Christianity

07/29/08

Contending For The Faith

Jude 1-25

Tonight I wanted us to look at one of the most neglected and controversial books in the New Testament. It is neglected because of its content and location. It is short, somewhat negative, and a little difficult to apply. And it is located after John's three short letters and before Revelation. Those are some mighty big shadows to live in.

Let’s read the book together tonight.  Please turn with me to the book of Jude.

Jude is controversial because of one phrase, found in vs. 3; "I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints."

Too many have taken that as a call not to contend for the faith, but to be contentious. Tonight we'll talk about just what Jude intends by this phrase. Who is threatening the faith? Why is Jude so worried about it? And what does it mean to contend for the faith?

It seems that Jude's intent was to write about the salvation we share. This letter was supposed to be a very positively charged piece celebrating the freedom Jesus has given us. But apparently, Jude received some news about false teachers who had secretly slipped in among his readers. So the letter winds up being not a joyous celebration, but a warning.

Before we go any farther we need to know that when Jude talks about faith he isn't talking about the act of believing. He is talking about the content of what is believed. He says the faith was once for all entrusted to the saints. Sometimes New Testament writers use the word faith to talk about how we live and act. Here, faith means the teachings and doctrines of what we believe. That's important because the false teachers who have slipped into the fellowship of Jude's church are changing the content of the faith.

Look at the last part of verse 4 to see what they have changed, "They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our sovereign and Lord."

It sounds like two things have been changed, but I suspect that the false teachers have really only changed one. They have turned the grace of God into a license for immorality. Their reasoning probably went like this; “If we sin, God's grace covers us. He forgives us. The more we sin, the more grace we receive. So don't worry about obedience any more. God's grace has rendered that concept obsolete. You are free to enjoy any pleasure in any way.” It is most likely that this abandonment of law included a heavy dose of sexual immorality.

By claiming that people didn't need to worry about how they lived, they were denying Jesus as Lord of our lives. Grace does mean that we are free from the power and guilt of sin. It does mean that we cannot earn our salvation by obedience. But it also means that we acknowledge that Christ is the Lord of our lives and that we live in obedience to him.

To emphasize the seriousness of this false teaching Jude offers three examples of what happens to the disobedient.

First, in vs. 5 he mentions those who were delivered out of Egypt but were so afraid of the people of Canaan that they refused to enter into the land and conquer it. Because of their disobedience and lack of faith they were not permitted to enter the Promised Land.

Second, in vs. 6, he mentions something that isn't found anywhere in the Bible, “Angels abandoned their God given positions and so were punished by God.”

That reference comes from a book called 1 Enoch that was written before the Birth of Christ. Now even though it was not a part of the inspired Scriptures, many of Jude's readers knew of 1 Enoch and of the story of the fallen angels. I believe that he brings this up to make his point that a departure from God's will is always met with punishment.

His third example, like his first, is from inspired Scripture. Sodom and Gomorrah gave themselves up to sexual immorality and were punished by God.

In vs. 8 he returns to the false teachers. He calls them dreamers who pollute their own bodies, who reject authority, and who slander celestial beings.  Jude probably means that these false teachers treated scripture with some contempt, calling it outdated and obsolete. They were led by exciting new dreams and visions, not old words from nameless angels written on parchment. Polluting their bodies probably refers to the sexual immorality they practiced.

In vs. 11 he refers to three more Old Testament examples. Like Cain, these false teachers are a danger to their brothers. Like Balaam, they lead God's people astray into sexual sin. Like Korah, who led a rebellion against Moses, they defy authority.

Then in vs. 12, Jude gets downright ugly. He calls the blemishes at your love feasts. They are cancers on the body of Christ.

He calls them selfish shepherds. They want only to feed themselves, not the flock.

Then he calls them clouds without rain. They promise but they don't deliver.

He calls them fruitless trees. Their teaching is barren.

He calls them wild waves of the sea. They litter the shoreline of the Church with the debris of false teaching.

He calls them wandering stars. Aimless, directionless comets which fly through the universe wreaking destruction.

In vv. 14 - 15 he quotes 1 Enoch again, promising that God will judge them for the trouble they are causing the church.

Then in one final barrage, Jude calls them grumblers, faultfinders, and braggarts.

We can summarize the false teachers Jude condemns like this;

1. They denied the authority of scripture. Instead of turning to the Word of God for direction in matters of faith, they turned to their own feelings.

2. They encouraged immorality among Christians.

3. They promoted their agenda through deceit and pretension.

4. Their motives were selfish. They sought financial gain and physical pleasure at the expense of the church.

5. Their false teaching divided the church and diluted the church's witness to the world.

Now we need to pause here and ask some important questions. First are there people like that in the church today?

Second what is it doing to our charge to Go, Teach, Baptize, and Make Disciples?

There are many in the church who find false teachers like the ones Jude condemns behind every other pulpit. Some who want to apply Jude to the church today, identify as false teachers those they disagree with.

