Contending For the Faith P1

October 11, 2015 / No. 3797

Dear Radio Friends,
Introduction
In the next couple of broadcasts we are going to consider Jude verses 3 and 4. We read: “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. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
These verses contain Jude’s reason for the writing of this letter. There were members of the church who were walking in and teaching horrible error. Mind you, these men were not outside the church attempting to convince people to leave the church and join them. They were members of the church. Not men of simple and foolish minds who in weakness of faith were still walking in the sins of their past. They were influential and knowledgeable men who wittingly walked in the way of error and were teaching others to do the same. For this reason, Jude exhorts the church and her members to contend earnestly for the faith. The rest of this short letter is spent describing these men and their character.
Jude takes it upon himself to write this letter because of his personal love for God’s people. In this he leaves an example to every faithful elder and pastor to love the church—to love her so much that he will vehemently oppose sinful men who seek to harm her. Officebearers in the church must be characterized by a sincere, selfless love for the saints. It is out of that love that Jude now writes this epistle.
In fact, Jude’s original intent in writing this letter was different at the start. He was going to write to the saints about the common salvation. That was his original purpose. He was going to write to them about the work of Christ in our salvation. In other words, he was simply going to relate to the church some of the truths that were common to God’s people—those that were taught by others. He simply wished to confirm them in the faith. But sinful men were now plaguing the church and threatening to lead the sheep astray. For that reason, Jude changed his mind and now decided to urge God’s saints to contend for the faith. “Beloved,” Jude writes, “when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write to exhort you.” That then is what we are going to consider today and in our next broadcast too, the Lord willing: the exhortation of Jude to contend for the faith.

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
I. Ungodly Men
The reason, as we noted, for the saints to contend for the faith was that ungodly men had crept into the church. Jude describes them for us in verse 4, men “who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude uses some very descriptive language to identify and explain the character of these ungodly men. He begins by identifying them as those who were “before of old ordained to this condemnation.” That is an interesting twist of words, leading commentators to offer several different interpretations. But the most obvious is that of the KJV translators. These men were ordained from eternity to condemnation. This is what is meant by the words “before of old.” The word “old” means “a long time ago.” Then add the word “before” in front of that, “before a long time ago,” and we have a phrase that refers to before time began or, very simply, in eternity. Then we have the word “ordained.” Actually, the literal translation of that term is “forewritten.” These men were in eternity forewritten unto this condemnation. Forewritten—written before. This is what I meant when I said Jude uses some very descriptive language! In eternity certain men were written by God unto condemnation. You see, in His counsel God wrote two books. The one book we are well familiar with it. It is the Lamb’s Book of Life. In describing who will be in heaven, John writes in Revelation 21:24 and 27, “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it…. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Those whose names were written from eternity by God in the Lamb’s Book of Life will walk in heaven. But God has another book: It is the Book of Death. And God has certain names written in this book too—the names of those not written in the book of Life. We read in Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” The term “forewritten” here in Jude speaks of the truth that God from eternity wrote the names of those not chosen to eternal life in the Book of Death. We have an obvious reference here to that decree of predestination known as reprob