CONTEND FOR THE FAITH

Jude 3: ... "Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." 

     The world of ideas is a battleground, and everyone who ventures there must be prepared to fight. We are told that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood," (Eph. 6:12), and Jesus, when being tried by Pilate declared, "If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting ... but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm," (John 18:36). In the animal world, where emotions rule, beasts attack each other, tear and kill, and then devour the carcasses. In the world of unregenerate men, where lust rules, they also engage in physical conflict to achieve their desires, (Jas. 4:1-3). But the Christian must rise above the emotional level of animals and above the lust-driven plane of most people, to enter and dwell in a spiritual context.

      While we live in this earthly dimension, that contest is a mental warfare, because Satan's influence here is manifested as lies, deception, illusion, and perversity. He started it all in Genesis 3 when he beguiled Eve's mind with suggestions and illusionary lies to lead her away from faith in God to trust in what she could sensorially verify, (vs. 1-6). This archfiend still operates in the spiritual sphere in much the same fashion. Probing our minds with ideas that are appealing, suggestive of great wisdom, and even convincing in the matrix of logic, self-verification, and blatant claims of irrefutability. People accept these ideas to the extent that they become the orthodox view of society. To challenge them is to mark yourself in the eye of society as being ignorant, naive, and ridiculous.

      When these ideas concern man's relationship to God, as most of them do directly or indirectly, it becomes the immediate concern of the Christian to arm himself with the truth and do battle with the error involved. The "truth" is "the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." The word "faith" here refers to the source of Christian faith, to the object of that faith, and to the substance of such faith. In short, it means the gospel. the "word of truth," (II Cor. 5:7; Col. 1:5; II Tim. 2:15; and Jas. 1:18).

      There is so much evil in the world of ideas that Christians face a colossal task in opposing it as they "contend earnestly for the faith." But with the word of God, which is a mighty "sword of the Spirit," (Eph. 6:17), in the hands of those who prepare themselves to use it, (II Tim. 2:15), the Christian soldier can defeat falacious ideas and victoriously "contend for" and defend "the faith." We are told by Paul the apostle that "though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying  speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete," (II Cor. 10:3-6).

      Christians have the spiritual weapons for defeating all error, (Eph. 6:10-18). God will supply the wisdom in how to use these weapons effectively, (Jas. 1:5), as His people take them up and exercise themselves in them, (Heb. 5:14). If error triumphs over the faith in the world of ideas in our generation, it will not be because the error was the stronger or was irrefutable. It will rather be because Christians will fail to arm themselves with the truth, "have their senses trained to discern good and evil," and advance courageously into the ideational conflict.

      But whether Christians succeed or fail in "contend(ing) earnestly for the faith," one thing is sure, "the word of God is not (and cannot be) imprisoned, (II Tim. 2:9). In the end that Holy word, "the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints," shall destroy all erroneous ideas and their deceptive constructions, (II Ths. 2:8-10). And then, with the untenable half of the world of ideas obliterated for-ever, the word of God, which is the gospel. (Rev. 14:6), shall endure forever.

THE JOY OF CHRISTIAN PARENTS

III John 4 ... "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth."

     When John wrote the three epistles in the New Testament that bear his name, he was a very old man, (many think he was past 90), and he was also the last surviving apostle. His generation of Christians were then nearly all "asleep in Jesus," and the brethren to whom he wrote were a generation or two behind him. Being much younger than he, they were to John "my children," or even sometimes "my little children." He m eant for these expressions to show affection as much as, if not more than, superiority to them in experience of age and apostolic authority. He often also addressed them as "beloved," employing the word agapêtoi, which is derived from the better known word agapê. The significance of using these terms is that they indicate love growing out of the supreme love that the Father has for us rather than the tenuous love common to natural human relationships. In other words, he loved them sincerely because they had devoted their lives to Christ and were committing themselves daily to the Lord's service.

      In John's day the Gentile philosophers spent a great deal of time trying to identify what truth is and then to delineate its boundaries. But there was little agreement among them. Jewish scholars interpreted truth in one way, and Greek sophists in quite another. Even within each of these schools of thought there was considerable debate as to what truth is. Pilate referred to all this confusion when he contemp-tuously answered Jesus, "What is truth?" (John 18:38). But to John, and to all Christians as well, there is no question or doubt or confusion about what ultimate truth is. As He addressed His Father in prayer, Jesus declared, "Your word is truth," (John 17:17). The word of God, therefore, is the truth for which inquiring, thoughtful men have searched throughout the ages. It alone reveals to us where we came from, what we are, and where we are going. It also tells us why we are here, imposes upon us our duty in life, and proclaims our accountability in appropriately responding thereunto.

