Our Verses - Jude Ch. 1:3 and 2nd Tim. Ch. 2:24
“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.” Jude Ch.1:3
“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but
be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” 2nd Tim.
Ch.2:24
I want to speak about what may appear to be a
contradiction in terms, as they say, but it is not in any way. I want to sound
the alarm in what I see to be a misunderstanding regarding our duty as
disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice in our first verse the admonition to “contend for the faith.” The
faith we find in the Holy Scriptures that was delivered once to the saints. The
faith delivered by men that we can trust completely as they were directed by
the Holy Spirit. What does contend mean?
To contend means to assert something as being
true. We are exhorted to contend for the faith as it is found in the
Holy Scriptures against any that would do the opposite of contending for
the faith. That would be those that oppose that faith. How do we contend for
the faith?
Well, first you must have a knowledge of what
that faith is. I would also suggest that it would be helpful to have a basic
understanding of the whole body of faith that we find in the Bible. Many have a
general knowledge of the Scriptures and they can quote Bible verses for
whatever occasion arises, but they are seriously lacking in understanding the
whole tenor of Scripture. Some do even worse than that, as we know, manipulating
the Scriptures against the truth.
Some handle the word of God incorrectly and
even deceitfully as we can see in 2nd Cor. 4:2 where we read; “But we have renounced the hidden things of
dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God
deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God.”
There is much to take note of in this verse. We
have the hidden or dishonest things. We also have the crafty ways as well as
deceit in how the word is used. All opposing or misrepresenting that which is
true.
Against all that we find to be in opposition to
the faith once delivered to the saints, we are to contend for that which is
true. We are to contend for the faith, not our political views, if we would
affect a man's conscience for the Lord. We are to strive to do it by way of the
Holy Scriptures with the help of the Holy Spirit without any preconceived
notion or personal political agenda or bias against anyone.
We should be very careful in how we handle or
use the Scriptures to favor anyone over another or to bolster any personal
political ideology regarding political preference. Never should we, as some
have said, weaponize the Holy Scriptures against those that we may disagree
with politically. To teach and bring the Scriptures to bear on a subject is one
thing. To use the Scriptures to engage in political warfare is another. To do
so is to mishandle the word of God. It does, in my opinion, harm to the Holy
Book and it misrepresents the Lord Jesus and the Gospel of the grace of God. It
ministers no grace or love.
My observation in this is that it condemns
totally one side and somehow excuses the other under the notion that one side has
the best interest of the Christians and their rights. Is that what God has
saved us for, so that we can be more involved politically, insisting on our
rights as citizens of the USA? Or should we as disciples of the Lord Jesus
concentrate on emulating the life of the Savior we claim to know before all
men? Are we really serving the Lord Jesus
as ambassadors of Christ when we are breathing out veiled threats and speaking
maliciously against those that are in elected office? Would we not do better to
pray for them?
As I said before, to bring the word of God to
bear on any question is one thing, but how are we doing it? Are we doing it in
the Spirit? It is to be the work of spiritual people. It is to be the work of
people that have the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. And how is it to be done? It is to be done by
contending, but not by striving as we see in our next verse.
“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but he must be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” 2nd Tim. Ch.2:24
Imagine, the servant of the Lord must contend,
but not strive.
What does strive mean? One has it as, to
struggle or fight vigorously. To strongly exert oneself. And one may actually be doing all these
things contending for the faith. But how is he to do it? He is to do it not in
the flesh out of frustration and wrath, but by being led by the Holy Spirit.
Humility, like Christ had, is what is needed in this kind of work.
One must do it in the right way if he is going
to bring honor to the Lord and not bring reproach on Christ and on himself. He
must be gentle, and he must be patient which are fruits of the Spirit. He
must speak and teach the word in a way that ministers grace to the hearers, not
wrath. If the word is rejected or taken in any other way, it must be the
result of the word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, not our personal
disdain for anyone or their political beliefs. The Lord’s servant must be
patient as the Lord was patient with us in our unbelief.
We were once unbelievers and the opposition as
they are now. The servant of the Lord
must be gentle unto all men, not just those that believe as he does, or he
should seriously reconsider his work and calling in this area, as he is running
the risk of misrepresenting the Lord. This is no light matter to trifle with.
We have no doubt that the word of God
ministered in a right way will accomplish what the Lord intends it to do - in
the Church and in the arena of the world as well. God will see to it. He is no
respecter of persons. When it comes to dealing with the unsaved we can rest
assured that the personal wrath of man, even when it is backed by the strongest
and best Scripture verses will never bring about that which the Lord desires
regarding repentance and conversion.
This, I believe, is true now more than ever
before regarding the political world and how the Christians are totally
invested in it. People that are many years along with the Lord, are now
involved in the cesspool of political strife with the name calling and
everything else. Again I ask, is this what the Lord has saved us and called us
to be disciples for? Is our duty and calling now in these last days, of a
political nature? Is it nationalism like Barabbas, or are we called to follow
and emulate the life of Christ in a fallen world?
