Understanding the Bible\n(Sorenson)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jude 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1:3 “Jude therefore launches immediately into the occasion of his writing. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. The verb tense in the first phrase of the Authorized Version here implies the past tense hinting at a prior writing. However, the phrase \u201cwhen I gave all diligence\u201d actually involves a present participle. The first phrase of the verse could thus be rendered, \u2018Beloved, in making all diligence to write unto you.\u2019 Jude simply notes that he wrote with diligence (or with urgency). He further refers to his readers as beloved, indicating he likely knew them personally and they thus were beloved unto him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having established that,\nhe wrote that it was needful (or necessary) for him to write to them concerning\n\u201cthe common salvation.\u201d His reference to salvation (and by extension the\ngospel) being common likely refers to how it is for both Jew and gentile alike.\nThe gospel is the same regardless. Thus, the occasion of Jude\u2019s writing was in\nregard to the basic principles of the gospel itself\u2014the \u201ccommon salvation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His concern was that the recipients of his epistle might\n\u201cearnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.\u201d The\nword translated as earnestly contend (\u03b5\u03c0\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03bd\u03b9\u03b6\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 epagonizomai) has as its\nroot the word (\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03bd\u03b9\u03b6\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9) agonizomai. The latter refers to contending, whether\nin a context as athletes or more seriously as in battle. The general thought is\nto \u2018fight for\u2019 or in this context to \u2018defend\u2019 the faith. The faith to which he\nrefers clearly is the gospel of salvation in particular and the body of\nrevealed truth in general. In short, he urged his readers to defend the faith\nand the Scriptures in which they were contained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He further notes that\nthis faith was \u201conce delivered unto the saints.\u201d The thought likely is that\nJesus Christ, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, delivered the truth of\nthe faith, the gospel of salvation, to the saints. The latter likely refers to\nthe apostles. That truth was not subject to revision or alteration. Though the\nNew Testament was yet to be completed, the truth of the gospel was already\nestablished. Jude\u2019s point was the entrance of apostate teachers already coming\nup with new and peculiar alterations to the common salvation thus delivered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, that gospel was delivered once. The essence of the word translated as such (\u2018\u03b1\u03c0\u03b1\u03be hapax) can also have the sense of \u2018once for all.\u2019 The gospel is not subject to revision. Even in Jude\u2019s day, it had already been long established. It was not open to alternative options by aspiring apostates. It was the common salvation already delivered. It is this faith (and the gospel undergirding it) which Jude exhorts his readers to rise up and defend. He thus so wrote this epistle”. Understanding The Bible (Sorenson) http:\/\/www.northstarministries.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"