Those accused of false teaching may hold a high view of scripture, they may urge Christians to live moral lives, they may be as open and honest about their teaching as anyone, and they may be motivated by a desire to understand and promote God's will, but because they have reached different conclusions than those who want to contend for the faith, they are attacked as the modern day sons and daughters of the false teachers Jude condemns.

A lady called me once to ask about where a passage of Scripture was found. The passage she was looking for is 2 Peter 2:20 - 21. "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their back on the sacred command that was passed on to them."

In this text Peter is writing about false teachers who slander celestial beings, who lead Christians into immorality, and who deny Scripture. Does that sound familiar?

I assumed that this well meaning sister wanted to use this passage to challenge someone she thought was heading down the wrong path. So as I helped her find it I said, "Ya know, we need to be careful about how we apply this passage. Peter is very specific in his condemnation here. Just because you don't agree with what someone else is saying, doesn't mean that they are like the people Peter condemns."

That's what I want to say to you tonight. Just because you don't agree with someone does not make them a cancer on the body of Christ. They may believe in the authority of scripture just like you do. Their motives may be even purer than yours. They may have no hidden agenda. They may be as heart broken and offended by immorality as you are. And they may long for the unity of the church and work for a clear, consistent witness to the world. They may also sincerely come to some different conclusions on how to interpret and apply some scriptures. That does not make them clouds without rain, trees without fruit, or wild waves driven and tossed by the wind.

On the other hand, there probably are Christians who put more stock in their own feelings than in the clear teaching of scripture. There probably are people in the church who not only secretly live an immoral lifestyle, but wish everybody else did too. They harbor a hidden agenda. Their motives are selfish. So how do we respond to people like that? How do we contend for the faith? Jude offers five ways. Let’s close quickly with them tonight.

1. Verse 17 - Don't be surprised.

"Remember what the apostles of our dear Lord foretold. They said to you, 'In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. '"

False teaching has always been a problem in the church. It always will be. Don't be shocked. The apostles prophesied that it would be so. When you encounter it, take it as confirmation that the Scriptures are reliable. They foretold it.

2. Verse 20 - Be proactive.

"Build yourselves up in your most holy faith."

The most powerful thing we can do to protect ourselves and our children from the destructive effects of false teaching, is to build up and strengthen the faith that we have.

Know God's Word. Know what you believe. Know why you believe it.

The best way to recognize false teaching when you hear it is to have a thorough knowledge of the truth. Tearing others down is not the biblical way to contend for the faith. Building yours up is the biblical way.

3. Verse 20 - Be prayerful.

Jude says, "Build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit."

We pray for the sick. We pray for peace in war torn countries. We pray for the moral decline of our nation. Why not add to your regular prayer list a plea that God will strengthen the church against false teaching.

Pray that God will give us the desire to know his word better, to understand it more clearly, to apply it more completely.

Pray that God will build our faith and make it stronger and stronger every day. The most effective way to contend for the faith is not to talk to others about where they are wrong or talk about them behind their backs, but to talk to God.

4. Verse 21 - Be consistent in your own walk with God.

"Keep yourselves in God's love."

Rather than looking out for the false steps of others, contend for the faith by making sure your steps are true and right. I can't live your life for you. You can't live mine for me. We each have a God given responsibility to make sure that our own lives are consistent with God's word.

I hope you will love me enough to challenge me. I need to show my love for you by challenging you if it looks like you are getting out of step. But your first priority is your own life. My first responsibility is mine.

5. Verse 22 - 23 - Be merciful.

"Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."

For all his fiery rhetoric, Jude cannot help but talk about mercy. Contending for the faith does not require meanness. It requires mercy. There are people in the church who are sincerely wrong on some of the things they believe. The truth is, all of us are wrong about something. We need to extend mercy to each other as together we try to love God more perfectly with our minds.

So often, those who want to contend for the faith treat people like they are the enemy. They are not the enemy. Sin is the enemy. People are the captives we are called to rescue. And the church is not a fortress we have to defend.

In Matthew 16: 18 Jesus said he would build his church on the foundation of the confession Peter had made. Jesus added that the gate of hell would not overcome his Church. That sounds like Jesus was saying that the repeated attacks of hell would never be able to breach the wall of the kingdom. But Jesus is saying exactly the opposite. It is the gates of hell that will not be able to withstand the repeated attacks of the church. We are not a fortress, we are an army. And an army will not survive very long if its soldiers spend all their time fighting against each other.

Contending for the faith does not require that we be contentious. It requires that we love people as much as we love the truth. Jesus didn't die to make us right on all the issues. He died to bring us together. If our definition of contending for the faith means destroying the unity for which he died, we need a new definition.

Jude ends not by firing off another barrage at the false teachers. He ends his brief letter by asking Christians to take a look at themselves. Are you building up your own faith? Are you being prayerful? Are you showing mercy? Is your walk in Christ consistent?