IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Contend for the Faith

Date: Aug. 30, 2023

Passage

Jude 1:1-16 (ESV)

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

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. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 1:3

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 is Jesus’ younger brother Judah (Mark 6:33). He is a church leader. He was planning on writing to the church a longer letter about salvation. But when he heard about the urgent matter of false teachers hijacking the church, he wrote to them this letter. He draws on other Hebrew literature that was well known to his audience of Jewish Christians. These stories are regarded as important as the Bible. They warn about rebellious people, and even angels, and their outcomes.

Likewise, we should heed Jude’s writing. We should contend for the faith when proud and rebellious people try to divide the church and lead members astray. We should not join in with them, remembering 1) how God dealt with the Israelites who rebelled in the wilderness after being set free from slavery in Egypt, 2) God’s judgment on the angels who rebelled, and 3) his destruction of Sodom. We should fear God and contend for the faith.

People who rebel are following Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Enoch who was persecuted prophesied how God wins the final victory over evil men who defy God, while seeking their own advantage.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, thank you for giving us the final victory. Help us contend for the faith and fight against those who are corrupt and bring down the church for their own gain.

One Word: One Word: Contend for the faith

Daily Bread

God Judges Each Person According to His Own Sins

Ezekiel 18:1-18

Key Verse: 18:9

walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord GOD.

Read More

Intro Daily