Sunday morning in Sunday School we were in Jude. I have read the 25 verses before, but there was something that my brain got stuck on during the hour from verse 3. The teacher made a statement about having bulldog faith…not letting go…like often times the bite of a bulldog or pit bull. They have a tendency which is engrained within them to not let go once they grab hold and bite down on a target.
In Jude 1:3, he is writing to the recipients of his letter (who are Christians) and saying, “Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write and exhort you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once and for all.” He changed his focus after he started writing because he had to tell them how important it was to contend (fight against, agonize over) false teachers that were present. When asking them to contend, he says, I EXHORT you to contend. Exhort is to strongly encourage or pressure someone to do something. So, Jude is putting pressure on the recipients of this letter to agonize over the faith and fight against the false teachers/doctrine! Now, when he is talking about “the faith” it doesn’t mean just our personal belief or our sense of trust in God, but it means the essential truths of the gospel that all true Christians hold in common.
What do we hold in common? Honestly, I believe those lines are blurred quite a bit these days. We must go back to the faith of the early New Testament church. Read in Acts Chapter 2, the day of Pentecost. Read what Paul says in Romans 6:17-18. Think about Paul and what he says in Galatians 1:22-24. He who formerly persecuted Christians later preached the faith he once tried to destroy! There was a definite form of faith in the history of the early church. It wasn’t full of what is “right for me” or what we put together as “our own faith”, it is what is outlined clearly in the scriptures (see Ephesians 2:20)…The faith that was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. We can distribute it over and over, but it was delivered by God! We don’t need to subtract from it, add to it or change it any way when distributing it. We must contend for it with bulldog faith, just as it was delivered!
Okay…so back to that bulldog. When I was reading about their temperament, I learned that they are quite tenacious…meaning they keep a firm hold of what they know…if you teach them something and are consistent with it, they will not forget it. They can be quite determined. I asked myself these questions:
- How tenacious am I about God’s Word? Am I determined to live a life that contends for the faith?
- Do I keep a firm hold onto The Truth?…do I cling tightly to it?
- How easily do I forget what God says and allow the devil to try and distract me with a tasty treat out of the corner of my eye?
Maybe you can ask yourself those same questions, too. Maybe you have let go of God’s Word…His Truth…and you are clinging to a false faith or your personal belief in something. Pick up His Word…His Truth. Bite down on it and don’t let go. Bulldog faith is one of tenacity, determination, and clinging to the truth you will find in God’s Word. Refuse to forget what God says in His Word. Don’t taste anything the devil has to offer. Anything you bite down that is not of God is not going to taste good. It may satisfy you for a moment, but with God’s Word, I can testify that when you bite down, the more the Holy Spirit reveals to you, and the deeper you will want to sink in your teeth. 