| | | | Truth that changes the world - Jude 3 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 3
When I was a young, I was that kid that was always taking things apart. Whenever something new came into our house, I wanted to know how it worked, and there was only one way to know how something works; Take it apart! I think my dad was the world's most patient man, because most of the things that I took apart, ended up not working too well after I put them back together.
But I did learn a valuable lesson; Everything has specifications that must be adhered to in order to work correctly. There are rules that must be observed. There are instructions that must be followed. Regardless of whether I was doing a home-improvement project, working on a motorcycle, building a website, or overseeing a project at work, if I wanted it to work, then I needed to adhere to the specifications. In other words, I had to operate on what was TRUE. If you attempt to alter the mechanics, do things in a different order, use a different part, or use a different equation, whatever it is you're doing isn't going to work.
I've realized that this principle applies to every part of my life: My household budget, physical health, relationships, and yes even my faith. I've learned that I can't operate base on how I want things to be, I have to operate on how things actually are.
That's why what Jude is telling us is so important, that we as Christians must be on guard to protect and preserve the truth contained in the doctrines that have been handed down to us through the bible. When you change the truth of the gospel, it becomes powerless to change the life of a human. That's why Jude implores us to "contend earnestly for the faith." "The faith" doesn't mean our own personal belief, it means "the essential truths of the gospel that all true Christians hold in common." The faith that was "once for all" delivered to the saints. It is the truth found in the scriptures. It doesn't change, and it doesn't evolve with the times.
That's why we as Christians have to "contend" for the faith. The culture and trends of our society are constantly changing, but truth never changes. 2+2 still equals 4 (no matter what the Common Core curriculum teaches!).
But not only should we recognize the importance of holding tight to sound doctrine, but we must also be purposeful about delivering it to successive generations. C. H. Spurgeon noted
"The church is always one generation short of extinction. If our generation fails to guard it and pass it on to the next generation, it will be the end." CH Spurgeon
In other words, we as Christians must have a vision that goes beyond our own lives, and our own generation. Jude is giving us a mandate to be purposeful and intentional to remain grounded in the "faith once and for all delivered to the saints," and to continue to deliver that faith to successive generations of saints, unchanged, and unaltered.
How else can we change the world?
Pastor Clay | | | | | | | |
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