      To the scholar and philosopher, and often to the theologian, the end of the search for truth is to embrace it mentally. That is, simply to store it in one's mind and be satisfied with having at last found it is its ultimate reward. But to John, and the other inspired New Testament writers, that is by no means the object of the search for truth or the good to be derived from it. The truth from God is not only to be learned and esteemed; it is moreover to be used as the guide for living the kind of life that God will approve and then reward eternally.

      John had spent some 60 years as an apostle in the arduous task of teaching the truth to men and persuading them to obey it. Those who did accept and obey it were the people whom he addrssed as his "children." And those who maintained allegiance to the truth and used it to direct their way through life each day were those of whom he said, "They walked in the truth."

      John said he had "no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." The world counts success by the scale of making a fortune, wielding power, displaying rare talent, or becoming famous and the idol of many. People rejoice when their friends or kindred achieve such worldly goals, and up to a point that is justifiable, proper, and acceptable. But the greatest achievement, the most brilliant success, and the most glorious triumph, is to find the truth revealed to us from God, accept it in faith, and to see others do likewise.  This is the only joy that is permanent and unfading.

      

      

REJECTING THE FALSE TEACHER

II John 10-11 ... "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." 

      With respect to moral, ethical, religious, and eschatological considerations there are only two kinds of doctrine: (athat which issues from Christ and His apostles under the direct supervision of the Holy Spirit, and (b) that which issues from mere man. The former is inspired of God (II Tim. 3:16), moti-vated by the Holy Spirit (II Pet. 1:21), and identified as "the gospel" (Gal. 1:8).The latter is once called "destructive heresies" (II Pet. 2:1), or more mildly "a gospel contrary to what you received." Those who teach the pure, unadulterated gospel of Jesus are to be respected, heard, believed, and supported (Rom. 10:14-18) and promoted in their work (III John 5-8). Those who teach doctrines of human origin are to be first "watched" and then "turned away from" (Rom. 16:17). That is, they should be excluded from the Bible classroom, from the pulpit, and from all other gatherings of disciples where instruction might be given. In our desire to be magnanimous we may think it only fair to let everyone state his position, but among Christians no forum should be offered to those who are known to teach something alien to the doctrine of Christ.

      The featured text above concerns the reaction of Christians to those who teach something which was not issued from the Father through Christ or through the Holy Spirit. In many cases the spurious doctrine is strictly a human invention, but in many other cases it is a corruption, or distortion, of the real gospel into a form of teaching identified as "the error of unprincipled men" in II Pet. 3:15-17. Such teaching is more difficult to expose because it employs Scripture and appeals to the same faith in God cherished by the orthodox. Great care must be taken to refute such error while upholding the truth with which it is intertwined. Christians are strictly warned not to do anything whatsoever that would aid, comfort, facilitate, support, or promote the activity of such counterfeit teachers. This is approximately what it means to "neither bid him God speed," as the KJV expresses the phrase. The faithful should not give such people lodging, or feed and clothe them, or give them a donation, or buy anything from them that would amount to a profit for them.

      But what if their work, in addition to their heretical teaching, involves providing beneficial service to unfortunate people about us? This Scripture would ban a Christian's participation in supporting them; and it is not being hard-hearted or insensitive to deny the honor and praise that accrues to erroneous teachers for such relief of human misery. The Lord's church as a body, and Christians as individuals, should be performing these very acts of mercy to the limit of their ability in the name of the Lord so that the honor and praise will go to Him who alone deserves it.

      This principle can be overextended, however, to deny a Christian's participation in business and social interactions with unbelievers. Actually, it is impossible for Christians to live and conduct their affairs in total isolation from worldly people. Paul wrote in I Cor. 5:9-10, "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; but I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world." The only way Christians can totally sever their involvement with unbelievers is to escape earthly life, which is impossible other than by death.

      The best course, therefore, is that of prayerful discernment. When it can be ascertained that inter-action with someone will result in promoting error, a Christian must refuse the interaction lest he makes himself one who "participates in his evil deeds." When it is not apparent, or likely, that involvement will promote error, a Christian may continue in it as a necessary consequence of having to live in a corrupt and very complicated world, (John 17:14-17).