The Faith Once Delivered
By David A. DePra
I want to begin
today by turning to the epistle of Jude – there is only one chapter in this
epistle. The next couple of weeks
I'm going to be talking about the epistle of Jude -- which is basically a
warning to Christians, “to contend for the faith which was once delivered.”
That is going to the title for today – in this first message:
“The faith Once Delivered.”
Starting in
verse 1:
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are
sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.
Now, that tells
us that he's talking to Christians.
Mercy unto you. and peace, and love be multiplied.
Beloved when I gave all diligence to write unto you our common salvation,
it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old
ordained to this condemnation -- ungodly men -- turning the grace of our God
into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
In a very real
sense, as I've already noted, these first 4 verses stand as the theme of the
entire epistle -- which isn't a very long epistle.
So let's get into this. I'm going
to start the discussion with verse 3.
A Spiritual Battle
The first thing
I want to do, as I usually like to do, is to get into some words here – into
some meanings -- because there are some significant word meanings in the Greek
that will help us to more profoundly understand what were being told.
First of all, let's note this two word phrase, “earnestly contend.”
The Greek words, they are the same kind of words that are used in an
athletic contest -- it means, “to strive for; “it means to battle for.”
Now, the fact that these words are the same words that are used in an
athletic contest, of course, doesn't mean that our striving and the contending
is the same -- because we are told that the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but are mighty through GOD.
And we are told that our enemies are not flesh and blood.
And so whatever is being said here -- and it is it mentioned that ungodly
MEN have come into the church -- that aside, the real battle is SPIRITUAL here.
How many
understand that false teachers, whether they are even conscious of it or not,
have evil spirits behind them?
Satan is, “the father of lies.”
Jesus Christ Himself said that -- and so if you have false teachers in the
church today -- and false teachers are those who try to pass off lies as the
Truth -- even if they themselves are deceived by those lies -- well, the source
of all of that is Satan the devil.
I’m not talking about demon possession, or anything like that, but evil spirits
and false spirits that appear as, “angels of light,” work THROUGH men.
Just as the spirit of God does.
And so the weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal -- Paul tells us -- and
our enemies are NOT flesh and blood.
We need to keep that in mind.
And so when we
read these words, “earnestly contend,” we are not talking -- in the first
meaning – about going out and arguing with PEOPLE.
We are not talking about going around debating everybody, and trying to
win arguments. We ARE talking about
recognizing the real enemy here -- and the real battlefield.
Contending with, and dealing with, flesh and blood human beings -- once
we get the spiritual issues settled and understood -- then can follow.
But we must understand that we are not battling against flesh and blood.
Contending FOR, Not AGAINST
Now, he says,
“earnestly contend.” One thing I do
want to point out -- and I just mentioned it briefly here -- is that primarily
the warfare for a Christian is a contending FOR Jesus Christ, and FOR the Truth
-- rather than having the focus always being AGAINST error and against heresy.
Now, by definition, if you are FOR Christ, and FOR Truth, you are going
to BE against heresy; you are going to BE against error.
You just will be. But I'm
talking about is the focus and the attitude that's in our heart.
The reason that we are to earnestly contend for the Truth is because we
love the Truth, and because we want Jesus Christ, and we want others to have
Him.
How many
understand that it is entirely possible -- and there's a lot of people like this
around today in the body of Christ, I'm sorry to say – but it's entirely
possible to be defined, as a Christian person, by what you are AGAINST, rather
than by what you are FOR. It's
entirely possible to have an apologetic ministry, for example, to be a pastor;
to even be a regular member of the body of Christ -- if there is such a thing --
to always be griping; to always be AGAINST; always be arguing; always been
contending AGAINST something that you think is imperfect; that you don't like;
that you think ought to be conformed to your opinion and your way.
It's possible to have that kind of an attitude.
It's actually possible to have that kind of an attitude and to be more or
less THEOLOGICALLY correct. I can
go around, for example, demanding that, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
That's theologically correct.
But I could do so in a terrible spirit.
We are supposed to, “speak the Truth in love.”
Now, I have to
say that if we have received the Truth -- if we at least have a relationship
with Jesus Christ -- then this other attitude of always contending AGAINST what
we don't like is NOT going to be there to that degree.
We are going to be growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus; we are
going to be growing in our love for the Truth -- and what is going to come out
of that is a cessation; a breaking of the spirit of contention – which is a
negative wrong kind of a way, and we are more and more and more going to be
earnestly contending FOR Jesus and FOR the Truth -- in a spirit of love; in a
spirit of grace. You receive Christ, and
begin to know Him, and THAT (attitude of grace) is what is going to pop out.
