We should Earnestly Contend for the Faith Delivered to the Saints – the Common Faith

In his epistle, Jude said, I found it necessary to write to you and exhort you to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints; we need to be those contending for the faith, the objective faith, and not contend for any doctrine or teaching. Amen!

On one hand, we need to hold the faith, keep the faith, and hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience; on the other hand, we need to contend for the faith.

What is the mystery of the faith? The mystery of the faith to which we must hold with a pure conscience is not our action of believing but our objective faith.

The mystery of the faith is mainly Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ.

On one hand, we need to know and enjoy Christ as the mystery of God; Christ is the embodiment of the invisible God, making the eternal, invisible, intangible, infinite God known to us.

On the other hand, we need to know the mystery of Christ, which is the church; the church is the Body of Christ, the enlargement of Christ, the expression of Christ.

Paul asked the Ephesian believers to pray for him that he would be bold to speak the mystery of the gospel.

The mystery of the gospel is Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ.

The faith into which we believe, the objective faith given to all the saints, is something very mysterious.

It is contained in the New Testament and, when we see the person and work of Christ, we react by believing.

The Gospel of God is concerning Christ and the church.

The gospel of Paul, the gospel entrusted to the apostle Paul, is the gospel of God, which includes Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ.

When we speak of the gospel of God concerning Christ, we realize that God is mysterious and cannot be seen, but at the same time all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. This is Christ as the mystery of God.

This Christ is all-inclusive and extensive; He wants to gain us and gain the church as His Body, the group of redeemed people who go through the processes of God’s organic salvation to be fully conformed to the firstborn Son of God and be built up together as the church, the Body of Christ as the mystery of Christ.

When we come to the meetings of the church we need to realize that the church is the mystery of Christ, and all the saints are partaking of the riches of Christ so that together we may become the fullness of Christ.

We were all in Adam, natural, sinners, and fallen; but after we heard the gospel, we were infused with the heavenly television of what God is, and we were regenerated with the life of God.

Now we are the church, the corporate expression of Christ, even the mystery of Christ.

As we serve in the church, we need to serve by holding and keeping the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

We deal with our conscience and confess anything that the divine light exposes. In a pure conscience, having God as our single goal, we hold the mystery of the faith. Amen!

We Believers in Christ have Subjective Faith to Believe in God and we Contend for the Objective Faith

The New Testament speaks of faith repeatedly, but faith has two main aspects: one is the objective faith, the content of the faith that we believe into and are saved, and the other is the subjective faith, our action of believing.

In Jude 3 the apostle said that we need to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

The faith in this verse refers not to the action of believing but the faith, the objective faith, the contents of the New Testament as our faith (Acts 6:7; 1 Tim. 1:19; 3:9; 4:1; 5:8; 6:10, 21; 2 Tim. 2:18; 3:8; 4:7; Titus 1:13).

The New Testament unveils particular items into which we need to believe in order to be saved.

The New Testament doesn’t say that if we believe in proper head-covering or in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are saved.

Neither does it say that, if we believe in miraculous gifts made by God through man, we are saved.

There is such a thing in the Bible as the common salvation, the faith that has been delivered to all the saints.

Another verse that speaks of the faith is 1 Tim. 1:19; here Paul said that we need to hold faith (the subjective faith) and a good conscience, concerning which some, thrusting these away, have become shipwrecked concerning the faith.

We need to hold to our capacity to believe by exercising our spirit to come to the Lord and to His word so that we may not be shipwrecked concerning the faith.

The faith concerning which we can be shipwrecked is the objective faith, the object of our faith.

2 Pet. 1:1 tells us that equally precious faith has been allotted to us; this is the subjective faith, the faith that is within us.

At the time of regeneration, each believer in Christ has been allotted equally precious faith, the ability to believe.

Our subjective faith, our believing ability, is very precious, and each genuine Christian has this equally precious subjective faith. Hallelujah!

We need to exercise our spirit of faith (2 Cor. 4:13) and keep the faith, even contend for the faith delivered to the saints once and for all.

We need to make the distinction between the subjective faith and the objective faith.

We do not contend for the subjective faith, for the action of believing, nor do we keep the subjective faith; we hold the subjective faith and treasure it as a precious faith allotted to all the saints, and we fight for the objective faith and contend for the faith.

