Do You Contend for the Faith? (Jude 3)

It is good to be back. It’s been a busy summer full of friends at our cabin, hand surgery on my right hand, and a full knee replacement for my wife. Needless to say, nothing’s been quite normal so I had to take a break from writing. I’ll be starting up the Greek Verse of the Day and the Greek Word of the Day as well as Monday with Mounce.

Someone wrote about the use of the word “contend” in Jude 1:3. I think this is an interesting example of how a word gets into our translations that probably isn’t the best word. Jude is telling his people that they have to “fight” for the faith. Two problems with the translation “contend.”

“Contend” isn’t part of most people‘s active vocabulary. While people may get the gist of the word, I think that good translation theory should use words that people use.

Secondly, “contend” doesn’t convey the full meaning of ἐπαγωνίζομαι. It is much too weak, and yet it is used in almost all modern translations. The NLT uses “defend,” but that still feels too passive to me.

ἐπαγωνίζομαι is an aggressive word that carries more the idea of fighting. BDAG gives the meaning as “to exert intense effort” and carries the emphasis from the earlier πᾶσαν σπουδὴν ποιούμενος, “making all effort.” BDAG explains ἐπαγωνίζομαι as, “earnest commitment in discharge of an obligation or experience of a relationship, eagerness, earnestness, diligence, willingness, zeal oft. in Gr-Rom. lit. and ins. of extraordinary commitment to civic and religious responsibilities.” LSJ includes reference to one’s attitude in competing in athletics.

ἐπαγωνίζομαι is a compound formed with the intensifier ἐπί and ἀγωνίζομαι, which by itself means “to fight, struggle” and can be used of fighting with weapons as well as more generally of any struggle. In Col 1:29 it is paired with κοπιάω, “to exert oneself physically, mentally, or spiritually, work hard, toil, strive, struggle” (BDAG).

Charles comments, “Here Jude employs an athletic metaphor—specifically, one from the gymnasium. The image calls to mind a wrestling match. For the believers the implication is that they are presently engaged in an intense moral struggle over truth” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Revised).

“Contend” is much too weak a word for what Jude is saying. His church had been infiltrated by “ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into an excuse for blatant immorality, and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (v 4). This is serious. The false teachers were ungodly. They used God’s graciousness as an excuse to be blatantly immoral, and their Christology is obviously aberrant. You can see why Jude wants his people to aggressively fight against the heresy

Fighting for the gospel takes different shapes in different cultures. In those cultures where Christianity is a minority religion, fighting often involves aggressively advancing the Christian faith in the face of false world views and often demonic powers.

In liberal churches that don’t preach the gospel, fighting means that you may have to go up against the pastor and leaders in the church, confronting them that they are more of a country club than they are a church.

In many self-professing evangelical churches that are more akin to pep rallies and the preacher is more interested in spreading his ideas rather than God’s, fighting for the faith means to bring true Christian doctrine to confront a feel-good culture that has forgotten the word “sin.”

I read a poll the other day that was reported in The Christian Post (I believe) that asked a series of questions to self-professing evangelical Christians. The last question asked if the person believed that Jesus was just a good man or if he was God. Sixty percent said he was just a good man, denying Christ’s divinity. Of course, that means that they can’t be Christians because the confession that Jesus is Lord, God, Yahweh, is a central affirmation of what it is to be a Christian.

We too need to fight for the faith.