What is, “The Faith”
This brings us
to something that is very important -- in fact, central to understand – here in
verse 3. Jude says that he is
exhorting us that we, “should earnestly contend for the faith which was once” --
and the Greek says, “once for all” – “delivered unto the saints.”
What is he talking about?
What IS, “the faith once delivered,” and how do we earnestly contend for it?
This is really the central theme of this passage, and of the whole book.
And so we need to center in on this.
Well, “the
faith,” is not a list of doctrines.
Yes, we are going to have our lists -- and we do need to be theologically and
biblically correct. I trust we
understand that. But, “the faith
once delivered,” isn't a list.
Jesus did not. on the Mount of Olives before He ascended to heaven, hand the
disciples a big piece of parchment with a list of doctrines on it, and say them,
“Here is what you need to go around teaching.”
That is NOT what Jesus told them.
Neither did He tell them to start a movement or start a church.
He said, in fact, “Don't do anything.
Tarry in Jerusalem until you RECEIVE.”
Now (what they
received) is, “the faith that was once delivered.”
How many understand they received something?
They received this, “faith once delivered.”
Yes, on the heels of all the teaching that Jesus had given them.
But it was at that point that they received CHRIST in that upper room.
In this we see what IS, “the faith once delivered:” It is the entirety of
the revelation of Jesus Christ – given to us in the Person of Christ, in an
inward way.
In Acts 2, on
the day of Pentecost, that was the first time in the history of God's dealings
with man that Jesus Christ -- by the spirit of God -- ever came down to dwell
within human beings. Now, I'm not
going to turn today's message into proving that it was the first time -- that's
not what this message is about.
I’ve done that in other messages. I
will simply point out that just shortly before Jesus died, and was raised, and
ascended, He told His disciples, “Unless I go to the Father, the Spirit cannot
COME.” And if you read those
passages, in the Gospel of John, chapters 14, 15, and 16, you will see very
clearly that He means that HE WILL COME back and dwell IN His disciples BY the
spirit.
How many
understand that Jesus Christ dwells in us BY the spirit?
We do not have TWO indwellings; we do not have TWO experiences.
Jesus Christ dwells in you and I BY the spirit.
In fact, I Corinthians 6:17 says, “He that is joined to the Lord is one
spirit with Him” -- the human spirit joined to Jesus through the spirit of God.
And so Jesus
said, “Unless I go, I can't come back and do that -- I can’t come back and join
you to Myself.” And he also said to
them, “The spirit of God has been WITH you, but the spirit of God shall be IN
you.” This again is, “Christ in us,
the hope of glory” -- by the means of the spirit of God.
“The spirit of God has been WITH you, but the spirit of God shall be IN
you” -- and He said that before He went to the cross.
He was pointing forward to the day when the spirit would be poured out,
and given in Acts 2.
So in Acts 2 was
the day, that for the first time in all of history, Jesus by the means of the
spirit of God would be IN people.
That is the day that, “Christ in us, the hope of glory” -- the great mystery
that Paul says in Colossians 1 had NOT been revealed to ages and generations
past, but Paul says is NOW revealed – “Christ in you, the hope of glory” – that
is what happened, and began in Acts 2.
That's why the church began there.
That's why the new covenant began there.
For the first time, in Acts 2, people were born again; people had Christ
in them -- the hope of glory.
That's what they received. That is
what was delivered – and if you look at this, they received CHRIST by the
spirit. So Jesus Christ -- and all
that is in Him; that entire revelation; that entire reality of Jesus Christ,
received from above by the spirit of God – IS, “the faith once delivered.”
Isn't He the
object of our faith? Does not what
emerges from the living Christ -- the knowledge of God; the knowledge of the
ways of God; and so forth? Do not
all of those things constitute, what we could, in a more general term, say is
THE FAITH? So THE FAITH is the
entirety of the life and the revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ -- that we
receive -- not on paper – but that we receive IN US.
We are joined to the Lord and become one spirit with Him -- and that is
how we receive Christ. That is how
we receive THE FAITH.
A Personal Contending for The Faith
Now Jude is
saying that we should earnestly contend for this tremendous reality -- for this
tremendous revelation -- that we should live in it; stand in it; that Christ
ought to BE OUR LIFE; that Christ ought to be our Truth; that Christ -- as Paul
says in I Corinthians 1:30 -- ought to be our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He
IS the personification of, “THE FAITH.”
Well, He is the object of our faith, and so He is the personification of
what can be termed, “The Faith.”
And we are to earnestly contend and stand in the Truth of Jesus Christ.
