The short letter of Jude ends with a beautiful word of blessing and praise. Dear believer in Christ, God is able to keep you from falling. God can present you before the throne of heaven as his child, perfect and spotless—and with great joy. In Christ, God does this for us. This is the gospel. We are not saved by working harder. We are not saved by achieving more. We are not saved by living a life that matters by the history books or the headlines. We are saved by God through Christ who loves us.

Jude begins and ends his letter rejoicing about this glorious gospel because it is at the center of his heart, but that is not the main reason for writing. He tells us to contend for the faith. We have to contend for the faith because attacks are continual. They are also subtle, taking a part of the gospel so it has a familiar ring to it. Jude is speaking about those who took part of the gospel (we do not save ourselves) and distorted it by adding a lie—(a changed life is unimportant).

There are those who distort the gospel by turning it into a list of things to do in order to show yourself righteous before God. This was the problem with the Pharisees. Legalism reduces the faith to a list of dos and don’ts. The letter to the Galatians was written concerning that error. Jude writes for us to contend against those who say they believe in Jesus, but have no concern to live a life that follows him. Some call this "easy believism." It describes those involved in immorality who rebel against the authority God has set up in the Church. They bring division and strife with their grumbling. They manipulate people to their own ends rather than love them in the Lord. They are shepherds who feed only themselves.

Begin to contend for the gospel in your own heart. You do not want to be one of those that Jude warns against. But you, dear friends, build yourself up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life (v 20). Do you know and believe the truth of God’s word? Is Jesus Lord of your mind? Are you doing the things that are pleasing to God? Is Jesus Lord of your will? Are the affections of your heart set on your Savior, Jesus Christ? What idols of your heart pull your affections away from him? This is the area of your life that others cannot see, but it is vital. Knowing and believing things about God is not enough—the demons do the same. Being righteous and doing good things are not enough—the Pharisees did the same. Jesus must also be the Lord of your heart and affections.

We must contend for the faith outside of our hearts as well. The remedy for sin is repentance, not excuses. Those who openly excuse their sin and encourage others to do the same will confuse the saints and lead people away from the Savior. We are to contend against those who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign Lord (v4).

Because our faith is precious and powerful, we contend for the faith with Love. We are to be merciful to those who doubt, patiently encouraging them to return to a life of faith. If that does not bring them back, we are to snatch others from the fire and save them. This is where we admonish others to repent and return to following the Lord. We must love people enough to confront them with the Scripture. Realize that they may receive your loving rebuke with anger. Those who pull a stick from the fire may be burned. Do you love them enough to speak the truth in love or do you love your own peace and quiet more?

For those who will not be brought back by patient mercy or words of admonishment, more severe church discipline is needed. But even here we are to show mercy mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. The purpose of discipline is to protect the church and uphold the honor of Christ, but it is also to reclaim and restore one who has fallen into deep sin. Church discipline has been misunderstood as a vindictive, peevish or unloving act. It is not to be so. What is unloving is to disobey the Word of God which tells us to show mercy with fear.