“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.”
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints — Jude's original intention was to compose a theological treatise celebrating 'our common salvation' (tēs koinēs sōtērias hēmōn), but an urgent crisis has forced him to shift his pen to polemical defense of 'the faith once for all delivered to the saints' (hapax paradotheisē tois hagiois). The phrase 'faith once for all' (hapax) suggests both the finality and sufficiency of apostolic teaching, ruling out supplementary revelations or revised doctrines. The call to 'contend earnestly' (epagonizesthai) employs athletic or military language, casting the struggle against false teaching as a rigorous, demanding engagement requiring the community's full energy.
Church Fathers on Jude 1:3
Jude, who wrote the Catholic Epistle, the brother of the sons of Joseph, and very religious, whilst knowing the near relationship of the Lord, yet did not say that he himself was His brother. But what said he? Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ,--of Him as Lord; but the brother of James. For this is true; he was His brother, the son of Joseph. For certain men have entered unawares, ungodly men, who had been of old ordained and predestined to the judgment of our God; not that…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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