Why Contending for the Faith Is for Genuine Believers

We’re living in a time when truth is questioned, convictions are mocked, and following Jesus often means swimming against the current. Yet this is exactly what genuine believers are called to do—to stand firm and contend for the faith. Authentic believers aren’t spectators in the fight for truth; they’re servants—called, kept, and empowered by Jesus. You don’t need to shout to make a difference, but you do need to stand when others bow. God is calling His people to live with courage, stay grounded in His Word, and hold fast to what’s right even when culture pushes hard in the opposite direction. Why Contending for the Faith Is for Genuine Believers, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Accept the Challenge

Stand. Serve. Stay Steady!

Contending for the faith isn’t about confrontation—it’s about conviction.

This week, make a purposeful shift from silence to stand. Don’t just believe what’s true—live like it matters.Each day, filter what you hear and see through this question: “What does the Word of God say about this?” Let Scripture—not culture—set your course.

You don’t have to shout to make a difference—just stand steady in Jesus.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question:

Question: How does knowing you are kept for Jesus shape the way you face challenges in your faith? Share one way you’re learning to stay grounded in truth when the world pushes against it.

Share: Your insight could encourage someone else to stay strong in these challenging times.

Remember: Growth in God isn’t a solo journey — we build one another up when we share what He’s doing in our lives.

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 49 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 37 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes:

Well again, welcome.
Let’s pray together.

Father God thank you for direction in this week’s podcast. Help us see through a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you functioning in us. Help us know we need to take a stand as Jesus followers. Thank you for your words to us along this line from the book of Jude. We give you the praise and glory for it in Jesus’ exceptional Name, Amen.

The Epistle of Jude

Jude 1–4 (ESV) — 1 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: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 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. 4 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.

Contend for the Faith: Jude, Opening Greeting and Date

So, what we have here in the book of Jude is a short letter of twenty-five verses.
We’re going to look at the first three verses of Jude today.
Jude in verse one and two greets the recipients of his letter.
The greeting he uses is standard fare for a letter of that day.

It was common for the author to begin a letter by identifying himself by name and so.

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

Next for a standard greeting for ancient letters comes the intended audience, and so.

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

So far, we have a pretty standard first century greeting.
Next, comes best wishes or a prayer for the readers’ welfare and so.

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

Nearly all the correspondence that’s been dug up or discovered from that ancient time conforms to this.
So, at first glance Jude’s opening to his letter is on par for that day.
We could say standard mail for that day.¹
If you were going to write a letter to your Uncle Charlie in the first century, the first couple of sentences would be written in the same basic fashion.
Now, this letter was penned somewhere around AD 60–64ish.
I say ‘ish’ because, as with so many of the books or letters of the New Testament, scholars differ.
But somewhere around there.
Now, what we are going to see is that while this letter follows standard form what Jude says was anything but standard.

Contending for the Faith: Just Who Was Jude?

So let’s get at this.

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

The first question we must ask is who in the world was Jude?
We have that answer in the first part of the first verse.
Look closely at the way Jude feather-penned this.

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

Jude is the brother of James.
The word ‘brother’ is the Greek word ‘adelphos’ and it means a male from the same womb as the reference person.².
The womb in question is Mary’s womb.
Mary who was married to Joseph, you know — that Mary.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, that Mary.
So Jesus, Jude and James all shared the same womb at one point in time!
Though they didn’t share the same father.

Galatians 1:19 (ESV) — 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.

So, James is Jude’s brother and since James is also the Lord’s brother, that makes Jesus, Jude and James all related.
Jude is the half-brother of Jesus.
Now, we know that Joseph was the father of James and Jude.
We also have scripture for how many children Mary and Joseph had together.

Mark 6:3 (ESV) — 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

So knowing that Jude was raised in the same home as Jesus, how does this this impact your perception of how Jude wrote verse one?
Listen to it again.

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

Jude understands that spiritual relationships are on a much higher plane than physical ones.

