As I read the short epistle of Jude this morning I’m reminded that God has determined that the way of the believer from salvation to glorification is a divine partnership.

The bulk of the letter is a warning to believers concerning those who would infiltrate their ranks. They are “people have crept in unnoticed” . . . who would seek to “pervert the grace of God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (v.4). They “blaspheme what they do not understand” (v.10) and are those who have “walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion” (v.11). In short . . . bad news!

That their destructive potential resides in the midst of believers is evident for Jude says “they are reefs (or blemishes) at your love feasts” (v.12) . . . they are literally “at the table.” They are “grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage” (v.16). They are “worldly people, devoid of the Spirit” (v.19). Their cancerous apostasy and error pops up in the midst of companies of believers. What they say might sound good . . . maybe even be a “breath of fresh air” seemingly revitalizing the old, out-of-date, Christianity we’ve become critical of. But, at it’s core, is error . . . and heresy . . . and even blasphemy. It doesn’t line up with Scripture . . . seeks to redefine purity and holiness . . . and questions Jesus’ deity. And in the midst of these dangers, Jude presents a two-fold game plan to recognize and reject these false voices in our midst — this divine partnership I’m noticing.

First, he exhorts us “to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (v.3). The root word for contend is “agonize” and here the word is “super-sized” so that it has the idea of “really agonizing!” A term used of those contending in gymnastic games . . . striving to prevail . . . fighting against adversaries. So, in part, it’s up to us to pursue and hold on to the faith. It is my responsibility to know the word of God such that the heresy of these charlatans is recognized. I need to be a pursuer of truth and not settle for what my itching ears want to hear. I need to stand firm in what God has revealed and not be drawn away through some critical spirit which promotes division and opens me up to someone’s “new message.”

And I fear that we might view this as some theoretical “pie in the sky” type of exhortation and not recognize it as a vital posture we need to take now. These false teachers are in our Christian bookstores. They are setting up “evangelical” churches. They are being read on the internet. They are being funded by born again believers. Oh, how we need a spirit of discernment as we shop in the vast market place of literature and podcasts and eloquent preachers . . . those who claim to have a new, fresh spin on the “old, old, story.” We need to be like the Bereans who, after hearing Paul preach, “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11)

But it is not left solely to us . . . praise God! . . . there’s a partnership at play. Amidst the backdrop of this war for truth . . . in the context of us contending for the faith . . . Jude begins and ends his letter with a reminder that God is contending for us as well. Jude says that we are those who are called and are “sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ” (v.1 NKJV). And he closes his letter with the promise that God “is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy” (v.24).

IT is God’s battle too! And, if God is for us, who can be against us? But, because God is engaged in our preservation and sanctification, doesn’t mean that we have license to coast in our faith . . . to be complacent concerning the truth. Instead it should be our motivation to do battle for the truth knowing that the God of truth has promised to bring the victory.

We contend . . . He preserves. We fight for the truth . . . He keeps us from stumbling. We seek Him above all . . . He presents us faultless before the presence of His glory. My heart’s desire . . . His eternal promise that the work He has begun in me, He will complete (Php. 1:6). My holy determination . . . His divine preservation. My grace-infused grappling . . . His glory. What a divine partnership.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24,25 ESV)