Now something
else that we need to see here -- and this is just as important to realizing
what, “The Faith,” is -- is that when Jude tells us to, “earnestly contend for
the faith which was once delivered” -- how many see that anything we do along
that line isn't going to amount to very much unless we do this personally and
individually? In other words, this
isn't about you and I getting a committee together, establishing a statement of
faith, pounding our fist on the table and saying, “We stand by this at all
costs!” That is not going to get us
far. This is about you and I --
against all trials; against all odds; against all challenges -- in our personal
and individual lives -- this is about you and I standing by faith in the life
and in the reality of the Person of Jesus Christ, who dwells in us.
In other words, we must personally and individually, “contend for the
faith,” which we have received personally and individually -- before we can do
it together.
I don't know
about you, but when I think of a bunch of Christian people getting together, and
doing what they would call, “standing for the truth” -- and arguing and debating
and beating over the head others who would disagree with them -- when I think
about Christian people who would do that, and say that they are standing for the
Truth – but who don't have the reality of Christ in them – who don't walk by
faith against all the enemies -- in Christ for themselves -- I think that's very
shallow. And of course in that
there would be no power whatsoever.
Now these two
things, especially, I want us to see:
I want us to see that THE FAITH is the entirety of the life and
revelation of Jesus Christ that we have been given.
He is the personification of Truth.
He is the personification of THE FAITH.
He is OUR Faith. That's the
one thing. And the other thing that
I especially want us to see is that this is a personal application -- before it
is anything else. If it is not
personally (experienced), it is not going to get us very far.
It's not about religion.
It's not about having the right religion; having the right doctrines – I’m all
for that – but it is about living personally in the reality of Jesus Christ.
God is Speaking Son-Wise
Now, to follow
up what I just said here about Jesus Christ being the personification and the
reality of THE FAITH once delivered – I want to look at a couple of verses to
back up that statement. I want to
turn to Hebrews, chapter 1 -- because at the beginning of Hebrews is a statement
by the writer of Hebrews -- who I believe was Paul; it's debatable, but that's
my personal opinion -- Paul makes a statement here that relates to what were
talking about – i.e. contending for the personal faith once delivered, and then
as a church. In Hebrews 1:1-2, he
makes the following statement:
“God, who at sundry times” -- different times, in other words – “and in
different manners…” So, note that
before I read on: He is talking
about God, at different TIMES during history, but also WITHIN those times in
history -- in different manners – he says, “God, who in different times, in
different manners, SPOKE, in times past, unto the fathers by the prophets.”
And of course the Old Testament certainly testifies and gives witness to
this statement. God spoke all the
way back in the garden to Adam. He
spoke to Abraham. Sometimes it was
through an angel. Sometimes it was
through another vehicle. Look at
all the ways that God spoke to Moses.
And you have all the examples of God speaking through the prophets.
He spoke through signs and wonders in those days, did he not?
You can just list them out:
Prophets, patriarchs, signs, wonders -- whatever -- and, of course, He began to
issue forth a written word that took centuries to compile.
But all that
being said, that's what's being mentioned in verse one:
That, “God, who at different times, and in a different manners,
throughout history, spoke in those TIMES PAST unto the fathers by the prophets.”
But now in verse 2 -- this is clearly a contrast that the writer of
Hebrews is giving to what he just said in verse 1:
God USED to speak this way; in these manners; in these different manners;
through the prophets, and through signs and wonders – that is how God USED to
speak in TIMES PAST. BUT -- verse
2 is stating – NOW -- “God has in THESE LAST DAYS spoken unto us IN A SON.”
This Greek here
in verse 2 -- that phrase, “in a Son,” is really interesting and very profound.
It really, and in the most literal sense, is saying that, “God has spoken
to us SON WISE." (This is the exact
Greek) And what you can see in this is
that we are being told -- if I can put it this way – the “language” in which God
is speaking today to reveal Himself, and to reveal His will, is a Person:
Jesus Christ.
God is speaking to you and I through an inward, personal revelation of
Jesus Christ. That's how God is
speaking today – primarily.
Am I saying that there
could never be a time when God would speak in some other manner?
No. If we would need that --
God would do that. But we must
never make the other manners (of God speaking to us) the norm.
We must never take the possibility that God could speak to us in some way
that, we might say, is a sign or a wonder -- we must never take that and set
that up as the norm; seek after that; and think that that's what God is doing
today. It is telling us right here
that HE IS NOT -- and we need to read these things and take them seriously.
In times PAST, God USED to speak that way.
But TODAY – primarily - He is speaking through an inward, personal,
ongoing revelation of Jesus Christ.
How many see
that this relates to the fact that you and I have received, “the faith once
delivered,” personally? When you
and I were saved Jesus Christ joined us to Himself -- and as I noted from I
Corinthians 6:17 -- we became one spirit with Him.
That is HOW Christ dwells in us.
That is HOW, “Christ is in us, the hope of glory” -- which I've said many
times is the best definition of Christianity you can find in the Bible in one
sentence. The whole Christian life
emerges from, “Christ in us, the hope of glory.”