Contending for the Faith: The Strength of Spiritual Family Ties

Hebrews 2:9–11 (ESV) — 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

Mark it down, Jesus is not ashamed to call you his brother.
Brother, is the same Greek word ‘adelphos,’ a male from the same womb.
So, here is a marvelous non-standard fact right out of this standard opening greeting from Jude’s ancient letter.
Believers who are in Jesus are ‘born from the same womb’.
That means, all children of God have an absolutely intense close relationship with Jesus and with one another.
That relationship is brethren.
The spiritual family tie of brethren is higher than any physical ties that exist on Planet Earth.
Let’s look at an episode that took place in the life of Jesus.

Luke 11:27 (ESV) — 27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”

Jesus was teaching, one day, about demons and how they operate.
You know what happened? — This woman interrupted His sermon!
Listen to verse twenty-seven again.
‘As He said these things’ — not AFTER ‘He said these things.’
As Jesus was speaking, this woman blurted out.

“Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”

So Jesus was interrupted.
How did He respond?
Luke 11:28 (ESV) — 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Okay, obviously this woman wasn’t doing that — she wasn’t hearing the Word of God.
She interrupted the Word of God.
What Jesus demonstrates here is that spiritual things are higher than natural things.
He emphasized the Word of God rather than acknowledge a compliment for His own mother.
Spiritual over physical — spiritual higher than physical.
Marvelous!

Contending for the Faith: Why Jude Did Not Take Advantage of His Physical Relationship with Jesus

So, Jude refused to take advantage of his physical relationship with Jesus.
He could have name-dropped but, he didn’t.
He could have used his familiar family relationship to add some ‘ump’ to his message.
“You guys really need to pay attention to what I’m saying because, I am Jesus brother.”
Jude didn’t do that.
You know half-brothers don’t walk around saying they are half-brothers.
They just say ‘this is my brother.’
We understand what Jude didn’t do, how about looking at what Jude did do.
Here is what he did.

Contending for the Faith: The Jesus Follower As Servant

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ…

Jude identified himself as a ‘servant’ of Jesus not his physical brother.
Jude, a servant.
The Greek word ‘servant’ is the word ‘doulos’ which means a slave, having the attitude of a slave, or performing the service of a slave.³
The word means one who gives himself up to another’s will being devoted to another without regard for their own interests.
Jude let’s us know straight out that ‘doulos’ is the highest status a Jesus follower can attain on Planet Earth.
Are you a doulous servant of Jesus?
As a Jesus follower, are you devoted to Him without regard for your own interests?
Everybody has interests.
Have you given yourself up to His will?
Have you laid aside your will?
And with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.
This quote is from the Lexham Theological Wordbook.
This is what it says about the word ’servant.’

A servant is someone who is employed by, or in some way bound to serve and perform duties for, another person. This term covers a wide range of social positions in the biblical world, from slaves to highly esteemed positions of civil service. In both the OT and the NT, the title “servant of the Lord” is an important designation for key figures that God uses to carry out his purposes.⁴

Contending for the Faith: The Ultimate New Testament Servant

Servants are the carriers of God’s vision.
Jesus is the ultimate ‘servant’ example.

Philippians 2:5–7 (ESV) — 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

The Greek word ‘grasped’ means that which is to be retained or held on to forcibly⁵
Even though Jesus was in the form of God, He did not forcibly fight to hold on to what was rightfully His.
What was rightfully His? — His form.
The Greek word form is ‘kenos.’
This word means to empty oneself, to divest oneself of position.
Jesus gave up His His form, He emptied Himself, He divested Himself of His rightful position because His Father asked Him to so that we might have the opportunity to come to God.
Jesus displayed total selflessness in giving up His own interests — that’s what a servant does.
That’s how a servant lives.

Contending for the Faith: A Double-Minded Servant

Is it possible to say you’re a Jesus follower and not be a servant — not be a person who has gives himself up to Jesus, not be a person devoted to God laying aside your own interests?
Is that possible?
Absolutely, it’s possible.

Galatians 1:10 (ESV) — 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The words ‘seeking approval of’ is one Greek word and in this context it means to seek the favor of, to try to please.
Basically, it’s a person who is trying to be a ‘people-pleaser.’
A servant of Jesus is a God-pleaser not a people-pleaser.
You cannot do both succesfully.
All in or all out.
That’s the way this works.

