Contend For The Faith
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
- Jude 3-4, ESV
The last three New Testament epistles (letters) are also some of the shortest, but they are also linked by a common theme. Second John, Third John, and Jude all warn their recipients against false teachers who distort the Gospel. Jude’s warning is the strongest, but Second and Third John also contain similar warnings, which are also stated by Peter (2 Peter 2:1-3) and Paul (Philippians 3:3, Titus 1:10-16, etc.). Jude spends most of his letter describing these false teachers in graphic detail. Why? In verse 3, he appeals to his readers to contend for the faith. His use of “contend” implies a fight or struggle, which is echoed by Paul (Philippians 1:27, 1 Timothy 6:12). I recently wrote of the need for unity in the church, but clearly there is an appropriate time to fight. It is important for every Christian to know when and why we must fight, who we must fight against, and how we must fight.
What to Contend for and When
First, since Scripture is filled with calls to maintain peace whenever possible (eg. Romans 12:18), it is important to know what we must contend for and when it is appropriate to fight for it. Jude makes it clear in verse 3: “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints”. This is clearly the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which Paul says is “of first importance…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). This is the Gospel: salvation by the grace of God alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone to the glory of God alone as revealed in Scripture alone. Anything contrary to this is a false gospel that must be opposed.
When should we fight for the Gospel? Jude answers this by stating that people “pervert the grace of our God…and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ”. Jude accentuates this by describing the Gospel as delivered to us “once for all”. This precludes any distortion of the Gospel that adds anything to or subtracts anything from the Gospel as it is clearly taught in Scripture. This means that any gospel that subtracts from the person and work of Christ or adds any requirements other than the work of Christ (such as good works) is a false gospel. Thus, we must fight for the purity of the Gospel when it is threatened.
One could argue that the Gospel is always threatened, as unbelievers frequently attack the Christian faith. This is typically what we think of as the greatest threat to the Gospel. However, Jude does not have external threats in view, since he says these enemies have “crept in unnoticed”. Later, he calls them “hidden reefs at your love feasts” (Jude 12), referencing communion and therefore revealing these as enemies within the church. This means that we are called to contend for the Gospel whenever its purity is threatened within the church.
It is equally important to note what Jude doesn’t mention: anything but the Gospel. While we must contend for the Gospel, we are not fight over secondary doctrines (like the specifics of baptism and eschatology) or personal preferences. Scripture explicitly commands us not to fight over such things (Romans 14:1). This is why my theology page focuses on core doctrines rather than secondary doctrines and controversies. Still, even that goes a bit beyond core doctrines, so we must rely on what Scripture clearly teaches as the Gospel, which has been recognized throughout the history of the church and concisely stated in various creeds such as the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed. So the Christian must fight for the Gospel against false teaching in the church, but only for the Gospel—and not secondary issues.
Such false gospels are a constant thorn in the side of the church. In the First Century, the Judaizers were false teachers that perennially threatened the church by claiming that trusting in Christ was not enough for salvation without being circumcised and following the Jewish law. The entire book of Galatians is written to refute them. In our day, people often add good works to the gospel, so that one cannot be saved without them. A specific form of this is how our current society’s emphasis on social justice and tolerance have permeated the church. Other churches have a tendency to elevate patriotism and American ideals to the same level as Christ. Whether social justice or patriotism, wokeness or Americanism, these earthly things are seen as more important in some churches than Christ Himself. Any such false gospels devalue the true Gospel and mock the work of Christ, being therefore just as damaging to the church as the Judaizers were two thousand years ago. The health of the church requires we contend against all such false gospels and the teachers who espouse them.
Who to Contend Against
Clearly these false teachers are a serious threat, but how can we differentiate between them and genuine believers with which we disagree on secondary issues or genuine believers lacking detailed knowledge of the faith? Jude spends most of the letter describing the false teachers we are called to contend against. From his statements (and John’s) we can spot false teachers by both their teachings and their way of life. For teaching, Jude says that they deny Christ (Jude 4). John similarly warns against teachers who do not abide by Christ’s teachings (2 John 9-10). John also gives various criteria for spotting them throughout 1 John, but most explicitly states that false teachers deny that Jesus has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2). All of this means that false teaching can be spotted by a denial of the Trinity (and therefore of Christ as God), the denial of both the deity and humanity of Christ, and denial of the sufficiency of Christ’s work of salvation.
False teachers can also be identified by their sinful lifestyle. Jude calls them ungodly people who are designated for condemnation (Jude 4) and “shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 12b-13) Later, he says: “These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage” (Jude 16). John calls out one of these false teachers directly, stating that a certain Diotrephes put himself first, slandered the apostles rather than respecting their authority, and actively worked against the true believers in the church (3 John 9-10). Paul similarly calls out Hymenaeus, Alexander, and Philetus who rejected the Gospel and taught false doctrines (1 Timothy 1:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:16-18). In addition to pride, selfishness, and slanderous speech, Jude points out that these false teachers embrace sensuality and perversion (Jude 4, 8), much like the woman John refers to as “Jezebel” in Thyatira (Revelation 2:20). In our day, people similarly distort the Gospel to support their sexual immorality (whether homosexuality or heterosexual promiscuity), selfishness, and greed. The true Gospel calls us to repentance of our sin, so beneath many false gospels lurks the persistent sins that their false teachers are seeking to justify.
Thus, false teachers can be identified by their selfishness, opposition to the authority of both Scripture and the duly ordained elders of the church, arrogance, discontentment, and a desire for personal gain as well as their propensity to lead others astray after them. This is detrimental to the health and unity of the church, meaning that a Christian who is devoted to the local church (as we all should be) is therefore obligated to oppose such false teachers in the church for the ultimate good of the church. We should strive for peace, but there can be no true and lasting peace in the church while these false teachers remain unopposed.
How to Contend
We know we must fight against all threats to the purity of the Gospel within the church, but how must we fight? John gives us a hint in how he deals with Diotrephes: “So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing” (3 John 10a). John does not plan to expel Diotrephes from the church (at least not yet), but instead plans to fight his lies by exposing him. We can only fight against false teaching by continually and relentlessly preaching the true Gospel and thereby calling out the falsity of any teaching that is contrary to it. If such false teachers continue to cause division after being exposed, it is appropriate for the church to excommunicate them as Paul did to Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Timothy 1:20). Regardless, Scripture is clear that all believers are to have nothing to do with them (Titus 3:10). Jude speaks of them as condemned unbelievers, so we should pray for their faith and repentance, sine our gracious and merciful God has the power to save them. In other words, we are to fight not as the world fights but by speaking the truth of Scripture in love. Finally, it is important to note that all of this takes wisdom and discernment which can only come through the Holy Spirit and is most often found in the community of the saints. And however we oppose these false teachers and their teachings, we must be careful not to cause unnecessary damage to the church in the process.
All in all, while peace in the church is necessary and should be sought by all believers, it cannot exist while false teaching is tolerated. Therefore, Christians must contend for the Gospel against all false teaching that perverts it. This is done by first understanding and holding fast to the true Gospel then identifying and fighting against any teaching that distorts it. The Gospel is the most precious possession of any Christian and is therefore worth our utmost effort to defend.