But that's a great definition of the core of it all:
“Christ in us.” Well, when
Christ joins us to Himself, and we become one spirit with Him – which is what
happened in Acts 2 for the first time -- when that happens NOW in Christian
people personally -- from that point (of being joined to the Lord) what God
wants to do is REVEAL CHRIST IN US.
As Paul says in Galatians: “It pleased God to reveal His Son IN ME.”
Here's another way of saying the same thing:
God wants, “to form Christ in us.”
(Gal. 4:19) And that word,
“formed” -- in Galatians 4:19 – means, “to inwardly realize and express.”
God Almighty -- once Christ is in us --
wants to bring us into a growing inward realization of His Son, that will renew
our minds, set us free, and bring us on in His purpose.
Now – this inward realization; that forming of Christ within; this
revealing of Christ in us – that is HOW God is speaking to us today – He is
speaking to us, “SON WISE.” And if
I will commit to unconditionally allowing God to do this -- that's how I
earnestly contend for the faith once delivered.
That's how I allow God to make this real in me -- by allowing Him to make
Christ real in me.
Picking Up the Cross
Within the context of
God speaking to us in His Son – this (revelation of Jesus) can take shape and
have different forms. But it all
has to come back to the realization of, and to the forming of, Christ in the
person. I could even put it this
way: God is speaking to us in His Son.
And if we hear -- and if we listen -- that's how Christ is formed in us.
And so you and I
have personally received, “the faith once delivered” -- it's all wrapped up in
the Person of Jesus Christ -- Who we have received an inward way -- and Who God
is forming in us.
If we go back to
Jude here -- Jude is telling us that we need to earnestly strive and contend for
this faith that is once delivered unto the saints -- and the first application
of that is to us PERSONALLY.
But HOW do we
earnestly contend for the faith once delivered?
And again, as I noted at the outset here today, we are to contend FOR the
faith, not just AGAINST those things that would oppose the faith – that WILL
happen, naturally. If you stand in
Christ, you are going to HAVE to be against everything else.
But don't be against everything else and forget about Jesus -- if you
know what I'm saying.
But how do we do
this? Well, a lot of places in the
Bible give examples of this -- but I think one of the best places is Romans
chapter 12 -- and I'm going to read there starting in verse 1.
This is one of the best places that describes how you and I personally
can contend for the faith once delivered -- TO US personally.
Paul writes:
“I beseech you, therefore, brethren” -- and I’m going to read it the way
it reads in the Greek:
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, BECAUSE of the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
Now let me just
stop there for a second. I don't
want to get too sidetracked -- but there are some significant words here -- and
distinctions -- that I think would be edifying to point out.
First of all, we are being told – and obviously it's a picture lesson --
to get on an altar. And of course,
the altar always represents the CROSS of Jesus -- and by application -- our
personal cross. Jesus told us, “If
any man would come after Me, he needs to pick up his cross daily, and deny
himself” -- deny self ownership -- is what He is saying – “he needs to pick up
his cross daily, deny himself, and come after Me.
For whosoever,” Jesus said, “would lose their life for My sake will find
ME,“ -- is the teaching – “as their life.”
Jesus said,
“will find his life” -- that's exactly what He said there Matthew 16 -- but how
many understand that Jesus IS THE LIFE; is the ONLY life?
And so when He says, “will find his life,” that (Jesus as our life) is
what He is talking about. If you lose
your life under the work the cross -- by picking up your cross -- you are going
to more and more and more find the experience of, and the revelation of, and the
reality, of Jesus Christ as your life.
Like Paul said in Colossians 3: “Christ,
Who IS our life.” He is the only
life we have. We surrendered ours.
And so this is
an altar here in Romans 12:1. It's
referring to that same work of the cross.
It's not only telling us HOW to contend for this faith once delivered,
but is telling us how to lose our life to Jesus.
And guess what? The two are
equal. You and I contend for the
faith once delivered by losing our life – so that we may find CHRIST as our
life. He IS the personification of,
“the faith once delivered.”
How many see
that the dots are now beginning to be connected?
We are talking about the same work of the cross unto the revelation of
Christ in us.
By the Mercies of God
Now, you will
note that in Romans 12:1 that Paul said that we are to do this – that we are to
get on altar – but NOT because of the wrath of God; not because were afraid that
if we don't that God is going to punish us, or be mad at us.
Paul doesn't say, “I beseech you,
therefore, by the WRATH of God, that you better get on that altar, because if
you don't, you are going be in deep trouble!!!”
Not at all. He says, “I
beseech you, brethren, because of the MERCIES of God, that you get on this
altar.” Why would he say that?