Revelation 3:15–16 (ESV) — 15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Now, did you know that the realm of evil knows if you are a person who has laid his own interests in place of God’s will?
Devils know if you’re doing the will of God.

Acts 16:16–17 (ESV) — 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

If devils know your servant status, shouldn’t we have a clue?
So, Jude was a servant of Jesus Christ.

Contending for the Faith: Kept, Watched Over and Guarded for Jesus

Now, this next word in verse two made me ecstatically happy.
In addressing his letter, Jude said.

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

Do you hear the word ‘kept?’
Jesus followers are ‘kept’ for Jesus.
Now, do you understand why I use the term ‘Jesus follower.’
I use that term because that’s what a Christian is supposed to be.
Dare I say this: many people say that they are Christians but it’s obvious they are not following Jesus.
Is that right or what?
So, Jesus followers are ‘kept’ for Jesus.
The Greek word ‘kept’ means to retain in custody, keep watch over, guard.⁶
The word expresses watchful care.⁷
Now, isn’t it a wonderful thought that in the midst of all this end-times stuff that is happening or going to happen because of cruel and difficult people, that, right now, you’re being guarded by God the Father Himself?
Yes!
God is watching over you — He’s guarding His most precious possession — you!
So, keep your head up.

Contending for the Faith: The Common Salvation

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.

So, Jude had a completely different intention when he was thinking about writing this letter.
He wanted to write these Jesus followers about their common salvation.
In fact, he was eager to do it.
The word ‘eager’ here means super-excited.
You know salvation is something to be super-excited about.
Well, you might think, ‘Well, okay what’s to write about? — It’s just salvation — After all you’re saved — I’m saved — what’s the big deal?
Well, there is plenty to write about when it comes to salvation and there’s plenty to be super-excited about.

Hebrews 6:9 (ESV) — 9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.

There are things that accompany salvation.
You should get to know those things.
Coming to Jesus, saying yes to Him is a moment in time.
At that exact moment in time, the Holy Spirit did a work in you.
What work did He do?
When you discover that — you start to clue into ‘things that pertain to salvation.’
What happened to you the day you got saved? is an insightful growth opportunity question to ask.
This is what Jude wanted to write his letter about to these Jesus followers.
Instead, he took an about-face.

“I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

‘Necessary’ is a huge word for getting into the mind of Jude.
Jude said I found it ‘necessary.’
If you look at the word, it means absolute necessity, constraint, compulsion, or distress.⁸
This verse in Luke will give us a better sense of this word.

Luke 21:23 (ESV) — 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.

Jude is saying, I felt compelled to the point of distress to change my letter writing subject matter.
What happened?
Something happened, we don’t what happened exactly.
We can kind of surmise because Jude switches from being super-excited about salvation to super-intense about contending for the faith.
What compelled him?
Probably some false teaching was trying to creep into the Church — we know that was happening in the early Church.
Probably the Holy Ghost who urged Jude to take care of that.
You know what, this false teaching stuff is still happening today and the message to us is still the same: contend for the faith.
Now, we get down to it.

What Is Contending for the Faith All About?

What is contending for the faith all about?
Well first, let’s start by defining terms.
The Greek word ‘contend’ is the one we want to look at and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
Contend is an enormously vital word.
It’s the word ‘epagōnizomai’ — the middle part of this word is where we get the word agony from.
You can see it in the word – agoniz is in the word.
The word was commonly used in connection with the Greek stadium to denote a strenuous struggle to overcome an opponent, as in a wrestling match. It was also used more generally of any conflict, contest, debate, or lawsuit. Involved is the thought of the expenditure of all one’s energy in order to prevail.⁹
To shorten it down, the word means to contend strenuously in defense of.¹⁰
Underline the word strenuously.
If one is strenuously defending something that automatically implies, passion, commitment, and a huge expenditure of energy.
And with that thought, here is the Historical Background of the Day.

