Earnestly Contending For The Faith
The Faith - Part One
Through the Cross and by the Cross comes Justification, Sanctification, Grace, Peace, Hope, Faith, Love and Blessings of every
description. ALL we have as believers comes through the finished work of Christ. The mighty Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead, to which He is alluded, brings about ALL His work within our hearts and lives, which includes all the Graces through the legal work of the Cross. He will work in no other atmosphere of faith except that which places its total dependency upon the finished work at Calvary. It is this faith we have been exhorted to contend for in these last days, which have been foretold to see a great falling away from “the faith,” and a departing unto “seducing spirits.”
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: Jude 1:3 - 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.
If man could solve his problems without the cross of Christ, then Christ died in vain! This means that He needlessly came down to Earth to suffer a humiliating and unimaginable death on a tree for that which was unnecessary. When we bypass the Cross, or else we look elsewhere, we are insulting that great work Christ did for us through His death, burial and resurrection. It is shameful to see the modern church world today doing just that but doing that it is.
Every believer must understand that every single thing he receives from the Lord has been made possible by what Jesus did at the Cross. The Cross holds the answer to every question, the solution to every problem, the benefit of every need. The Cross is the means by which God gives everything to believers. It’s where Jesus made everything possible.
1 Cor. 1:17-18
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
[18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Galatians 6:14
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
The history of Christianity, especially in these modern times, has brought on an onslaught of attacks upon the cross of Christ. And, lest any be confused, by the statement, “the cross of Christ,” we mean a belief in the vicarious, atoning sacrifice of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary as the true and only antidote for man’s fallen state.
What I am about to say next is not something I say with a lot of joy. I’m Pentecostal. I believe in speaking in tongues. To be frank, I speak in tongues “more than ye all,” as Paul says. I believe in the gifts in the Spirit. I believe God heals sick bodies today. I believe that the Holy Spirit is going throughout the earth bringing the harvest in at an unprecedented pace. I believe in laying on of hands and the power of the Lord’s deliverance for His people. I’m not opposed to those type things. But tragically, the majority of today’s attacks upon the cross of Christ are being sponsored, supported, and promoted by many in the Pentecostal and Charismatic communities. Some things that are coming over Christian television are nothing more but rank blasphemy and a wrapped up version of New Age humanism.
When the onus for man’s deliverance and salvation is placed upon “man,” and not “Christ,” then ‘Houston, we have a problem!’”
When you hear such terms in church circles as “the power of positive thinking,” “the Kingdom Age,” “self-esteem,” “inner healing,” “Christian psychology,” “dysfunctional families,” and the like, you are being lured by a siren song that SEEMS to be offering a panacea for the ills that beset mankind. This siren song will lull you to DEATH neighbor. It’s a false gospel promoted by false spirits pointing you to a false Christ. These are assaults against the cross of Christ.
Man Is A Sinner
We believe the foundational problem is the church’s view of humanity. The Bible calls man a SINNER, the church world at large calls man “dysfunctional,” and in need of greater “self-esteem.” Man is not only lost – he is helpless in so far as any capacity to save himself. There is NOTHING good about man’s fallen fleshly nature. It is wicked, perverse, demented, demonic, sick, fallen, putrid and damnable in the sight of a HOLY GOD. Man has no solutions to his fallen nature or his problems that always come as a result of that fallen nature. The ONLY answer for man is to throw himself on the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting SOLELY in the provision for redemption made for him at Calvary.
Paul said “ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We are justified by “FAITH,” not the law. We are not redeemed with “corruptible things,” as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.