Because it is on that altar that we find DELIVERANCE from all that
hinders life. How many understand
that when Jesus Christ said, “Whosoever would lose his life will find life in
Me.” that He was talking about DELIVERANCE? -- because everything that is bad,
and everything that is a problem for us, is a wrapped up IN that life that He
tells us to LOSE? But all that is
good -- all that God has for man is wrapped up in the Christ, Who will be our
life, if we do lose that old life? So
this is a picture of the MERCY of God; of the way in which He delivers you and I
from the bondage; from the ignorance; from all of the things in our heart that
hinder us from walking in Christ.
It's the CROSS; the PERSONAL cross.
We know that we
HAVE BEEN crucified in Christ -- planted together WITH HIM in the likeness of
his death and resurrection -- and that's a once for all, forever finished work.
But despite the fact that we receive all of that -- in reality in the
person of Christ -- we nevertheless have to work it out.
It has to be worked out in us -- as Christ is revealed.
And so he saying, “Get on this altar and it will be worked out.”
A Living Sacrifice
Now, you will
note that he says that YOU present your bodies as a LIVING sacrifice.
So this is voluntary – just as picking up the cross is voluntary.
God can't force you to pick up a cross; He can't force you to get on the
altar. If He did that, He would not
get IN MAN what He wants. God wants
a voluntary worship.
Now -- we can't
do ANYTHING. We can’t do the work.
We can’t create ourselves in Christ Jesus.
God has to do all of that.
But there is ONE thing that we can do – it is what we are told to do right here
in Romans 12:1 -- and it's what Jesus told us to do in Matthew 16 -- when he
told us to pick up the cross: We
CAN surrender ourselves to God.
How many
understand that not only do you have a self, and a free will, but you were born
OWNING it. That's what AILS you and
I. So therefore the one thing we
CAN do is to take that self that we own and surrender it to Christ.
If you and I have a free will then, by definition, we have a self -- and
therefore that makes it possible that we can either put self before God, or are
God before self. Really – there you
have the two trees in the garden right there.
So we can put God before self -- and if we do -- we have to surrender
that self to Him -- and we have to do it in a voluntary way.
This (voluntary
surrender) does NOT mean we are going to like it.
It doesn't mean that we are going to be happy about what happens.
It doesn't mean that we are not going to have our failures and our hurts
and our doubts. There are
tremendous times of suffering and trials of faith.
BUT -- we CAN get on this altar; we CAN present our bodies as a living
sacrifice. Paul says if we do that
the ACT of doing so is wholly acceptable unto God – it is our, “reasonable
service,” or, “spiritual worship” -- some translations render.
And so what we
are being told here is that, “a holy and acceptable,” ACT -- in the eyes of God
-- is that we LOSE ourselves to Him.
And really – that is HOW we, “earnestly contend for the faith” –
personally. That is HOW we tell God
to do, “whatever it takes,” to bring the revelation and reality of Christ -- in
fullness -- alive in us.
Whatever It Takes
I have a way of
saying this, which I think is a little more practical.
Maybe. Maybe it will help
some people. I’ve said it many
times. I think it's really one of
the themes of God's dealings with man.
It's here in Romans 12:1. It
is in Matthew 16, as I’ve quoted.
What God is describing here -- that we need to do -- is that when we get on the
altar we need to say to God, “Lord, I'm taking my hands off of myself, and I am
asking You to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to bring me into the fullness of Your will in
Jesus Christ.”
I used to call
that, “the scary prayer." It is
really only, “scary,” if we don't know Him.
It is only scary to the flesh.
It's really -- as I noted – deliverance.
What would BE, “scary,” is to NOT do this.
But to our flesh, and to our frail humanity, to surrender ourselves into
the hands of God's can seem scary -- because we do not know what the outcome of
that is going to be, specifically -- we know that the outcome (generally) is
going to be life and Truth, and so forth -- I hope we know that.
But in order to do this work in us, we may have to go into some
tremendous trials.
I think a lot of
us think that if we surrender ourselves to God then somehow God has promised
that this will be a, “gravy train;” that from that point everything is going to
be easy – that we are going to have one blessing after another.
And usually, of course, we interpret that to be physical and material
blessings. A lot of us think that.
We think, “Lord, I gave You my life.
I gave You everything I am; everything I own, and of course, I have a
right to expect that You are going to enhance all of that, and give me all the
more to have. What happens very often,
however -- not all the time -- God has His purposes and His ways individually
with us -- but what happens very often is that right after you surrender
yourself to God -- very often things get worse, not better.
That's because you fallen into the hands of the living God.
And the issue (once you are in His hands) is not your circumstances.
We think we need better circumstances -- and that this is what God has
promised to do. We think that if we
hand God our lot in life, or our environment, or our circumstances – that He
will change THEM -- so that we can be happy.
