Beloved, using all diligence to write to you of our common salvation, I have been obliged to write to you exhorting [you] to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
Jude sat down to write one letter and ended up writing another. He meant to write about the salvation Christians share, but sent instead an urgent call to defend a faith already given and now under attack.
Why the letter changed course
One writer calls this change of plan unique, and shows why the dropped subject was not needed:
F. B. HoleJude had planned to write a treatise about "the common salvation." But he found himself turned aside from that plan. Instead he wrote this short letter, urging the defence of the faith. This is a remarkable admission and quite unique. The "common salvation" — that is, the salvation we all share — is indeed an endless theme... In fact an inspired explanation of that salvation was already available in Paul's letter to the Romans. And in the inspired Word God does not repeat Himself.
The redirection itself teaches something about how Scripture came to us:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHere is a very fine illustration at the close of the New Testament of how the Word of God was given. Jude had a desire to write about the common salvation. But the Holy Spirit wanted him to write about something else and made him do so — not in his own words but in words given by God.
What "the faith" means
Jude's word "faith" needs care here:
Hamilton Smith"The faith" Jude speaks of is not the personal faith by which we believe, but that which is to be believed — the truth. When error spreads and opposition raises its head, explaining the truth is not enough. We must contend for it. This means conflict. But when Christ is attacked and the truth is at stake, we must not shrink from fighting the good fight of faith on any plea of Christian love.
And Jude means the faith — the whole of it, not one favourite doctrine:
Hamilton SmithWe are not simply to contend for a particular truth. This has indeed been done. The result is that the truth as a whole has been lost. Sects have formed to hold on to one truth, such as holiness, the presence of the Spirit, the unity of the church, or the coming of the Lord.
The force of "once"
The small word "once" carries the weight of the verse (older versions read simply "once delivered"):
William Kelly"Once" is an ambiguous word. It might mean "once upon a time," once at a particular moment; but that is not the force of the word here at all. It means "once for all." And what a blessing it is that in this book... we have the holy deposit we are called to believe, given to us in full, "once for all." Every truth we are to receive is revealed in the word of God. Every difficulty and every departure from the truth is guarded against there in one way or another.
That closes the door on later additions, however respectable their source:
Hamilton SmithThe faith allows no addition, no change and no development... We may have much to learn about the truth. God may grant fresh light on truth already revealed, and we should grow in our grasp of it. But the truth itself has been delivered to the saints once for all. And it is for this that we are to contend. Not the truth held in part by the early Fathers, handed down by tradition, hardened into creeds or blurred by faulty teaching. It is the faith once delivered to the saints, in the very form it was delivered.
Contend for, not merely against
The word Jude uses is strong. Older translations read "contend earnestly," and one writer renders it "to earnestly agonize for the faith" (F. B. Hole). But the direction of that effort matters:
Hamilton SmithThere are times, indeed, when contending for the truth means exposing evil. But the great business of God's people is with the truth, not the error. Jude does not say earnestly expose the error, but "earnestly contend for the faith."
Every believer's task
Jude addresses ordinary believers, not a qualified few:
F. B. HoleOnly the Apostles were given the authority to explain the faith and commit it to the inspired Writings. Only a few were given to be pastors and teachers... How likely, then, that most believers would jump to the conclusion that defending the faith was also the business of a few. That is why this call was needed.
Sword in one hand, trowel in the other
One writer compares us to the men who rebuilt Jerusalem's wall under Nehemiah, working with a weapon at hand:
The Christian's FriendHe would have us, in a word, like Nehemiah's builders, with the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other... Notice that the sword is more for defence than for attack. But we must not avoid conflict when the faith once delivered to the saints is at stake.
Summary
- Diverted. Jude meant to write about the salvation all believers share. The Spirit turned his pen to a warning instead. That turn shows how God's Word was given.
- Deposited. "The faith" is not your believing but the thing believed: the truth, handed over as a whole, not in pieces.
- Final. "Once" means once for all — no additions, no development, no tradition or creed allowed to reshape it.
- Defended. Aim at the truth, not at error. Jude's word means to agonize for it.
- Everyone's. The call came to ordinary believers, not only to apostles and teachers. Every believer builds with one hand and holds the sword with the other.