An invitation that requires an answer and a stand

Scripture Read: Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

Application: Jude really makes me think through three items here.

By using the adjective of Kaleo he is really emphasizing the invitation of God to us -  

Called = κλητός klētós  placed at the end of the sentence for emphasis. It is an adjective used to describe those who were called in the sense of being invited, for instance, to a banquet.

No big revelation here but what I like about this is how again we see Sovereignty and Free Will at play – God does the inviting – but with an invitation comes a choice! I find no where in scripture that this offer is not valid. We have a real choice to make, we do not choose because we are better, but if God enabled each person the faith needed to respond yet left that decision to the individual than there really is a choice. Jude also expresses the truth that the Holy Spirit is active in us as children of God, notice –

Necessity = ἀνάγκη anágkē - Necessity, compelling force, as opposed to willingness 

What Jude is describing is that drive we all feel when the Spirit moves us,  we can still resist, but the issue is that God really wants to partner with us. He could just make us do something, but instead through the Spirit we sense a great push to do something, a “necessity”. Lastly Jude encourages us not to be passive about our faith –

Contend = ἐπαγωνίζομαι epagōnízomai - from epí for, and agōnízomai to strive, contend earnestly. To fight for or in reference to something, with the dat. of that which gives the occasion (Jude 1:3). ^[1]  –

We need to make sure that we are fighting the flesh & the enemy for our faith, not each other!! Notice also – the Faith has been handed down – Once for All! Our beliefs do not change with time or culture – I am speaking of Dogma – not liberties. We need to understand that the basics of salvation and Who God is have been revealed and remain as they were revealed. Modern day prophets cannot change this and we need to stand against that. “Trying to get along” just makes the road to hell wider! The essentials of Who Christ is and how to be saved cannot be changed for the sake of so called “love”. Real love stands on truth, it does not try and manipulate it or change it

* Meditation Questions: What has God asked you to do? Have you realized how free you are? Do you understand that freedom comes with responsibility? What do you do when you feel you should do something, but that feeling did not come from you? Do you know where you will draw a line for your faith?

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^[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.