Calvary is the only source of salvation for fallen man. It refutes every indictment that Satan, the great accuser can bring against man:
Rev. 12:10
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
We believe that NOTHING needs to be added to the price that our Lord Jesus paid at Calvary for the deliverance of humanity. It’s not “the cross AND a 12-step program.” It’s not the “cross and sessions with the Christian psychologist.” It’s not the “cross and membership in a particular denomination or church fellowship.” It’s not the “cross and keeping the works of the law.” It’s the CROSS. It’s the CROSS! It’s the CROSS! It’s the CROSS! It’s the BLOOD! It’s the BLOOD! My Lord, I hope somebody is shouting with me right now. Can you feel that neighbor? The price paid at Calvary solves ALL the problems of the “human condition” be it greed, malice, avarice, envy, jealousy, pride, stealing, murder, hate, dishonesty, LUST, fornication, adultery, alcohol addiction, drug addiction, pornography addiction, gambling addiction – IT’S THE BLOOD that can set you free neighbor. It’s the blood of Christ that can break the shackles and chains of sin of bondage in our hearts. It’s the blood that stops the powers of darkness in their place IMMEDIATELY and causes hell to tremble.
It’s not our fancy buildings, it’s not our degrees, it’s not our financial statements – it’s the BLOOD!
Nothing needs to be added to it, and God forbid that ANYTHING should ever be taken away.
When such excursions into worldliness as “Christian psychology,” and “possibility thinking,” and “power of positive confession,” are paraded in front of the church world as the “answer” to man’s problems,” they are in effect saying, “The blood of Jesus Christ does not meet the needs of mankind. For man to be ‘well adjusted’ or to ‘realize his full potential’ he needs something in addition to the cross.” And what most churches’ offer their fallen members is one of these new-day self-help philosophies that are out of the pit of hell itself.
Man does not need to be adjusted. Man needs to repent and be delivered! Man does not need a human adjustment; he needs a heavenly encounter. Man doesn’t need a personality test to see if he is demented, man is already demented. Man is LOST and more lost than the modern church will ever dare care to admit because if we ever admit that we are lost then we must admit that our “formulas” we have shoveled fallen humanity are LIES. But neighbor hear me, this is the battleground in these last days. The cross of Christ is the dividing line between the true church of Jesus Christ and the apostate church foretold in the pages and writings of the Apostles.
1 Tim. 4:1
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Tim. 3:1-3
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. [2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, [3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
When the Assemblies of God write an article in their monthly publication admonishing their ministers who may be dealing with sexual addiction similar to those which have almost destroyed the Catholic church recently to find them a 12-step program instead of admonishing repentance, neighbor we have backslid. This is, clearly and plainly, an attack upon the finished work of Christ at Calvary.
While most of the attacks on the cross are coming from the Pentecostal and Charismatic world, this does not excuse the non-Pentecostal world either. Many mainline Protestant denominations have slipped off into pure debauchery with the ordaining of homosexual leaders and priests, clergy who deny the validity of the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. I don’t care what name is on the door of your church neighbor but it is important you KNOW what they believe in and preach. If the doctrine they hold to does not uplift the finished work of Christ – get out of there and flee like you would flee the presence of a diamondback rattlesnake. If you refuse to do so, the results of staying with either the rattlesnake or that church will be the same – DEATH!
Beyond The Cross?
Songs about the cross are no longer being sung in some of our churches. These songs are condemned now because they are, as some blind guides say, “too old-fashioned,” or “too negative.” Some ministers have even gotten on public Christian television stating that it is “improper” to sing them.
The late A.N. Trotter made two statements so long ago they seem ancient and outdated probably by today’s standards that go the heart of the last day’s battle for the faith.
One, he said, “Every single blessing from heaven comes through the cross.” Secondly and more importantly, he said, “when we go beyond the cross, we backslide!”
Thousands of ministers today are falling for these lies from hell. They are trying to go beyond the cross. They try to circumvent the cross thinking that their self-help philosophies and formulas are necessary to “augment” the cross of Christ. Those type doctrines are losing ground neighbor, not gaining ground. It is backsliding!
The finished work of Calvary NEEDS NO ENHANCEMENT by man – or for man. Every price was paid at the cross. Man’s full potential can only be realized through the cross of Christ, and it needs so SLOGAN, no formula, or incantation to bring it to fulfillment. Once a person has this, he has everything he needs to bring him to his full potential.
Modernism Vs. The Modern Attack On Christendom
At the turn of the century, modernism began to rear its ugly head with a blatant attack upon the blood of Christ. Liberal professors of theology openly ridiculed the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The ultimate blasphemous statement was probably made by one Bishop James Pike who said “the blood of Jesus Christ was of no more importance than the blood of a dead dog lying in the street.”