But what God really is doing is CHANGING US -- usually WITHOUT changing
the circumstances at all. And
sometimes, as I noted, they will get worse -- because He wants to take us up on
our commitment. We are telling God,
“Lord, do whatever it takes to bring me in the fullness of Christ?”
He says to us, “THIS is what it takes.
You have to die a death.”
When you got on the altar, what did you expect was to happen?
That you were going to have a party?
Of course all of
this can seem so very morbid and scary -- but again -- this is DELIVERANCE.
And I have to say this: If
you want to walk with Jesus, this is the ONLY way to do so.
Jesus said, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and
pick up the cross -- if any man would come after Me, he must get on this altar.”
Well, what I'm
getting at here is that if you and I want to, “earnestly contend for the faith
once delivered,” the way in which we do that -- personally, between us and the
Lord -- is by letting God speak to us IN HIS SON; by letting God reveal Christ
in us; by allowing God to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to make, “the faith” -- to make
that reality – REAL IN US.
How many
understand that (this surrender) is really our way of, “earnestly contending?”
-- to allow God to do all of that?
Because by the time He is done -- if we will go on with Him -- we will become
more established in Jesus Christ, and we will know Him, and we will be solid in,
“the faith.” And that is earnestly
contending – again, a personal or real, “stand by faith” -- in handing yourself
over to God for, “whatever it takes,” for Him to do that work in us.
Be Transformed
Let's read on
here because there is a lot more that brought in.
Paul says, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice -- the act of doing
so IS a holy and acceptable ACT unto God” – it is the holy, acceptable thing to
do, according to God. “And this is
your reasonable service.”
Now note verse
2: “And be not conformed to this
world.” But before I go on notice
what it would mean, “to be conformed to the world:” We would probably think that
this means that we go out and listen to rock music, or are dressed
inappropriately, or we smoke, or we go to bars, and all those kinds of things --
and doing those things certainly would constitute, “being conformed to the
world” -- don't get me wrong. But
there is more to, “being conformed to the world,” than just those kinds of
things. “To be conformed to the
world,” is really a matter of letting the SPIRIT of the world get inside of you
-- to where it comes to govern you.
It governs your thinking, and in some cases it may even govern – and this is an
ironic thing to say -- it may even come to govern your relationship with God.
How many know
that, “earthly Christianity,” is the product of Christian people being conformed
to the earthly? -- of being conformed to the world? – this is an earthly
Christianity where Christian people try to do for themselves what only Christ
can do; where Christian people live for this life, rather than for the next; an
earthly Christianity where the things of Jesus Christ are all dragged down into
the earthly realm, and turned into a religion -- instead of being left as the
life, and the Truth, and the relationship by faith, in God would have with us.
That is what it means, “to be conformed to this world.”
It means to become earthly -- even as a Christian.
He says, “Don't
do that -- but be transformed.” The
word (transformed) in the Greek speaks of an INTERNAL transformation.
“Be transformed by the renewing of your MIND.”
Well, how does that happen?
It happens by getting on the altar.
That's what he's talking about.
That's what the context is – “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” --
through a knowledge of Jesus Christ.
How many understand that if we grow to know Jesus, that our minds are
going to be transformed?”
We talk about
being, “joined to the Lord and made one spirit with Him”
(I Cor. 6:17) -- the effect of this (spiritual union with Christ) is
going to be that our minds are going to be renewed according to the Truth.
The effect of it is going to be that we will be governed by a knowledge
-- of a growing knowledge -- of the Christ -- with Whom we are joined in spirit.
Notice how Paul
says that all of this is UNTO something -- and he states what it is UNTO at the
end of verse 2: He says, “So that
you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
So how do you
come into a knowledge of the will of God?
According to this passage of Romans 12:1-2, you get on the altar and
present yourself a living sacrifice.
In other words, you LOSE your life to Jesus, and tell him to do,
“whatever it takes” -- NOT simply to tell you what the will of God IS -- in the
form of information. No.
You get on the altar and you ask God to do whatever it takes to bring you
into a knowledge of His Son. How
many know that if you come into a knowledge of the Person of Jesus Christ -- and
that is REAL in you – that you are going to know the will of God? -- because
Jesus Christ is the Truth. How many
know that if God is speaking to you in His Son, and you are listening, that you
are going to discover – IN CHRIST -- the will of God?
So you get on the
altar; you present yourself a living sacrifice; you tell God do whatever it
takes; you settle for nothing less than the Truth -- in other words, you,
“contend earnestly for the faith” -- and in doing so, you refuse to be conformed
to the earthly. And the result is
that your mind -- because now you are coming into a knowledge of Jesus -- your
mind will be transformed; will be renewed according to the Truth -- and in that
process – if we could say it this way -- as part of the, “package” of what God
is doing -- the will and purpose of God for your life is going to be revealed;
is going to be proven in you -- because CHRIST is being revealed in you.
