Jude 3
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
KJV
I was at someone’s home a while back doing some work. They had a classic car from many years ago (as you can tell I am not a car enthusiast because I cannot remember the make, model, or the year). The car was absolutely gorgeous and looked like it was brand new. The owner said this to me, “Everything on this car is original: the motor, the interior, the bumpers, and even the color. Nothing has been altered or changed, it is 100% the same as it was the day it came out of the factory.”
I have thought about that conversation many times and when I look at these words from the Book of Jude I am reminded of the importance of the original. Jude exhorted us to “earnestly contend for the faith” – this means that we are to “fervently fight, struggle, and make war” for the faith. Jude did not stop there but he went to say that we are to contend for the faith “which was once delivered unto the saints”. This is not any kind of faith that we are fighting for – it is the original faith! The faith that we fight for is the same faith that was delivered to the saints in the beginning. It is the faith of the Book of Acts – it is the faith of the New Testament Church. It is an unaltered, unchanged, original faith that we earnestly contend for. No one wants to fight for a corrupt faith. No one wants to contend for a diminished faith. No one wants to struggle for an inferior faith that has been altered. We fight for the same faith that the Apostle Paul fought for, that the Apostle Jude fought for, and that the Apostle John contended for. This faith is worth fighting for.
Today, there a many that sell their faith cheaply. The reason the sell their faith cheap is because it is cheap. The original faith of the New Testament is worth living and dying for. The faith that is being presented in most churches today is not the same as the Bible teaches. Their faith takes no stand against sin, the flesh, or the Devil. Their faith allows immorality and worldliness. There is very little to distinguish most “Christians” today from every one else.
Tens of thousands in the New Testament died for this faith. Why? Because this faith was worth more to them than their lives. That is the original faith. That is the faith that we fight for.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
KJV
I was at someone’s home a while back doing some work. They had a classic car from many years ago (as you can tell I am not a car enthusiast because I cannot remember the make, model, or the year). The car was absolutely gorgeous and looked like it was brand new. The owner said this to me, “Everything on this car is original: the motor, the interior, the bumpers, and even the color. Nothing has been altered or changed, it is 100% the same as it was the day it came out of the factory.”
I have thought about that conversation many times and when I look at these words from the Book of Jude I am reminded of the importance of the original. Jude exhorted us to “earnestly contend for the faith” – this means that we are to “fervently fight, struggle, and make war” for the faith. Jude did not stop there but he went to say that we are to contend for the faith “which was once delivered unto the saints”. This is not any kind of faith that we are fighting for – it is the original faith! The faith that we fight for is the same faith that was delivered to the saints in the beginning. It is the faith of the Book of Acts – it is the faith of the New Testament Church. It is an unaltered, unchanged, original faith that we earnestly contend for. No one wants to fight for a corrupt faith. No one wants to contend for a diminished faith. No one wants to struggle for an inferior faith that has been altered. We fight for the same faith that the Apostle Paul fought for, that the Apostle Jude fought for, and that the Apostle John contended for. This faith is worth fighting for.
Today, there a many that sell their faith cheaply. The reason the sell their faith cheap is because it is cheap. The original faith of the New Testament is worth living and dying for. The faith that is being presented in most churches today is not the same as the Bible teaches. Their faith takes no stand against sin, the flesh, or the Devil. Their faith allows immorality and worldliness. There is very little to distinguish most “Christians” today from every one else.
Tens of thousands in the New Testament died for this faith. Why? Because this faith was worth more to them than their lives. That is the original faith. That is the faith that we fight for.
