Right.
The common belief. The faith that we all have in common.
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I felt the necessity (anagke) to write (grapho) to you appealing (parakaleo) that you contend earnestly (epagonizomai) for the
(definite article = "the") faith (pistis) which was once for all handed down to the saints - CSB = "I found it necessary to write and exhort you." Jude was constrained. NET = I now feel compelled instead to write to encourage you." The verb contend earnestly (epagonizomai) is an intensive form (epi) of agonizomai and thus conveys the picture of a heightened degree of struggling, fighting, contending, etc. "The faith here is not faith as exercised by the individual, but Christianity itself in its historic doctrines and life-giving salvation." (Wuest - Eerdmans Publishing - by permission)
NET NOTE - Grk “I had the necessity.” The term anankē, “necessity” often connotes urgency or distress. In this context, Jude is indicating that the more comprehensive treatment about the faith shared between himself and his readers was not nearly as urgent as the letter he found it now necessary to write.
Wuest - Jude had originally intended writing a letter containing a positive presentation of the doctrines of the Christian faith. The Holy Spirit laid upon his heart the necessity of writing in defense of the faith. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission)
Jude is like the duty of a watchman given to Ezekiel - At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. “Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. “Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.” (Ezek 3:16-21)
Necessity (318)(anagke from ana = up, again + agcho = to compress, press tight) literally means to compress. It refers to feeling of an necessity, constraint or compulsion. Because of the surreptitious nature of the attack on the believers he is preparing to address, Jude senses a compelling obligation (I would suggest that it is one energized by the Holy Spirit in a Spirit controlled man) to correct the subtle doctrinal errors.
Earnestly contend (1864)(epagonizomai from epí = toward + agonizomai = to strive, contend earnestly) with the prefix epi in this context (Jude 1:3), this prefix is used as an intensifier conveying the meaning of a little additional (epi) striving to the already strong agonizomai (agon = contest). Only here in New Testament (hapax legomenon). This word group gives us our English "agony" suggesting pain too intense to be borne! This describes Jude's internal turmoil and consternation upon hearing of the "creepers" in Jude 1:4. Compare our English = agonize = picture of a devoted athlete, competing in the Greek games and stretching his nerves and muscles to do his very best to win. You never fight the Lord’s battles from a rocking chair or a soft bed! Constable adds "This unique compound verb pictures a person taking his or her stand on top of something an adversary desires to take away, and fighting to defend and retain it."
Hiebert - “To ‘contend earnestly for’ (epagonizesthai) is an expressive compound infinitive which appears only here in the New Testament. The simple form of the verb (agonizomai), which appears as ‘agonize’ in its English form, 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.” (BORROW Second Peter and Jude An Expositional Commentary - page 218)
MacArthur - contend earnestly. While the salvation of those to whom he wrote was not in jeopardy, false teachers preaching and living out a counterfeit gospel were misleading those who needed to hear the true gospel. Jude wrote this urgent imperative for Christians to wage war against error in all forms and fight strenuously for the truth, like a soldier who has been entrusted with a sacred task of guarding a holy treasure (cf. 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7).
Wuest - The Greek athletes exerted themselves to the point of agony in an effort to win the contest. With such intense effort does Jude say that saints should defend the doctrines of Christianity. Peter, in his first epistle (1Pe 3:15+), tells us how we are to do so. He says that we should “be ready always to give an answer” to the opposition. The words “give an answer” are in the Greek a technical term of the law courts, speaking of the attorney for the defense “presenting a verbal defense” for his client. This is part of the ministry of every pastor. He must guard the flock of God under his charge from the inroads of Modernism by presenting evidences of the divine source of Christianity and the falsity of the modernistic position. The intensity of the defense must be adjusted to the intensity of the opposition which comes from Satan through Modernism. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission)
Guy Woods - These efforts are, it is surely unnecessary to add, of a moral and persuasive nature only; all force of a physical nature being expressly forbidden the faithful. When Peter sought to defend the Lord with a sword he was rebuked for his pains; and in bidding him sheathe it, he forevermore made it clear that his followers are not to fight with carnal weapons in his behalf.” (A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles of Peter, John, and Jude)
Cedar says "Jude has two major concerns—that they [his readers] will not be led astray by false teachers. He prays that they will instead take the initiative and contend for the faith.”
As Paul warned the elders at Ephesus "Therefore be on the alert, (present imperative = command for continual alertness so as to be able to detect savage wolves) remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears." (Acts 20:31)
THOUGHT - How does one "CONTEND EARNESTLY"? See [Titus 1:9, Acts 18:28, 2Ti 2:25, Jer 13:15-17] for some possible ideas on what it means to contend earnestly. Also just about any of the OT prophets are a good picture of those who contended earnestly for OT truth.. Involved is the thought of the expenditure of all one's energy in order to prevail. Here, as often, the verb is used metaphorically to denote a spiritual conflict in which believers are engaged.
The Faith - see discussion of the faith (pistis) = The sum of what Christians believe. Approximately one-half of the 38 occurrences of the specific phrase the faith refer not to the ACT of believing but rather to WHAT is believed. Robertson remarks that the faith refers to "the gospel, the faith system as in Gal 1:23; Jude 1:3, etc. (It) means more than individual trust in Christ."
In short, "the faith" here refers not to the ACT of believing but rather to WHAT is believed = the unchangeable message of the Gospel, that body of Christian truth which brings salvation (past, present and future). In Jude this faith has been delivered to the saints once for all and these who have crept in have distorted "the faith," this venerable body of doctrinal truth by which we are sustained and grow in grace. The descriptive phrase, "which was once for all delivered to the saints," makes it obvious that the reference is not to the believers' subjective faith but to the objective truths to which believers firmly adhere. (cp Gal 1:23 "preaching the faith" - clearly refers to the body of truth to be believed which corresponds to "the gospel").
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