Revelation, Not Information
Now, in the
Christian church, you don't often hear that the way in which we are supposed to
discover the will of God is by a revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ in us.
We are not often told that the way in which we come into a knowledge of
the Truth goes all the way back to where we have to lose our life.
We are not told that. No.
Rather, we are usually told that the way that we discover the will of God
is through various, “leadings.”
It's almost as
if God is sitting up in heaven giving us a marching orders to go here,
and go there, or that God is constantly
feeding us information about our lives, and about what we ought to do next.
And that is the notion that a lot of Christian people have of how we come
to know the will of God. There are
teachings regarding this everywhere today:
“God led me here; God spoke to me in my heart; He moved me; He prompted
me” -- and all these sort of things that Christian people say – and listen, I'm
not saying that this sort of thing cannot happen; I'm not saying that God can't
lead you and I; I am not saying that God
won't speak to you and I. BUT in
the final analysis, the norm -- the regular way in which God does speak is IN
HIS SON. The normal way in which
God does reveal to us His will is by revealing IN us CHRIST -- and then out of
the knowledge of Christ emerges his will.
That's the
normal way in which God does this.
That is taught everywhere in scripture.
“All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ.”
(Col. 2:3) How many
understand that WITHIN that is going to be our discovery of the will of God?
Do you want to
know why, when you go to God -- whether it be specifically or generally -- and
cry out to Him, “Lord, reveal to me Your will for my life!” -- do you want to
know why often that cry and that prayer is met by silence?
(and often it is) It is
because God is saying to us, “I want to reveal My will to You, but My will is
wrapped up in My Son. I can't give
you -- I can't reveal My will to you -- as a separate THING from My Son.
‘Christ in you,’ IS My will -- and it is only as HE is unfolded, that you
can discover, and come into the knowledge -- and really, it is only as we
experience Christ, and are set free, and have our minds renewed, that we can
understand it. Then we will be able
to receive it in the way God intends it.
How many
understand that if God simply fed us INFORMATION about what to do next, and what
His will was for us – if that were the normal way that God worked -- that first
of all, we would not have in us a knowledge of Jesus Christ that would enable us
to understand it the way God means it -- and we certainly wouldn't have a
knowledge of Jesus that would enable us to live in it.
In other words, we would take what God says, and we would drag it down
into the earthly, and we would try to make all of it come to pass THERE.
There are many examples in the Old Testament God has given us of saints
who did that.
No.
The teaching here is clear:
Get on the altar and lose your entire self to Jesus Christ, for whatever it
takes to bring you into the fullness of His purpose for you.
That is, “earnestly contending for the faith” -- for your faith and for
mine; for what God wants to do in our lives.
Do that -- lose your life and you will find Christ as your life.
But it won't be a life is conformed to this world -- it will be a life
that transforms you by the renewing of your mind, so that you will prove what is
the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
Gather it all
up, and what you see here is: Lose
your life to find Christ as your life, and IN HIM AS YOUR LIFE will be LIGHT.
How many understand we are NOT talking
here about theology? We are talking
here about a Person IN whom there is all life and light.
You come into the fullness of Jesus, and you will have HIS life as yours
-- and since He is the Person Who is also The Light – you are going to KNOW.
Come to know CHRIST and you will know the will of God.
Come to know Jesus and you will be in the process of, “earnestly
contending for the faith once delivered.”
False Teachers and Apostasy
Now let's turn
back to Jude because there's a bit more here that I will talk about before we
are done for today. Jude says there
that he exhorts, “that we should earnestly contend for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints.” He's
talking about that personally for us to do -- but of course there is a more
general application to it, which is the ministry of the body.
Now in verse 4
he's going start to get into that.
I’m not going to have time today to talk about this on the level of how the
church, as a body, must earnestly contend.
That will be next week. But
I want to get into it slightly -- because there are some personal applications
in verse 4 as well.
He says that we
need, “to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered -- BECAUSE there are
certain men who have crept in unawares…”
Now notice the phrase here -- and let's again a look at the Greek words
that are used. The Greek words here
that are translated, “crept in unawares,” mean, in the original language, “to
enter in secretly by a side entrance.”
Boy, isn't that a picture?
These are people, in other words, who enter into the body of Christ by, “a side
entrance” -- and they do this secretly -- and of course, take up positions in
the body of Christ where they can spread heresy and false teaching.
Now this would
certainly suggest that they have not entered in by The Door, Jesus Christ.
We can even make a case that they are not born-again at all.
I also believe that there's an application here to those who may, in
fact, BE saved -- but who have backslid so badly that they are now heretics.
