Contending 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.” - Jude 1:3 (ESV)
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire…” - Jude 1:20-23 (ESV)
Being born in the early 90s, I can say that I am a part of the generation that grew up right alongside the development of cell phones, the internet, and social media. This means, of course, that I am the go-to person anytime my grandparents need help with their iPads, but I also remember a time before the widespread availability of the internet. Technology has improved drastically over the last few decades, and with the changes in technology came changes in how we give and receive information. Thanks to today’s internet, there are now millions of voices all vying for our attention through the use of websites, blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and much more.
Growing up in church, I often heard the question, “What would Jesus do?” This phrase was so popular and so often used that I still have a collection of wristbands with the acronym W.W.J.D. hiding somewhere in my old closet. The question, “What would Jesus do?” was not simply just a way of asking, “What is the right thing to do?” - it also implied that Jesus always knows what is right because he is God. Answering the question of what Jesus would do in a given situation required that we understood the character of Jesus. So, if I wanted to learn “what Jesus would do” when I was young, I had to learn about him for myself. Despite not having access to the library of information we enjoy on the internet today, I was still able to find all I needed to know in one book - the Bible!
One of the last things Jesus told his disciples before ascending into heaven was to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15 NIV). As believers in Christ, we share the same responsibility to tell others the good news of what Jesus has done for us! Jesus was clear that we have work to do! When we accept Jesus as our Savior, the Bible says that God begins a life-long work in us that will continue until we see Jesus face to face.
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
I believe that the “good work” Paul speaks of can refer to a few things. First, when we accept Jesus as our Savior, God begins a transforming work in us that only comes through our relationship with Christ. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV). Second, the “work” that God gives us is the same mission that Jesus gave his disciples. Paul describes his work in Philippians 1:7 as the “defense and confirmation of the gospel.” Simply put, God not only wants us to spread the good news of Jesus, but he also calls us to defend and confirm the truth of who Jesus is!
“[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” - 1 Timothy 2:4 (ESV)
So how can we best defend and confirm the truth of Jesus? Common sense tells us that we cannot defend the truth if we do not first know the truth ourselves. Recall that answering the question, “What would Jesus do?” requires that we know Jesus well enough to be able to answer the question confidently. Truly understanding Jesus for ourselves can only come in two ways: knowledge of him (which we receive from the Bible) and relationship with him. Without both knowledge and relationship, we do not have the complete picture of who Jesus is. Both are necessary for defending and confirming the truth. See what Paul writes about the love and knowledge of Christ:
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” - Philippians 1:9-11 (ESV)
If we grow in our love for Christ, and if we grow in our knowledge of Christ, then we will gain discernment. Discernment from God allows us to “approve what is excellent,” or to confirm what is good, right, and true. Friends, we are called to continually strengthen our relationship with Christ and to study the Word of God! Scripture constantly encourages us to make the Word of God a priority in our lives, not just to “defend and confirm” the truth, but also to be changed ourselves! God’s Word pinpoints the areas of our lives that are not in line with his perfect will and causes us to change. It is our guide through life and our barometer of truth. Sometimes it may be uncomfortable, but the Word of God always points us to Jesus.
In today’s world, answering the question, “What would Jesus do?” can seem a bit complicated. There is an overwhelming abundance of voices on the internet - books, videos, podcasts, radio shows, T.V. shows, blogs, and other media - that all have different opinions about who Jesus is, how to get to heaven, what it means to be a Christian, etc. (and yes, I see the irony that I am one of those voices). Anyone in search of God today has a virtual buffet of teachings to choose from, but we must be careful to test all teachings against the standard of truth - God’s Word. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to “test everything” and to “hold fast to what is good.” There are a few examples of this in the Bible, one being the Bereans in Acts 17, who tested the letters they received from Paul against the Scriptures.
“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” - Acts 17:11 (NIV)
God began a good work in us when we accepted Christ as Savior. As Christians, we all have a ministry - proclaiming the truth about who Jesus is and what he has done for us. In a world full of confusion about the nature of God, we are called to “contend for the faith,” to “defend and confirm the gospel,” and to proclaim the truth with love and humility. If we dig deep into the Bible and our relationship with God, then we can partake of the promise in Philippians 1:9-11 - that we will abound in love, knowledge, and discernment, and that we will be “pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.” That sounds good to me!
As I finish writing, I simply want to encourage you to pursue a deeper relationship with Jesus, to be bold in standing for the truth, and to trust God’s promise that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” I want to leave you with just a few more verses that speak on contending for your faith in a world full of false teachings:
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” - 2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” - 2 Timothy 4:3-5 (NIV)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” - Romans 1:16 (ESV)