It’s rebellion against God and His gospel to teach people that their works save or transform them.

We contend for the faith because there are people teaching wrong things. There always have been.

The Ministry of Correction

Correction means pointing out an error. Should we do it? Privately or publicly? Name names? Live and let live? Just love each other? Good questions. We don’t have to wonder; God has spoken about this.

“Judge not” (Matthew 7:1-5)

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you use, you’ll be judged… First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

We can’t judge hearts or motives, only what we see and hear. Listen to a message and compare it to the Word.
Don’t be overcritical or harsh. We’re not trying to shoot each other down.
Be ready to be judged by the same standard you use. And the standard is the Word: what does the Bible say?
Examine and correct your own life first.
This doesn’t mean we can’t help each other until we’re perfect. It warns against excessive and hypocritical correction.

“Beware of false prophets” (Matthew 7:15-20)

“Beware of false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.”

In the same sermon, Jesus tells us to discern false prophets.
So judging is both forbidden and commanded. Don’t judge like God, or harshly. But we’re required to evaluate the fruit and messages we see and hear.
The good shepherd warns the sheep.
You can’t know a heart, but you can see fruit.

What kind of fruit comes from a ministry? From your ministry? What kind of lives does the message produce?

Pride or humility? Cocky or humble?
Flashy and showy, or humble moderation?
Know-it-all, or teachable?
Man-centered, or God-centered?
Entertainment, or discipleship?
Formulas, or faith in God?
Experience-driven, or anchored in the Word?
Hype, or holiness?

General and specific warnings

Sometimes Scripture warns generally: rebuke them sharply, so they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to myths and the commands of people who turn from the truth (Titus 1:13-14). No name or label, just the alert that it happens.

Sometimes it warns specifically. Jesus told the disciples to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which He explained was their teaching (Matthew 16:6-12).

The Pharisees (we might say “the conservative error”) bathed in self-righteousness.
The Sadducees (we might say “the liberal error”) treated sin as acceptable and chose their own righteousness.

And sometimes Scripture names names: shun irreverent babble, for it will lead to more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have strayed from the truth, saying the resurrection has already happened, and they are overthrowing the faith of some (2 Timothy 2:16-18).

Picture this letter being read aloud in church, and these two men being called out in front of everyone.
It is sometimes right to name names.
Our flesh can be tempted to put others down, but that doesn’t get us off the hook.
Start privately, face to face (Matthew 18:15). But sometimes a whole teaching or group has to be addressed, as Jesus did.

Keeping the Truth by the Spirit

Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us (2 Timothy 1:13-14).

We keep and guard the faith by the Holy Spirit.
Even teachers who constantly talk about the Holy Spirit should be evaluated by the fruit of the Spirit.
Assess your own life the same way.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh… If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another (Galatians 5:22-26).

Grace Takeaway

The faith has been delivered once for all, and it’s worth contending for, because it’s the message that saves and transforms. But we contend the way Jesus would: with humility, gentleness and our own planks removed first, judging by the Word and by fruit, never by pride. The cure for license is real grace, and the cure for legalism is real grace. Hold fast to it by the Spirit who lives in you.

For Discussion

What is contending for the faith? Why must we do it?
What is licentiousness, and what is its cure?
What is legalism, and what is its cure?
What do you think is most important to know if you’re going to be able to challenge these problems?
How should contending be done?
Which fruit of the Spirit is most visible in your life? Which is least seen?
How do you know if you’re led by the Holy Spirit? If we’re not, how can we be restored?
Read Galatians 2:11-21. What was Peter’s problem? How did Paul address it? What theology did Paul use in his argument?
Why don’t we believe the gospel at all times?

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Contend for the Faith