TEXT: JUDE 1-6
Key Verse: “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 3)._
There is always the tendency to want to look down on common things and consider them as cheap and unimportant. But not all common things are cheap. In fact, there are so many common things around us that we cannot really do without. Air, for instance, is one of the most common things we have around us. Yet, we cannot do without it. Those whose lives have to be sustained by oxygen in the intensive care units of hospitals know how much they have to pay for that supposed common things.
In this epistle, the writer wants believers to understand and fully appreciate the free gift of salvation they have received through Christ. Though it is common like air, yet it is not cheap. It must not be taken or handled carelessly. This free salvation cost God the life of His only begotten Son, Jesus. Therefore, it must not be considered cheap. Believers must beware of those who make light of and are careless with their salvation. They take God’s grace for granted and see it as a license for careless and ungodly living. Once saved is not forever saved. Examples abound of those who were once redeemed but perished because of disobedience.
This common salvation should be appreciated and guarded by all who have come into it. Many failed to acknowledge it is not cheap and thus, fail to place the right value on their faith. They handle the Christian faith loosely and it slips from them.
If it cost God so much to purchase this salvation for us and it is still costing Him so much to get the gospel around the world through the ministers, then we must not toy with it. We must do everything possible to defend and keep it. It is our sacred call to earnestly contend for the faith.
####PONDER: How to contend for the faith
HYMN: Faith of our fathers
2 Faith of our fathers! we will strive
to win all nations unto thee,
and through the truth that comes from God,
the world shall then be truly free:
faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
3 Faith of our fathers! we will love
both friend and foe in all our strife;
and preach thee, too, as love knows how,
by kindly words and virtuous life:
faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
