In 1 Timothy 6:12a Paul says, “Fight the good fight of the faith,” and in 2 Timothy 4:7c he says, “I have kept the faith.” Furthermore, Jude 3b tells us that we should “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” In these verses “the faith” refers not to our subjective believing but to our objective belief, that is, to what we believe. The faith denotes the contents of the New Testament as our faith (Acts 6:7; 1 Tim. 1:19; 3:9; 4:1; 5:8; 6:10, 21; 2 Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:13), in which we believe for our common salvation. This faith, not any doctrine, has been delivered once for all to the saints. For this faith we should contend.
In the New Testament faith has both an objective meaning and a subjective meaning. When used in a subjective sense, faith denotes our action of believing. Used in an objective sense, faith denotes the object of our belief. In 1 Timothy 1:19 the word faith is used in both a subjective and objective sense. Here Paul says, “Holding faith and a good conscience, which some thrusting away have become shipwrecked regarding the faith.” The first reference to faith in this verse is subjective; it denotes our capacity to believe. The second use of faith is objective; it denotes the object of our faith.
The faith-our belief-is constituted of certain basic truths. First, we believe that God is one yet triune-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Second, we believe that our God became incarnated in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Third, we believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnated as man, lived on earth and died on the cross for our sins to secure our redemption. On the third day He was resurrected from the dead both physically and spiritually, and today He is our Savior, our Lord in resurrection, and our life. Because we believe in Him, our sins have been forgiven, He has come into us as our life, and we have been regenerated. Eventually, the Lord Jesus will come back to receive all His believers to Himself. These are basic truths, basic doctrines, that constitute the faith for which we should contend. Because every sound, genuine believer holds these basic truths, they are called the common faith (Titus 1:4).
The faith in the objective sense is equal to the contents of God’s will given to us in the New Testament. The law includes the contents of the Ten Commandments and all the subordinate ordinances. The law was given in the Old Testament, but what God gives in the New Testament is the faith that includes all the items of God’s new will. This will even includes the Triune God. However, it does not include such matters as head covering, foot washing, or methods of baptism. Nevertheless, some believers contend for such things, thinking that they are contending for the faith. But that is not the correct understanding of what Jude means by contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
To contend for the faith is to contend for the basic and crucial matters of God’s new will. One of these basic matters is Christ’s death for our redemption. Someone may tell you that Jesus died on the cross not for redemption but because He was a martyr and sacrificed Himself for His teachings. This understanding of the death of Christ is heretical; it is contrary to one of the basic items of the faith. Therefore, we need to contend for the truth concerning Christ’s redemption. This illustrates what it means to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The faith, the common faith, has been delivered to the saints once for all, and what we need to do now is to contend for it.
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