To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ have been exhorted saying, " I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).To earnestly contend for the faith signifies that the called out ones have to eagerly, seriously work hard against difficulties, and to affirm, assert, and maintain the faith which was once, meaning one time only, and for all, meaning for every race, tribe, culture religion etc.The logical question therefore is, since there is one faith which was once for all delivered to the saints why is there so many wrangling confusions and disputes among believers?What believers therefore ought to know, believe and understand is, what is this one faith which was once for all peoples delivered to the saints?Let me say from the outset that faith is not a vague nebulous feeling without any substance, because faith is the substance of things hoped for, it is the evidence of things not seen. Faith therefore is to have confidence in the testimony of another, a real substance which in this case is Jesus Christ, and it comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.Faith comes by hearing the testimony which God, the writings of Moses, the writings of the prophets, the gospel, the promises of God and Jesus Christ gave concerning Himself. Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1).Now since we have been admonished to, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, for there is one body and one Spirit, just as we were called to one hope when we were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all;" It is imperative that all true believers know and believe exactly what are we to contend earnestly for. But before we get to the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints, let us see how we should go about contending earnestly for the faith, because in our attempt to defend the faith we sometimes inadvertently do more harm than good by creating enemies instead of co-workers, therefore, it is imperative that we know how to go about earnestly contending for the faith.We no doubt have been given the mandate to; "Preach the word Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap-up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Timothy 4:24).But the question is, how should we go about accomplishing this task of contending earnestly for the faith? The way one should go about accomplishing this task is by having first and foremost a spiritual mind and acting in love. For we have been admonished saying; "But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:23-26).The stark reality is, whenever, there is foolish and ignorant disputes which generates strife it is a clear indication of carnality, as alluded to by the apostle Paul who wrote saying, "for you, are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," Are you not carnal? (1 Corinthians 3:3-4).One of the main hindrances in contending earnestly for the faith is that of carnality.
