The following is an edited version of the lecture given on 1st Octover 2006 in the series entitled "In the Beginning."   I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.    Jude 1:3   Contend Earnestly for the Faith which Was Once for All DeliveredGenesis chapter 4 contains an account of how Cain killed Abel. If we read this account in Genesis on its own, we may see it simply as the story of a man who became upset and killed his younger brother out of jealousy because God did not accept his own offering but did accept his brother's offering. As we read the New Testament, however, we find some words of warning addressed to the Christians who have received faith, once for all. These words appear in the letter of Jude. If we read Genesis chapter 4 after reading the letter that the apostle Jude wrote, we can see that Genesis chapter 4 provides us with food for thought in connection with the many times that we are persecuted while we are living in this world and the times when we clash with our fellow Christians-people we refer to as brothers and sisters. Let's turn to the letter of Jude and read from verse 1.    Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.(Verses 1-3)   It says here, "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation." We have all come to realize the love of Jesus Christ through the Bible. When it says "our common salvation" here, it is referring to salvation that is received through faith.   I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.  (Verse 3)   This is how the apostle Jude expressed his purpose in writing this letter. He told the saints to contend earnestly for the faith that was delivered to them once for all. Salvation is for each of us individually and it occurs when our hearts are humbled before the words of the Bible. The moment comes when the word of God is planted definitely in our hearts. This moment comes at a different time and in a different situation for each person, and the words from the Bible that are planted in the heart also vary from person to person. There is, however, one thing in common to everyone who has had this experience: they all know without any doubt that something has been planted in their hearts, once for all, that can never be eradicated.The main aim of this letter of Jude is to tell us "to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered." Of course, this faith that was delivered to us once for all will never disappear. Even if you were involved in an automobile accident and brain damage left you with amnesia, the fact of your salvation will still remain recorded before God. Nevertheless, it says here that we are to contend earnestly for the faith that we have received. This is very strange. The Bible tells us that we do not need to fight, since Jesus has already fought the whole battle for us and won, having won the victory on the cross (See Colossians 2:15). We believe that Jesus has won this victory and we have realized this truth in our hearts. Even so, Jude asks us "to contend earnestly for the faith." Why is this?It is because, as we are living in this world in our flesh, individually we come up against trials that could destroy our faith. To give you an example, people who have truly come to realize the truth contained in the words of the Bible, have been baptized and have set out on a new life in front of God, will find that if they live their lives closely connected to the world and do not have proper fellowship. the word of God becomes confusing to them and they themselves become confused. Then perhaps they hear someone saying, "Hey, I went to a meeting and what they were saying there sounded pretty good," and so they go along to see for themselves. There, someone tells them that the book of Revelation says that "He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death" (2:11) and, from the words of the speaker, they conclude that even after salvation they have to overcome. And then they go back into the water to be baptized again. There are also people who claim that an individual must receive new life even after salvation. However, the expression, "newness of life," only appears once in the New Testament. In Romans chapter 6 verse 4 it says, "we also should walk in newness of life." This is telling us that we are to live life in its newness. The Korean translation of "newness of life" is a little unclear, so when these people read it, they mistakenly think that once they are saved they also need to receive new life and thus they have come up with this false doctrine.  Doctrines such as this cover up and conceal the faith that we have-the faith that comes about on a certain day when we truly obey God in our hearts and He sowed the seed of new life in our hearts. But people cover up and conceal this seed of life and keep trying to plant something else in its place, causing doubts to arise in other people's minds. We are constantly drawn towards the things of this world that we enjoy so that we can forget the struggle that we should be facing in our lives. In order that we might know that such things happen, the apostle Jude provided these words of warning.  For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Jude 1:4)   These are frightening words. It says that, "certain men have crept in unnoticed."Jesus set out a certain order for us to follow in our actions as we have fellowship together. First, Jesus told us that we are to love one another: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34). If, however, we live our lives focusing only on these words-love one another-it is very easy for us to fall into practicing merely a human kind of love. But when we look at the lives of the apostles as recorded in the Bible and at the many words of guidance given to us in the New Testament, we can see that when Jesus told us to, "love one another," He wanted this love to flow over to the world in order that the gospel might be spread further. The thoughts of the apostle Paul who was ready to give everything he had, including his life, for the sake of the gospel and the thoughts of the many other apostles-the thoughts of the forerunners of our faith who appear in the Bible-have also been passed on to us. When we have this same heart and make it our aim to spread the gospel, ready to sacrifice the things that we have, the command to love one another being accomplished amongst us, we are able to maintain this faith and keep it as it should be. The Bible tells us, however, that if we are not careful, in the blink of an eye our hearts can move far away from the Bible through the many things that we see and hear as we live our lives in the flesh. So as we read passages like this, we need to ask ourselves whether we are truly living appropriate Christian lives. I ask myself, too. As you come to church once a week, listen to a lecture and then go home again, is your heart caught up in something else? The gospel is being spread though our fellowship to various other countries, but is your heart perhaps far removed from this work? Many brothers and sisters are spending their time out in the front lines spreading the gospel, but what about you?There is something that we often forget in the course of our lives. Think back to the day when you were first obedient in front of God and the moment when the seed of God's word was first planted in your heart. In the course of your life, how grateful are you to God about that moment? Or do the many complex situations in your daily life cause this gift that you have received from God to be buried somewhere down in your heart so that you keep on running back into the world? When it says here to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered," it is telling us to open our mouths to speak about the truth that we have received, and to live our lives participating in the appropriate kind of fellowship so that we will have confidence in the definite experience that we have had. Take some time to think about how God has been leading you until now, how He has guided your life, and how He has been watching over you. I think passages like this in the Bible have been given to us so that we can be grateful to God and have the desire in our hearts to live the rest of our lives in accordance with God's will.   His Works Were Evil and His Brother's RighteousIn Jude chapter 8 it says,   Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.  (Verses 8-11).   This letter that tells us to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered," also refers to Cain, Balaam, and Korah as it gives us a warning. It says, "they have gone the way of Cain." What did Cain do? We could answer simply that he killed his brother. But lets turn, for a moment, to First John chapter 3.   For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Do  not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.  (Verses 11-13)   In Jude it says, "they have gone the way of Cain," and here in First John it tells us why Cain killed his brother.   Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.   First, let's think about this verse from the point of view of Christians living in this world. There is a constant struggle with the world around us. If you read through the Bible starting from the book of Acts, you will see how the Jews severely persecuted the apostles who were working for the sake of the mission that they had received from Jesus Christ. John addresses the recipients of this letter as "my brethren." "Brethren" was a term that the Jews used amongst themselves, but this letter is addressed to all the born-again Christians. The

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