Contending for the Faith

“Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:1-4

“If it feels good, do it.” Such deceitfully selfish reasoning is not only the prevailing motto of our generation, but it also was the sensuous lifestyle of many when the New Testament was written. Especially rampant was this carnal theology: “Since only the ‘spirit’ is good, one can live indulgently in the flesh.” Jude describes this twisted thinking as turning “the grace of our God into licentiousness” (Jude 1:4).

Those who have received Christ as Savior have discovered a glorious freedom from the slavery of sin. The truth has indeed set them free. The liberty of forgiveness and reconciliation, however, can be abused: “Oh, well, I know this act is sinful, but God will forgive me.” Paul recoiled at the thought of cheapening the grace of God. “...Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be!...” (Romans 6:1-2).

The grace of God liberates us to serve our new Master, Jesus Christ. The more we adore the riches of God’s grace and mercy, the more we want to serve, worship, and obey Him. Trivializing the grace that flows from the blood of the cross is to “deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4).

Grace is liberty, not license.