Either way, these are people that have crept into the body of Christ --
who look like Christians; talk like Christians; mingle with other Christians;
have positions of authority, perhaps, or maybe not.
It doesn't matter. But
having said that, they are those who are not of God -- who are not contending
for the faith once delivered – but, in fact, are the reason why the faith once
delivered been, “departed from.” So
now true Christians must get back to contending for the faith once delivered --
because of the damage these people have done.
Look at what
Jude is saying: He is saying that
you need to contend for the faith once delivered BECAUSE these certain men have
come in -- and they have done their damage -- and you need to earnestly contend
for the Truth because they have brought in heresy.
Boy, is this
applicable to this day and age. The
Christian church today -- because people have allowed heretics, false
Christians, and the spirit of the enemy, to come into the church and literally
take charge and govern it -- the call upon us is that we need to come out from
that and earnestly contend for the faith once delivered -- in our own personal
lives, and then for the body of Christ.
Now, some people
don't like to hear this because they have their favorite gurus, and TV
evangelists, and they like to hear that all is well, and that the church really
isn’t that bad. But the church
today IS that bad. It is in
apostasy – and I’m not saying everyplace or everywhere.
I'm not saying everybody is a heretic.
I'm simply saying that, generally speaking, the church is in apostasy.
Look at the
Christian airwaves. Look at
Christian television. It is
governed by error; it is governed by heresy.
And a lot of this is being practiced in local churches.
Local churches, by and large, are at best off the track -- but at worst
-- pockets of heresy. Where do you
hear today, “Jesus Christ, the hope of glory;” “Christ in you, the hope of glory
-- preached and taught? Where do
you hear the CROSS taught? Where do
you hear the Truth earnestly contended for?
Not in very many places.
Thank God there are some. But I'm
telling the Truth: The church
generally is in apostasy. It is not
a COMING apostasy -- we are IN IT.
And God is saying that we need to earnestly contend for the faith which was once
delivered.
Now, just a clue
as to how these heresies, and so forth, manifest themselves.
Jude says, “For certain man have
crept in unawares, who were before ordained of God to this condemnation --
ungodly men -- turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the
only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now when we hear that term, “lasciviousness,” it is easy to think of
immorality -- and certainly immorality would be included in it.
The word in the root in the original language means, “without restraint.”
And so, in other words, this is a, “christianity,” that is offered that
is without any restraints. It's an,
“anything goes,” kind of, “christianity.”
Now, within that – again, as I noted -- would be immorality, but there
is another application of this that I don't think that most of us have thought
of: This is talking also about a,
“christianity,” in which there is no Truth.
In other words, “anything goes,” with regard to what we believe is the
Truth. That's everywhere today:
“Truth doesn't matter. We
don't want to get all sidetracked about doctrine, because God loves everybody,
and we can just sail along, and as long as were doing the best we can, well,
Jesus loves us.”
Now that sounds
wonderful, doesn't it? In fact, it
even sounds like GRACE. You have
people on television today preaching that kind of grace – a grace where ANYTHING
GOES; a grace where there is no real Truth.
That also is lasciviousness.
And you can see the warning here that if that is the kind of gospel I preach --
where there is no holiness and there is no Truth -- then according to the
apostle Jude, I am denying the only Lord God, and denying the Lord Jesus Christ.
How so? Well, I'm denying
that they are MY Lord; I am denying that we must be governed by Jesus as Lord --
and (denying that) built into that will be holiness and will be Truth.
How many
understand that if you are contending for the faith once delivered, that in the
final analysis, that is going to bring you and I right back to Jesus Christ as
our personal Lord? And it will not
merely be something we SAY -- it is going to be something that governs us.
His life will govern us; the knowledge of Christ will govern us.
That's how Jesus as Lord is practically lived out.
And so any gospel that would say, “anything goes;” there is no Truth;
there is no way to live” -- that's not the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you get
born-again, and if you walk with Jesus Christ, the result is not only going to
be holiness, and a reverence for God – and a life that is lived will reflects it
– absolutely – but you will know the Truth, and you are going to do whatever it
takes, by the grace of God, to live in it.
And you are going to stand in it and earnestly contend for it.
You WILL because you have come into a knowledge of Jesus.
You have repented of sin and you have been delivered, and you want the
will of God no matter what it takes.
That's all I
have time for today. Jude exhorts
us to, “earnestly contend for THE FAITH” -- that FAITH is the fullness of the
revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ.
We are to earnestly contend for that; stand in it; and most of all to
allow God -- no matter what it costs us -- to do a work in us, whereby Christ --
who is the embodiment of THE FAITH can be revealed in us.
If we do that, then we will be able to stand in the Truth, and earnestly
contend on all levels.