I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. (Jude 3)
Some news is so important, it simply cannot wait. “I was just texting to say hello, but I just found out I got the job!” “I was calling to see if you had any eggs, but I just saw that a storm is headed our way.”
Jude began his short letter with a congenial introduction but quickly moved on to more pressing matters. He prayed that mercy, peace, and love would be in abundance for his readers, but he also wanted them to rise to the challenge that they faced. He urged them to stand up for the faith that had been entrusted to them and all the saints. The word faith often refers to the act of believing, but here it references the content of that act of belief. The faith entrusted to all the saints once for all is the grand story of God’s redemptive work in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jude fervently urged his readers not only to hold on to this faith but also to live it out in an increasingly unfriendly world.
Similarly, we have been entrusted with holding on to and living out this amazing faith. We are not called to take down the ungodly but rather to live out godly lives in contrast to the ungodliness around us. We are called to live out the mercy, peace, and love of our faith.
Contend for the faith by living it out!
Mark Moore PhD is an associate professor of theology at William Jessup University and the spiritual formation pastor at Faith Legacy Church in Sacramento, California.
© 2023 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