There are many teachings in the Bible, but not all of them are part of the faith.

There are many things in the New Testament that we can take as an ordinance or a practice, but they are not part of the faith.

The faith, the common faith delivered to all the saints, needs to be what we fight for; the subjective faith, our action of believing, needs to be what we hold to.

As we live in the age of the degradation of the church, as the church is declining and inching farther and farther away from God’s original intention, we need to hold to the subjective faith and not be shipwrecked concerning the objective faith.

As the age becomes darker and the degradation of the church becomes deeper, we need to treasure our precious faith, and our action of believing, and we need to contend for the objective faith, the common faith that has been delivered once for all to all the saints.

Lord Jesus, we want to hold to the subjective faith so that we may not be shipwrecked concerning the objective faith. Amen, Lord, we believe in You and in the work You have accomplished for us, and we believe in the contents of God’s New Testament economy. We want to keep the faith in a pure conscience. Hallelujah, we have the equally precious faith allotted to us, for we believers in Christ have the precious faith, the believing ability, implanted into us. Amen, Lord, we come to You in Your word to be infused with more faith and we hold to the faith. Thank You for delivering faith to us once for all. We want to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. We do not want to contend for any doctrine or teaching; we simply want to fight the good fight of the faith, contending for the faith. Praise the Lord for the common faith delivered to the saints, according to which we are saved. Amen, Lord, we keep the faith and we contend for the faith!

Earnestly Contend for the Faith once for all Delivered to the Saints, the Common Faith

Jude wanted to write to the saints concerning our common salvation, but he found it necessary to write to them and exhort them to earnestly contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

What is this faith that we need to earnestly contend for? What does the faith contain, what is it composed of, and what is the contents of the faith?

Many Christians today fight for doctrines and teachings, and unless you strongly believe this or that doctrine or teaching, they do not want to fellowship with you.

The faith given to us by God, the common faith (Titus 1:4), is the contents of God’s will given to us in the New Testament.

This will doesn’t include as major items things such as foot-washing, head covering, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, performing miracles, healing and raising the dead, or methods of baptism.

Neither does it include such practices as calling on the name of the Lord, pray-reading the Word, declaring the hymns, prophesying in the meetings, or praying together with the saints.

All these are teachings and practices, but they are not part of the common faith, the faith for which we must earnestly contend.

According to the divine revelation in God’s word, here is a comprehensive statement of faith.

Holding the Bible as the complete and only divine revelation, we strongly believe that God is eternally one and also eternally the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the three being distinct but not separate. We hold that Christ is both the complete God and the perfect man. Without abandoning His divinity, He was conceived in the womb of a human virgin, lived a genuine human life on earth, and died a vicarious and all-inclusive death on the cross. After three days He resurrected bodily and has ascended to the heavens. He is now in glory, fully God but still fully man. We look to His imminent return with the kingdom of God, by which He will reign over the earth in the millennium and in eternity. We confess that the third of the Trinity, the Spirit, is equally God. All that the Father has and is, is expressed by the Son; and all that the Son has and is, is realized as the Spirit. We further believe that mankind is in need of God’s salvation. Though we were absolutely unable to fulfill the heavy demands of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory, Christ fulfilled all the requirements through His death on the cross. Because of Christ’s death, God has forgiven us of our sins, justified us by making Christ our righteousness and reconciled us to Himself. Based on Christ’s redemption, God regenerates the redeemed with His Spirit to consummate His salvation, that they may become His children. Now possessing God’s life and nature, the believers enjoy a daily salvation in His Body in this age and the eternal salvation in the coming age and in eternity. In eternity we will dwell with God in the New Jerusalem, the consummation of God’s salvation of His elect.

This can be found here, here, and here. The faith, our belief, is constituted of certain basic truths.

First, we believe that God is one yet triune – He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

Second, we believe that our God became incarnated in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Third, we believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnated as man, lived on earth and died on the cross for our sins, thus securing our redemption.

Fourth, we believe that on the third day, He was resurrected from the dead both physically and spiritually, and today He’s our Savior, our Lord in resurrection, and our life.

