Contend Earnestly

"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."

Jude 1:3

Followers of Jesus Christ require the leading of the Holy Spirit to contend for the faith without being contentious.  We are, as much as depends upon us, to live peaceably with all in a world at war with God.  The Gospel is always going to be offensive to worldly wisdom, but the meekness, gentleness, and humility of Christ leads us walk in love towards those within and without the Body of Christ the church.

What Jude wrote to believers is very instructive, exhorting believers to contend earnestly for the faith.  It is telling he did not direct believers to contend with heretics or those who seek to turn people away from the truth--though at times it may be required.  In following verses Jude provided examples of ungodly conduct and apostasy we are equipped through scripture to discern.  But "destroying" people is not the target of any action we take because our aim is to positive, not negative:  we are to contend for the faith.  Our primary purpose in our response is to promote Jesus Christ by example and deed above denouncing false doctrine and those who teach them.  Arguments which rise up contrary to Christ should be cast down and unrepentant heretics and apostates cast out, but these conflicts are secondary in our intent to uphold the Gospel and the Word of God.

Paul informed believers their battle was not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness.  This spiritual battle is played out in the real world and involves other people, and this battle that is the LORD's has been declared a victory by Jesus Christ.  The exhortation of Jude is all believers are to "contend earnestly for the faith" which was delivered to us once for all.  The phrase "earnestly contend" comes from a Greek word that means to struggle for, the word from which the English word "agonise" is derived.  In a world darkened with sin to live for God will be a struggle yet can be accomplished by the grace of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Earnestly contending for the faith is more than debating doctrine but in living in the way which pleases God.

It is one thing to be able to recognise what is right and wrong but another thing altogether to walk accordingly.  Paul continued on the subject of why they ought to contend earnestly in Jude 1:4:  "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."  Paul then provided examples of the ungodly sort of men who had infiltrated the church who turned the grace of God into license to sin and denied Christ by their lives marked with unbelief, abuse of authority, sexual immorality, hate, greed, hypocrisy, complaining, and pride.  Our agonising is not primarily to ferret out these things from the lives of others but to take an honest look at ourselves, repent of our sins, and contend earnestly for the faith.

Those who have been born again by grace through faith in Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit the infiltrators do not have.  A fig tree will produce figs, and a child of God will bear a growing resemblance to Jesus Christ in faith, love, and obedience to God.  If our lives resemble those negative examples Jude provided, we work to undermine the truth of the Gospel rather than adorning it.  Paul laboured with singular focus to this end as he wrote in Philippians 3:14, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  Jesus and the Word of God has delivered to us doctrine that is pure and true, and Jesus set the bar infinitely high in living up to it.  As His faithful followers, we ought to contend earnestly for the faith.

Our Sabbath Rest

I was asked recently if I observe a "Sabbath."  My reply was in the affirmative, but a little explanation was required.  I do not observe a day according to the demands or confines of the Mosaic Law, but look to Jesus Christ who IS my Sabbath.  Colossians 2:16-17 says, "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."  As a follower of Jesus, my call is to look to Him and follow His lead, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth according to God's promise.

Knowing the Sabbath observed by the Hebrews is a shadow of what Christ is the reality changes the way Christians view every day:  every day is fitting to be about our LORD's business, and our rest is found in Him.  Jesus did not call Gentiles to live as Jews or Jews to cast aside adherance to the Law because they could, but created a new creation of the two groups, the Church of which He is the Head.  The Pharisees watched Jesus like hawks, seeking any occasion by which to accuse Him.  On the Sabbath they were particularly vigilant because He spurned their extra-biblical traditions.  Though there was no prohibition to heal the sick on the Sabbath, they considered such a thing unlawful work.

Mark 3:1-5 reads, "And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ² So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. ³ And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." ⁴ Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent. ⁵ And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other."  It is always lawful to do good and save life, and Jesus proved it with this restoration of the man with the withered hand.  Instead of defining our observation of the Sabbath by what we do not do, it is to be through looking to Jesus and walking by faith according to His leading.

Man was not created for the Sabbath, but this intermission and rest from labour was provided by God for the benefit of man.  God rested after the creation of the world not because He was tired but because He knew working man and beast would be.  He knew we needed reminders of who He is, His great power, and the gift of rest found only by His grace.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

The Voice of Worry

In light of God's goodness, knowledge provision, and care Jesus told His disciples not to worry.  They weren't to worry about clothes, food, or the future.  The God who provides food for each sparrow and clothes flowers with beauty greater than Solomon values and cares for those created in His image.  Worrying is sin because it comes from unbelief in God's goodness and His promises and is often rooted in self.