What happened to the men and women that could
witness for and defend the faith? Where are the people in our day that can
distribute Gospel tracts and witness concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and the
Gospel of God? They have been sidelined,
now influenced and trained more for politics, defending their rights and being
a conservative than being a true disciple of the Lord. What was the extent of
the Lords involvement regarding politics and the political scene in his day?
The people tried to involve him politically
time and again, as we see. And what did he do? He said nothing about taking
sides or opposing anyone politically. He spoke only as to our duty to those in
power. He spoke of obedience and mercy and grace even to the Jews under Roman
rule.
Mr. F.W. Grant points out a few instances when
Jesus could have made it absolutely clear regarding politics and our
involvement with the political system of the day. In Luke 13:1 there were some
present that told him about the Galileans whose very blood Pilate mingled with
their sacrifices. Here religious antipathies meet with political power.
This account of what Pilate did made the blood
of every native Jew boil with hate and rage. Just like many seem to rage today concerning politics and
those that are involved. Here was a pagan government profaning the worship of
the true God and with bloody hands. What does Jesus reply to them that raised
the issue with him looking for his support? “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” He says nothing to the issue. This was the
whosoever is without sin moment concerning political involvement.
No angry words against the governors crime and
notice he had no commendation for the Galileans as martyrs for their country.
Jesus never acted politically himself and he
never ever sanctioned it in others. Barabbas found out quickly that he had the
wrong man in Jesus, thinking he would involve himself politically and fix the
government for the Jews. It was the same with John the Baptist the greatest man
born among women. He was slain by the order of an ungodly leader and for the
worst of reasons. The wish of an adulterous woman. John is murdered and Jesus
says not a word, nothing against the cruelty and tyranny of Rome or Herod and
what he did.
Nothing that would resemble what we have today
anyway. I myself am troubled and concerned
today, not only with the involvement of many Christians in politics, but even more with the lack of
leadership and the disposition and the general attitude I see in many believers,
including myself that does not appear to exemplify the Christianity of the
Bible.
Where is the gentleness in us as we engage with
those that obviously disagree with us politically or even scripturally? Here in
this country we live in, where we are
most secure and blessed by the Lord, is there patience and kindness and the
love that the Lord Jesus had for all the lost, even those that may govern in
the ways we might disapprove of? Many who, for all we know, are there at the
Lords bidding. A reference to the fact that the
powers that be are ordained by God whether it be under our way of Government
that allows those that we differ with to get elected, or as it is where
Christians find themselves in communist lands or places that have dictators and
have no say about it at all. If
there isn't, then we may be fighting against the Lord and we are doing
ourselves and the lost a great disservice. Not only that, but we are surely
bringing dishonor on the Lord Jesus and the Gospel of the grace of God. I have seen it without a doubt in me and I am
certain I am seeing it more and more in the Lords people both men and women regarding
politics.
We are allowing the politics of the day and our
involvement with them to breed, at the very least, contempt, disdain and yes,
whether we know it or not, even hatred against those that differ with us
politically under the guise of defending the faith, the honor of God and our
Country. Am I wrong in this? Let's examine ourselves.
Look at the fruit of the spirit in Galatians
5:22. “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.”
Are you, and am I able in our political
involvement to bring these fruits to bear along with our Bible beliefs on the
political matters we engage in, or are we losing ground in manifesting these fruits
altogether? Are we becoming more like the Lord Jesus in our dealings with those
in the world who are as we once were, or are we using the Holy Scriptures in a
crafty way? A way that they were never intended to be used?
Dr. Cook
said it this way years ago; Grace without Truth is nothing but
mere sentiment. Truth without Grace is nothing but Phariseeism. Are we
Pharisees now after the grace of God has appeared to us? Have we received the
grace of God to punish the lost with Bible verses that speak only of doom and
leave us looking more like a political fringe group than a true follower of the
Savior? What happened to mercy?
Paul asked this question once of the saints
where we read; “For what
have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are
within? But them that are without God judgeth.”
Are you
not satisfied to leave judgment and wrath with the Lord who can minister both
much better than you and I? If we spent more time judging ourselves and those
inside the Church as we should, according to the Scriptures rather than those
outside the Church, we would do far better. God help us as I believe
we have been deceived in these matters. We have followed not the example of the
Lord Jesus or his disciples or those early brethren of recent years past. We
have and are following the example of those that have it wrong not only on how
we are to act and engage in, and with the world, but on so many other things
the Lord Jesus taught as well.
We
should be the happiest of people and at peace with all men in these last days
we live in, as much as is possible. The Lord is at hand! Will it not be enough
to stand before Him in regard to what we haven't done, or should have done, let
alone what we have done regarding worldly issues that were none of our concern.
Things the Scriptures tell us in the letter of Peter shall all be destroyed and
then asks us, “What manner of people aught we to be
seeing this is so?” God help us. Amen!
CGB
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