Because we believe into Him and His work, our sins are forgiven, He comes into us as our life, and we are regenerated to be children of God and members of the Body of Christ.

Together, we believe that we are the church as the Body of Christ, which is one universally and locally.

We further believe that one day the Lord Jesus will come back to receive us, His believers, to Himself.

These are the basic truths to which we adhere and for which we contend.

We need to earnestly contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.

All genuine, sound believer holds these basic truths, for they are our common faith.

No matter the outward practice, the days we meet, the other doctrines we hold dear to, and the teachings we treasure, we all need to keep the faith and earnestly contend for the faith.

We do not contend for the doctrines or for teachings.

Many denominations, mega-churches, and free groups today emphasize different doctrines or practices, and they are set apart from others because they hold to these things.

We should not fight for doctrine but be willing to fight for the faith.

This is what Paul told Timothy in 1 Tim. 6:12, to fight the good fight of the faith.

Concerning the faith, we must be strong, bold, and definite, being ready to earnestly contend for the faith delivered to the saints.

However, as far as doctrines and practices are concerned, we must be liberal with others. May we bring these matters to the Lord in prayer and really be before Him concerning our faith, our action of believing, and the faith, the common faith that we believe into.

Lord Jesus, we believe into You and we love You! We love You and we love the Word of God. We want to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Thank You for giving us the common faith, the contents of God’s will revealed to us in the New Testament. Amen, Lord, we believe that God is one yet triune – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We believe that God was incarnated in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ lived on earth and died on the cross for our sins to secure our redemption. We believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected on the third day from the dead, both spiritually and physically! We believe that Jesus Christ is now in resurrection and ascension to be our Savior, our Lord, and our life! Amen, Lord, we believe that, by having faith in You, our sins have been forgiven, You came into us as life, and we have been regenerated! We believe that we are members of the Body of Christ, the church, and we also believe that one day You will return to receive us all to Yourself. Hallelujah! Amen, Lord, we want to contend for the faith and not fight for any doctrine, teaching, or Christian practice.

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References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 398, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing in Order to Receive the Reward of Christ as the Crown of Righteousness (2024 ICSC), week 3, Keeping the Faith.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Appreciation of the leading brothers’ faithful speaking, with supporting verses, via, Living to Him.
  – Faith & Grace Bring Us to New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Contending for the Faith: the Triune God, via, Contending for the faith.
  – Defense & Confirmation Project (DCP), article via, Shepherding words.
  – The oneness of the faith, a portion from, Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 14, by Witness Lee.
  – Contending for the faith: the person of Christ, via, Contending for the faith.
  – The statement of faith, via, Amana Trust.
  – The oneness of the faith, a portion from, The Practical Expression of the Church, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – Challenging the Traditional Interpretations of Justification by Faith, via, Historical Evaluations of Christian thought.
  – The faith of Jesus Christ, via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – How to Have Faith? 12 Action Verbs to Fill You with Faith, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Our faith, testimony, and history – a brief introduction to the local churches and the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.
  – To Contend for the Common Faith & Not to be Contentious for Other Things, via, Simply Katherine, a Christian blog.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The faith which once for all was giv’n / Unto the saints of old, / Has been committed unto us / To guard, defend, and hold. / And we know whom we have believed / And are persuaded that He is able / To guard, through the Holy Spirit, / Our deposit to that day. (Hymns #1285 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Christ the Son of God and His redemptive deed / Are the saving faith which is our only creed. / All the other doctrines do not faith comprise; / Christ, His work and person, only qualifies… / To the “unity of faith” we must attain, / All the “winds of doctrine” evermore disdain; / Holding Christ the Spirit, our reality, / For the Body’s growing in its unity. (Hymns #832 stanzas 1 and 5)
  – This precious faith of all the saints, / Is constituted solely / Of Christ and His redemptive work, / Which are unique and holy. / In this the saints are truly one, / Together all agreeing, / And it is from this common faith / The Church came into being. / The Church within the universe / Is one as Christ’s possession; / The Church must therefore locally / Be one in her expression; / For all her elements are one— / One God, one Lord, one Spirit, / One faith, baptism, Body too, / One hope all saints inherit. (Hymns #831 stanzas 2-3)