It occurred to me today that if I were to personify Worry, Complaining and Murmuring are her children.  We all know what it feels like to worry, to experience anxiety from circumstances we find stressful.  Much of our fretting is internal and this inner friction inevitably reveals itself in overt ways:  we speak harshly, sigh frequently, and complain.  Complaining gives worry a voice when we gripe about a situation we are displeased with instead of casting our cares upon God and resting in Him.  We can complain about someone else complaining rather than addressing the issue with the complainer directly.  Fundamentally the issues of worry and complaining are one in the heart against God.

Not convinced?  Think about the conduct of the children of Israel in the wilderness after God brought them out of Egypt.  He provided for all their needs but complained and murmured against Him.  Jesus taught if we have an offense against a person we ought to go to them alone and discuss, but complaining is airing a personal grievance in public.  Many times the Hebrews complained about their situation they are described as "murmuring against" God.  And when people murmured about Moses, he informed them their murmuring was not actually against him but God (Ex. 16:8).  Murmuring suggests holding a grudge, bitterness against God!  Their complaints with God were spoken around their children, to their wives and neighbours--and God heard them all and saw the deception and hypocrisy in their hearts.

Complaining and murmuring is a surefire way to provoke God to anger because it is abiding sin not repented of.  Numbers 11:1 puts this in vivid detail:  "Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp."  Just because God is gracious to us and is longsuffering and patient does not mean complaining is no less sinful.  Man, this hits close to home for me.  How often I have complained when I ought to have prayed!  Complaining it itself is not wrong, for Asaph wrote in Psalm 77:3:  "I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah"  Asaph called out to God in a complaint which led to praise because his response to difficulty was directed by faith in God.

Friend, is your life marked with complaining and murmuring?  Let us bring our cares to God's throne of grace so we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Worrying, complaining, and murmuring cannot enable us to grow an inch taller or change our situation for the better, but these sins of unbelief ultimately result in judgment.  Instead of giving worry a voice through complaining, may our repentant hearts be moved to praise our awesome God!

God's Inner Circle

I am continually blown away by the breadth and depth of God's Word.  The 66 books written over a span of 1,500 years do more than dovetail with one another but are in perfect harmony concerning God in the most minute detail.  It is a book one can read for decades and daily discover new connections never before understood, personal revelations from the living God who breathed it into existence.  It does far more than provide intrigue or facts but refreshes us with all we need by God's grace.  God sees our needs met by His grace.

The other night I read something I had forgotten about, how God organised the camp of the Hebrews after the exodus from Egypt.  God's visible presence hovered over the tabernacle in the centre of the camp with three tribes to the north, south, east, and west.  See what Numbers 1:52-53 explains concerning those of the tribe of Levi, those chosen to serve the LORD in facilitating worship of God and teaching of His laws:  "The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies; ⁵³ but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony."  Instead of receiving an inheritance of land, God was to be their inheritance (Deut. 10:9, Joshua 13:33).

The Levites were responsible before God to be sanctified according to the Law of Moses so they could offer and partake of the sacrifices offered at the tabernacle.  Only purified Levites were permitted to handle the holy things of the tabernacle of meeting.  They were to camp encircling the tabernacle so there would "be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel," providing a sanctified buffer which preserved their fellows.  It was not because Levi or his children were the most pious or deserving of Israel's sons but were chosen by God's grace to be servants about His business.

This caused me to consider how followers of Jesus Christ provide a blessing and benefit to others who do not know or believe in God:  interceding in prayer for individuals and nations, serving with the love of Jesus, filled with generosity, extending grace, showing kindness and compassion for one another.  Jesus called His disciples the "salt of the earth," and salt liberally applied to meat enables it to be preserved for a long time in the right conditions.  Whilst we serve our LORD Jesus Christ, chosen and sanctified by grace similar to the Levites, God's presence in us makes a difference to everyone else in the world.  Sometimes we don't appreciate what we have until we lose it; we are prone to take much for granted.  I believe the unbelieving world benefits more from Christians than they could possibly realise--even as God operates in a realm beyond our knowledge or observance.  God doesn't need us but makes a good difference to the world through us.

All throughout the scriptures there is the reoccurring theme of God's grace:  grace to bring life where there was once nothing, grace to reveal Himself to wretched sinners, grace to preserve us from wrath we wholly deserve, and grace to use us to bless and save others.  Ephesians 2:13 reminds us, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."  We who were once aliens of the commonwealth of the kingdom of God have been brought into God's inner circle, by grace having been made one with Jesus Christ, even called God's beloved children.  Praise the LORD!