It took it several years to complete the process, but this perverted philosophy has almost completely destroyed the denominational world. Major churches that were once evangelical bulwarks are now burned-out shells. Even the mighty Southern Baptists fight for their lives as adherents of this sick doctrine have cause great division in years past in an attempt to take command and direct the denomination into an openly anti-Cross position.
It really does not matter how many gifts of the Spirit we may have in our Pentecostal and Charismatic circles. It makes no difference how often we speak in tongues. It makes no different how many dreams and visions we might claim. We can boast of our power, but if these attacks upon the Cross continue and are allowed to hold our people sway, they will destroy the Pentecostal and Charismatic fellowships as surely as modernism destroyed the denominational world.
The scary thing about the attack today is at least with modernism it was easily recognized. A child with any common sense at all could listen to the statements of most modernists and know that was not right. But today, millions of Christians accept those who appear to be spiritual giants – but who lure their listeners to apostasy through the preaching of a false gospel. It’s real friend. This is not melodrama. This is not a journal to make you clap. I hope it makes you tremble. I hope it makes you mad. I hope you get on your knees and cry out to God to deliver us and keep us in the truth in these last days.
I want to repeat something that Robert Schuler said many years ago in a leading Christian magazine:
“I don’t think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity, that has proved to be more destructive to human personality – and hence more counter-productive to the enterprise of evangelism – than the crude, uncouth, and unchristian strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition. Man is not basically bad, he is simply uninformed about how good he is. Guilt is a loss of self-esteem. Jesus would never do that.”
This did not come from a unknown nut case who no one hears about except in the funny pages. This came from a man who has an audience of millions each week listening to the self-esteem gospel.
It is blasphemy to say that we need some kind of man-centered theology to replace God-centered theology, that man’s problems are simply a result of a lack of information on how good he is, or that guilt is no more than a loss of self-esteem. Man is guilty because man is a lawbreaker and he has broken God’ law. Man is a SINNER and sinners who refuse to repent are under the wrath and judgment of God!
John 3:36
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.
It is rank blasphemy to suggest that man is only dysfunctional and not a sinner. Friend, that is why millions are in sinful bondage and can never find their way out. They go from church to church, conference to conference, counselor to counselor, seeking deliverance but never finding peace. Their answer, and YOUR answer, is not in a shrink – it’s in the REDEEMER!
Mr. Schuler went on to add one more statement that sums up the self-esteem gospel that has taken on many shapes and forms the past 20 years but is basically the same false gospel:
“Jesus endured the cross to sanctify His self-esteem. He endured the cross to sanctify YOUR self-esteem.”
Friend, that is A LIE. That is a false message. That is a false gospel. That is heresy and it will send millions of “high” self-esteemed sinners to hell!!!!! There will be tons of those in eternity without God. People who have never truly repented yet they have found “themselves” through a self-help church or gospel that promises great things if we will but trust in our own abilities. Neighbor our own abilities are filthy rags in the sight of God. He is not interested in our abilities, He’s interested in us having a contrite heart with a broken spirit that recognizes our sinful, fallen condition before Him that drives us to our knees crying out for His mercy and grace to cover us and change us.
The Plague Of Sin, The Fire Of The Altar
A terrible rebellion is described in Numbers 16. This tells how the earth opened and swallowed Korah and his fellow rebels as fire came down from heaven, even consuming others who were present. Beginning with verse 41, we are told how the congregation – even after this terrible demonstration of God’s wrath and judgment – continued to murmur against Moses and Aaron:
Numbers 16:41
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.
Numbers 16:47
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made atonement for the people.
So Moses told Aaron to “take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar.” What altar was he talking about? He was talking about the brazen altar in front of the tabernacle. The brazen altar represented Calvary. It represented judgment – the terrible judgment of God which would even fall upon His own son, Jesus Christ, when He served as our substitute.
Aaron was told to go “quickly,” into the congregation and make atonement for the rebellious people. He was to stand between the dead and the living, and the Bible says that the plague was stayed (although 14,700 people died before this happened – notice the sevens in this divine judgment).
