^“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. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” [Jude 1: 3 – 7 KJV].

According to our text, Jude intended to write a different message to the church, but when he witnessed the absurdity going on there, he instead decided to write to them about the message of salvation that Jesus Christ brought to us. He wrote to encourage them to fight for the original faith, entrusted to the saints  which cannot be changed.

The message of salvation cannot be changed, no matter how we try to decorate the gospel. True, the mode of presentation may change from generation to generation but the message remains constant. The world’s problem, which God sent Jesus to address, is a sin problem. The Bible expressly states that Jesus was sent by the Father to cleanse us of our sins. Why so? This is because sin is the primary source of all of humanity’s problems. In order to address the problem of mankind, the gospel message that deals with the problem of sin cannot be compromised. That is why the Bible instructs that “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations.” [Luke 27: 47 KJV]. Today, sad to say, the message of repentance and forgiveness of sin is unpopular. We are addressing the fallout of the problem instead of  the real problem, which is sin.

If we do not preach against sin in all of its forms in our churches and instead try to compromise the word of God and tell people what they want to hear despite the fact that they are living in sin, we are undermining God’s purpose. When God made us in His likeness and image, He never intended for us to experience sickness or lack. Everything man required was provided for in the Garden of Eden. Sin is the root cause of poverty and sickness. Sin entered human life and sickness and other forms of evil followed. As God’s children, we must take the matter of sin  and repentance and the forgiveness of sin seriously in our preaching and teaching among the people. Forgiveness of sin is another way of preaching the great commission: “ Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, [a]and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,  and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things” [Luke 24: 46 – 48 KJV].

As a preacher of the gospel, engaging a large congregation, as much as it is desired should not be your only goal. Even Jesus, when He was on earth, attracted a large crowd but He never allowed the desire for a crowd to compromise His message. At one point, many of His followers fled from Him because of the “hard truth” He taught but He was unworried. He turned to face the remaining few and questioned, “Are you not going with them?”  but “Simon Peter replied, “Master, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life” [John 6: 66 – 68 TLB].

Jude was also addressing his concerns about the doctrine of “unlimited grace and eternal security;” which implies that once you repent and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you are saved by grace through faith and everything in your life, past, present and future, is already taken care of and you are free to live your life as you wish! Some people feel that once saved, one is eternally secure. According to Jude, this is not correct. There are people who, despite having devoted their lives to Christ and being God’s children, were punished when they strayed from the truth. So, there is nothing like arriving at a point where you are now eternally saved and can live carelessly!

This was what Paul was also addressing in Romans 6: 1 – 23: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” He dealt extensively with the issue of abusing God’s grace and watering down the gospel, as well as the concept of “eternal security.” There is no such thing as eternal security. When you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are transformed from sin to righteousness, from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of light. And throughout your life, you must commit to pursuing righteousness in order to grow more to be like Jesus through your lifestyle. Never, ever start explaining away and compromising the word of God for whatever reason. According to the Bible, “By their fruits you shall know them” [Matthew 7: 15 – 20]. That is why Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 11: 1: “Follow me only as I follow Christ.” In other words, don’t follow me if my life does not reflect Christ.

We must Contend for the original faith because these days there is false faith. Don’t be carried away by every wind of doctrine. Spend time studying the Word of God. According to the Bible, the distinction between Christians at Berea and those in Thessalonica was that after receiving the teachings of Paul and the other Apostles, they the Bereans spent time re-examining all they had been taught to ensure that it was scriptural [Acts 17: 11]. This is one of the things we must do in these last days, because there are many preachers teaching with enticing words of human wisdom that lure people away from the faith.

Also, submit to sound leadership where you can be thoroughly discipled and taught the word of God. That is exactly what the Bible emphasized in Ephesians 4: 11 – 14: “He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints… for the edifying of the body of Christ:  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man… That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” [KJV].

Another area the church has pushed to the extreme is materialism. The Bible warns us thus: “Away then with sinful, earthly things; deaden the evil desires lurking within you; have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires; don’t worship the good things of life, for that is idolatry.  God’s terrible anger is upon those who do such things.” [Colossians 3: 1 – 6 TLB]. Was Paul here condemning the good things of life? Of course not! Money is a good thing. But as I’ve often said, it’s not wrong to have money; it’s wrong for money to have you. “…Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” [Mathew 6: 33 KJV].

You ought to prioritize God first in your life; don’t violate His word in order to prosper, undertake the things you need to accomplish in righteousness without compromising and when God blesses you with material goods, use it to glorify God. Worshiping the good things of life is materialism. It is what drives individuals to sell their consciences and do everything in the name of success: “And if being a Christian is of value to us only now in this life, we are the most miserable of creatures” [1 Corinthians 15: 19 TLB].

Seeking first the kingdom of God is the route to success. Nowadays, the church has strayed from its basic mission by prioritizing materialism over the limits established by God’s word, thereby compromising His word. There is an urgent need in the church to teach and reinforce sound biblical values. If the church is what it is supposed to be, the issues we have even as a nation would be greatly minimized. The nation will change if Christians are discipled in Christlike living and commit to doing so. But the difficulty is that while the church is growing in size, what the members are learning is having little impact on their lives. As a result, we have a lesser impact on society. That is why our country is heading south. Nigeria is well-known for its numerous churches, yet it is also listed as one of the  most corrupt in the world.. How do these fit together?

One crucial assignment to us as a mission therefore, is to call the church back to biblical Christianity. Because it is only biblical Christianity that can reform a society. If we look at the impact the church had as far back as the beginning of world civilization, society transformed when individuals began to live in the light of  biblical values. The history of Europe and some other nations, for instance, reveals that it was Christianity that brought them civilization. Most great inventions were birthed by Christians. However, we are not developing such qualities in Christians today because those values that yield such outcomes are no longer emphasised in the church. As a result, there are many irresponsible people floating around and living life by miracle, expecting God to drop down from heaven and accomplish everything for them. Yes, God is a miracle-working God but He did not intend for us to live our lives on the basis of miracles only.

God established laws after creating the world. That is why, for example, you do not wake up in the morning and begin praying for the sun to shine or the moon to rise. Those things will happen in their own time because God has already established these laws. God intends for us to abide by those laws. A miracle is God’s intervention in human affairs. A miracle suspends the normal course of events in nature for something desirous to happen. Do you want God to always suspend the law of nature every day for you? You can’t live carelessly –  not creative, hardworking and productive and expect miracles all day.

One of the things that strikes me about Christianity is that it was the church that brought about change in England through the gospel message of Christ’s love at a time when wickedness was the norm. And in Nigeria, for example, many of the social services we have today were brought in by the church: education, healthcare etc. So, we must return to the values that made the church so attractive and influential back then.