Through the Bible - Hosea 1-2, Revelation 1
Good morning,
Over the weekend many of you had the opportunity to watch some great football games. One of the surprises was the Redskins almost upsetting the Saints.
It just goes to show you that no matter how good a team may look on paper, they still have to play the game, the whole game. They must contend to win the game and ultimately the championship.
Over the weekend, the New Testament reading brought us to the little book of Jude where he had the same thing to say about our faith.
Jude 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. 4 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. NKJV
or from the Amplified Bible -
Jude 3 Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you in regard to our common salvation. [But] I found it necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently appeal to and exhort [you] to contend for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints [the faith which is that sum of Christian belief which was delivered verbally to the holy people of God].
4For certain men have crept in stealthily [gaining entrance secretly by a side door]. Their doom was predicted long ago, ungodly (impious, profane) persons who pervert the grace (the spiritual blessing and favor) of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality, and disown and deny our sole Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Amplified Bible
The Greek word translated for "contend earnestly" is the basis for the English word agonize. If you were to watch a football game closely. You would see players and coachs "agonize", giving it their all sometimes suffering injury for the good of the team. Our faith is not to be passive, we will face struggles and temptations that may cause us to agonize, but we are to persevere, to contend for the complete gospel that has been passed on down to us from Jesus and the apostles.
The verses tell us that : 1) there is a faith that has been delivered to the saints, 2) this faith is worth contending for, 3) this faith is repeatedly threatened from within the church and without, 4) every genuine believer should contend for the faith
In a sermon on this passage, John Piper gives us some important points to consider. "For us one of the most important phrases in verse 3 is "once for all." Here we are 2,000 years after the faith was first delivered to the church, and we are surrounded with hundreds of people and sects and cults who claim to have a new word of revelation that now completes God's word to mankind. Mohammed offered his Koran. Joseph Smith his Book of Mormon. Sun Moon his Divine Principle. And you meet people every day who consider every contemporary intellectual trend as a suitable replacement for the Bible.
But please notice very carefully. Jude taught that the faith has been once for all delivered to the saints. God's revelation concerning the doctrinal content of our faith is finished. The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). Anyone who comes along and claims to have a new word from God to add to the faith once for all delivered to the saints is against Scripture."
The thought of contendind for the faith is not something that is a suggestion to us, it is a responsibility. How are you taking your responsibility lately? May our response be that of the apostle Paul.
"I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me!" Colossians 1:29
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace NIV
Jude 1-5
1 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:
2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Contend for the Faith
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. 4 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. NKJV
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