This Old Covenant account tells how deadly man’s rebellion is and how deadly sin is even today. It also shows us the terrible price Christ paid for it at Calvary. God hates sin. His anger at sin runs so hot we cannot in human terms comprehend it. His anger burns at the rebellion in man’s heart, yet His love for the sinner burns just as great. That is what caused God to send His only Son to die for man’s rebellion and sin – to take our place under the fires of His judgment –, which fell on Christ on Calvary.
Millions are dying of the plague today just as in the days of Korah. They are dying in every conceivable way – because the same sin that killed these rebels is killing millions today. Our only hope for salvation lies in the fire of that holy altar. Our only hope rests in Yeshua, our salvation. He just does not “have” salvation – HE IS OUR SALVATION!
Neighbor, hear me right now. This deadly plague of sin upon man’s heart and life will damn his soul forever to an eternal hell. Hell is not some “cuss” word man uses often to express his profane vocabulary; it is real place where the rebellious and those who die in unbelief go into eternity. It’s not a place where there are any altar calls. It’s not a place where there are children laughing and giggling on the street corner. It’s not a place where the family gets together for happy reunions to eat dinner and reminisce about old times. It’s not a place where the chance to hear the gospel and believe is given. The gospel is probably heard there but it’s heard in the screams and cries of preachers of the gospel who failed to warn God’s people of sin and led millions down the same eternal path they took. This is real neighbor. This is one of the most powerful journals the Lord has helped us write in a long time. It’s the call we have today to earnestly contend for the faith! Why? Because there is a plague of sin that is killing millions and the remedies the New Covenant church is offering the world is only adding more death to the masses, not life! Life is found in our faith anchored in the cross of Christ. Paul called it the anchor of the soul!
Hebrews 6:18- That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: [19] Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil; [20] Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchizidek.
The Faith
Jude 1:3 - 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.
The term “the faith,” of which Jude mentions here is not faith as exercised by in the individual, but Christianity itself in its historic doctrines and life-giving Salvation. To make it very simple, in the words of Paul, it is Christ and Him Crucified.” Through the Cross and by the Cross comes Justification, Sanctification, Grace, Peace, Faith, Love And Blessings of every description. The Holy Spirit works in our lives on one unction and one unction alone – through the legal work of the Cross.
It is not necessary for the believer to know everything about the individual graces to be victorious in these last days. It IS necessary for the believer to have his faith anchored in the finished work of Christ, thus allowing these other Graces to naturally flow from the believer’s faith in the Cross. The Holy Spirit will then come along side as the “helper,” Christ promised He would be. The Holy Spirit’s work will be to keep the believer’s faith rooted in CHRIST, not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit did not come to glorify Himself, but to point us to the Finished work of Christ!
John 16:7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
John 16:13-16
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. [15] All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you. [16] A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
In basic terms, “the Cross,” is “the faith.” That’s why we told to observe the Lord’s Supper, which exemplifies the “faith.” The broken bread represents His broken body, which took place on the Cross. The cup represents His shed Blood, which as well took place on the Cross. These constitute, “the Faith,” Jude told us to earnestly contend for.
In addition to the historic foundation of life-giving Salvation known as “the Faith,” Jude has reference to the individual believer’s faith as well. The “FAITH,” is only appropriated to us by individual faith in that finished work! Understanding that the Cross is the means by which God deals with Humanity, our Faith as a believer must always rest in that finished work and Sacrifice of Christ. Satan will do and is doing everything in his power to shift our attention in the church world today to something else, and he really doesn’t care what that “something else,” is. Most of the time he shifts it to good things, and because these things are good most Christians are fooled by his tactics. In other words, they think they have proper faith if they have faith in something “good” to bring them out of their bondage.
But let the reader hear what the Spirit is saying to the church today. If it’s not faith in the Cross of Christ, then it’s not Faith that God will recognize. Most of what we call “faith,” in the church today is wasted faith in “self,” and not Christ. I can have faith all day long in “my confession,” and boast about how Biblical and correct I am in my confession, but the faith of which I am speaking, God will not recognize it. Pure and simple, that is faith in “self.”