In the early 4th century, the Church faced a significant crisis with the rise of Arianism, a doctrine that denied the full divinity of Christ. Leaders like Athanasius stood firm in contending for the true faith, often facing harsh exile and persecution. His unwavering stand reminds us that contending for the faith often requires courage and sacrifice, even when confronted by widespread opposition.

Contending for the Faith: What in Particular?

What should we, as devoted Jesus’ followers contend for?
Someone might say, ‘Well, we need to contend for the Bible.’
Well, that’s really broad, and if you engage that mindset, you will always be in a fight with somebody because the Church world is full of opinions on what this or that means in the scriptures.
Jesus followers must all realize is that there are major items in the Bible and there are minor items.
Major doctrines and not so major.
What we should contend for, what we should strenuously defend are the major tenets of the faith.
There’s minor stuff in the Bible, that, if a person believes it, it really wouldn’t matter.
The virgin birth, for example, is major.
Jesus’ resurrection is super-major.
One way to God via Jesus is major, especially in our day where some are promoting all roads lead to God.
No, they don’t.
I think the baptism of the Holy Spirit is major.
Anything that took place at Calvary per Isaiah fifty-three is major.
Whether you worship on Saturday or Sunday, you know what? — that’s not major.
Some groups try to make it major.
It’s better to follow Hebrews 10:25 and don’t forsake assembling yourselves together.
When the Rapture takes place is not a major doctrine in my view and I hope I got this right.
Some believe it’s going to happen before the Tribulation, some after, some in-between.
It’s all over the place.
The main thing you should believe is that it will take place.
When it takes place relative to the Tribulation and the Second Coming of Jesus is minor.
Now we will pick up in Jude in next week’s podcast.

Contending for the Faith: Putting the Word Into Action

So, how do we put this Word of God into action?
Decide not to be the person who stands on the sidelines.
Instead, decide to stand for truth.
The world is full of contrary voices, but only one voice leads to life.
So, here’s one thing you can do.
Set your anchor in the Word, instead of the world.
When the culture shifts, and it will, just know that the scriptures always stay steady.
Make it your daily habit to filter every message, trend, or belief through the question: “What does the Word of God say about this?”
Here’s a second thing you can do: Embrace your identity as a servant of God.
Like Jude, see yourself as one called and kept for Jesus.
Servanthood isn’t weakness—it’s strength under submission because it’s backed by the power of God.
Let that mindset shape how you speak, lead, love, and listen.
Here’s a third thing you can do.
Don’t you love doing the Word?
Stand courageously when compromise feels easier.
Don’t take the easy way out.
Take the path of righteousness.
You don’t have to scream to make an impact.
Surely, you don’t have to be nasty.
You can be quietly consistent and faithful to Jesus when others are bowing in compromise.
Let’s pray.

Father God, we say YES to contending for the faith. We thank your for strengthening us with might through your spirit in our inner man. Help us by empowering us with boldness to speak your Word as we ought. As always, we give you the glory and honor for this in the majestic Name of Jesus, Amen.

If this message stirred you, take a deeper step: share this episode with someone who’s struggling to stay anchored, and start a conversation about what it means to really follow Jesus in today’s world. Visit emeryhorvath.com for more teachings that build strong, steady faith in shifting times.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

_________

References:

David R. Helm, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: Sharing Christ’s Sufferings, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 284. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000) ↩
Karl Heinrich Rengstorf, “Δοῦλος, Σύνδουλος, Δούλη, Δουλέυω, Δουλεία, Δουλόω, Καταδουλόω, Δουλαγωγέω, Ὀφθαλμοδουλία,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 261. ↩
Eric Lewellen, “Servant,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). ↩
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 583. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1002. ↩
Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 16 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 232. ↩
William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 1080–1081. ↩
D. Edmond Hiebert, “Selected Studies from Jude Part 1: An Exposition of Jude 3–4,” Bibliotheca Sacra 142 (1985): 144. ↩
William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 1148. ↩

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Why Contending for the Faith Is for Genuine Believers

Podcast: Light on Life Season 12 Episode Forty-Two

by Emery Horvath

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