When we go forward to have someone lay hands on us thinking that the laying on of hands will deliver us from sin (and don’t misunderstand me, laying on of hands is Biblical and scriptural) we are again “wasting” faith. It doesn’t matter how godly that person may be who is laying hands on us, the deliverance of our souls comes as a result of Christ, not that person laying hands on us or blowing on us.
Some people believe that by quoting Scriptures they will find a place of victory in their hearts and lives. Quoting scriptures is great; it’s scriptural, and Biblical to have our minds renewed with the Word of God daily. But many Christians believe this constitutes faith when in reality it constitutes faith in “self,” or “in the flesh.” God does not recognize it and the poor soul seeking a place of refuge from the attacks of the enemy will keep quoting and quoting and never see victory. Some wind up getting discouraged and backsliding because of it.
In recent years we have had a lot of teaching on “generational curses.” Preachers all over the country have been going around conducting crusades and seminars on “breaking generational curses,” off people. The way it’s usually done is the person with the ‘curse’ on them comes down and people gather around them laying hands and rebuking Satan. The person usually gets “slain” in the Spirit, then falls out thinking that by them falling out under the power that when they get up they will be free of the bondages and powers of darkness that have chained them for so long. Please understand we are not knocking being "slain" in the Spirit. We believe in that and see it quite often in churches we visit. What we are saying is that when people put their "FAITH" in that instead of Christ and His finished work, they they are holding to a false hope that when he/she gets off the floor that all their tormenting demons will be gone. They will not!
The poor soul will stumble out the door and probably within 24 hours or even less, realize, that even with all the formulas, the laying on of hands, the falling out on the floor and the promises of the preacher, that the demons haven’t gone and they’re still in bondage. Why?
Let me explain it this way. When we do such things, we usually have people focus their thoughts on their earthly “daddy.” I heard T.D. Jakes say the other night to a large crowd that their “problems,” were not really “their” problems, but those of our parents and grandparents. I respect T.D. Jakes and like him as a preacher, so this is not a cheap shot at him personally, but I want to address what he said head on, for in it lies the root of the problem with most seeking freedom from generational curses and bondages.
We are focusing on the wrong daddy. We have problems and bondages in our life not because of our daddy, “JOE,” or daddy “Bob,” or daddy “William.” We have problems in our hearts and lives because of daddy “ADAM!” Adam’s race is fallen and until we start dealing with humanity in these terms we can hold every seminar we want to till Jesus comes and mankind will still be bound. Neighbor, you’re problem with greed is not because your earthly daddy had a problem with greed. It’s because ADAM’S FALLEN FLESH has a problem with GREED!
Your problem, sir, with lusting after other women, is not because your earthly daddy had or still has a problem with lust. It’s because Adam’s FALLEN FLESH is corrupt and it's nature lusts after other women along with everything else! You don't have to have a sex problem to have a lust problem. Lust can be for position, power, money, things and self-promotion. Your problem with lying, cheating and stealing sir, is not because your earthly father did those things and now you do them. NOT! It’s because man’s fallen nature embraces lying, cheating and stealing!
And let me interject one quick thought here. According to Ezekiel, the child has a choice to determine whether they will follow in “daddy’s” footsteps anyway. It clearly states that if the child see the father sin and the child turns away from that sin, puts his faith in the cross, then the father dies, but the child lives. If the child however sees the father sin and follows the father in that sin, both the father AND the child stand accountable to God. The child cannot blame the father for his ills, as so many do today.
Ezek 18:18-22
18 But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.
19 "Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live.
20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.
21 "But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
22 None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. When did He do this? He did it when He hung between heaven and earth and said, “It is finished,” and broke the powers of darkness and the shackles of sin over man. Neighbor, if you’re running to a seminar to get deliverance from a generational issue, then your faith is in “man,” not God. The price for your deliverance has already been paid for. It’s not about how many people chant over you or how much oil is poured on you. NO NO NO! It’s if you have your faith ANCHORED in the cross of Christ! That’s “THE FAITH,” Jude told us to earnestly contend for.
You see, God cannot even look at man except through Christ and what Christ did at the Cross. So if you want the promises of God and the deliverance of God to become real in your heart and life you must make the Cross of Christ the object of your faith and the cross of Christ ALONE! It can’t be on the cross AND quoting scripture, as godly as quoting scripture is. It can’t be on the cross AND church attendance, as godly as church attendance is. It can’t be on the cross AND having hands laid on you, as wonderful and powerful as that is. Your faith must be in HIM, not man.
And that is the FAITH that is under such attack today by this new age humanistic gospel being shoveled to millions through the network of Christian television and print.
The Holy Spirit And Our Faith
As we bring the first part of this journal to a close, let me say this about the Holy Spirit. EVERYTHING done in our hearts and lives as it pertains to God always and without exception comes to us through the power, office, ministry, work and person of the Holy Spirit. But everything the Holy Spirit does for us is not done by happen stance or coincidence. It’s not done just because He’s obligated to do it. Everything He does is carried out within the parameters of what Jesus did at the Cross. Christ’s death made it possible for the Holy Spirit to do all that He does.
The demands of the believer in this walk of Christianity is centered around one word – FAITH. We must have FAITH in the Finished work of Christ or else He will not function for us. If our faith is placed in other things, and no matter how good or how Scriptural those things may be in their own right, the Holy Spirit will simply not help us. We are then left to our own devices and desires and that friend is a 100% guarantee for defeat.
Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Fallen man cannot bring himself out of the pit – and that includes Christians. We as fallen, yet redeemed creatures, are saved by grace through FAITH, not of WORKS, lest any man should boast. If we are working, then we are losing! If we are fighting sin friend, we’ve already lost the battle. We’re not called to fight the fight against sin. We’re called to fight the good fight of FAITH. And in these last days we have been exhorted by Jude, the half brother of Christ – to “earnestly contend for THE FAITH, which was once delivered to the saints.”
Satan is going to come against the child of God in every way possible, in order to get us to sin. This is his effort and the reason for all that he does. The idea that sin is no longer any bother as it regards the Christian is folly and foolishness indeed. The idea that we can arrive at some certain place where temptation will no longer or no more be a problem is wrong as well! As long as we are in this body of clay, Satan is going to come against us and try and attach his demon powers to our fallen sin nature.
That need not cause us any problems, however, if we are functioning according to God’s prescribed order of victory. That prescribed order is the understanding of the Cross, our faith in the Cross, which gives the Holy Spirit the latitude to work within our lives. Neighbor, that is the good fight of FAITH! THAT is the FAITH we are to earnestly contend for! Shalom.
Heavenly Father, we come to You right now in the name of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. We thank You Heavenly Father for Your grace and longsuffering to us. We thank You Lord for Your patience and love and mercy to a fallen human race that You so love with a deep burning passion that You have bankrupted heaven to redeem. Help us Lord, Help us Lord to contend for the faith in these last days. Help keep our focus on the CROSS of Christ, never straying into vain traditions, profane babblings and damnable heresies that lead men away from the Cross and straight into hell. Keep our spirits open to YOUR TRUE HOLY SPIRIT Lord. Keep us from apostasy and deception. Lord, help us to never deceive ourselves but send the convicting power of the Spirit to keep us on the path of life at whatever costs. Lord, we give ourselves totally and wholly to YOU. Without 100% consecration we will fail in these days ahead. That consecration Lord must come through a contrite and broken spirit. We must have revival in our hearts so that fire can touch others around us. Fill us with the Holy Ghost and power so that others may see the FLAME of the Holy Spirit ablaze in our hearts and lives. We love You Lord. We thank you Father. We adore Your Holy Name. We thank you for this not so “common” salvation that Jude termed it as Lord for it is far more than common, it is a GREAT salvation! It’s full of Your grace, love and mercy. Deliver us from the wiles of the enemy as He seeks to destroy Your children. Keep our hearts pure as the driven snow. Thank you for allowing THIS generation to carry the banner into harvest as we near the end of the times of the Gentiles. We see the fig tree blooming and we rejoice Oh, Heavenly Father.
In your name we pray, Amen.
1 Tim. 6:20
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:
This journal is continued in "Earnestly Contending For The Faith, Part Two."