Divinity of Christ (9)

Jude 1:3
Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation,
I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for
all delivered to the saints.

Notes

The first three sermons showed that Jesus is God through the writings of John. The fourth examined Paul’s witness to Christ’s divinity. The fifth drew from the book of Hebrews. The sixth sermon was from the letters of Peter. The seventh sermon highlighted the divinity of Christ as seen in the writings of Isaiah, the prophet. The eighth sermon proved that Christ is God based on the prophecies of Micah, Daniel, and Malachi. This ninth sermon reminds us to contend for the faith, just like the apostles and church fathers expressed through the Creeds.

Jude 1:3: Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation,
I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for
all delivered to the saints.

Jude, a brother of Christ in the flesh, warned that false teachers have infiltrated the church communities. They pervert grace and use it as a license for sensual sins, and they deny Jesus Christ. He warned that God’s judgment is upon such. Each church community must contend for the faith because false teaching will arise and challenge gospel truth and sound doctrine. The following are examples of post-apostolic believers who contended for the faith, protecting the flock of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Nicene Creed

   The Nicene Creed echoes this truth by declaring the Father and the Son as equal.¹ This conviction led the church to respond in the fourth century to a divergent teaching.

   
   Nicene Creed 321/381 AD (an excerpt):
   And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
   begotten of the Father before all worlds;
   God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God;
   begotten, not made, being of one substance² with the Father,
   by whom all things were made.

2. Chalcedonian Definition

   The Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD was called to resolve a deep divide over how Christ’s two natures abide.³

   Chalcedonian Creed (definition) of 451 AD (an excerpt): We, then, following the holy fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man… Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence…

3. Athanasian Creed

   The Athanasian Creed is structured in two parts. The first articulates the Trinity with clarity: Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct in person but equal in divinity. The second part affirms Christ as both fully God and fully man.
   

   Athanasian Creed 4th-5th AD (an excerpt):
   That we believe and confess
   that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
   is both God and human, equally.
   
   He is God from the essence of the Father,
   begotten before time;
   and he is human from the essence of his mother,
   born in time; completely God,
   completely human,
   with a rational soul and human flesh;
   equal to the Father as regards divinity,
   less than the Father as regards humanity.
   
   Although he is God and human,
   yet Christ is not two, but one.
   He is one, however,
   not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
   but by God's taking humanity to himself.
   He is one,
   certainly not by the blending of his essence,
   but by the unity of his person.
   For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
   so too the one Christ is both God and human.

   Application:

   1. Believe in the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

   2. Proclaim the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

   3. Defend the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ

Reflection & Discussion

1. What was Jude’s intention in writing? (Jude 1:3)

2. How did the post-apostolic church leaders fight for their faith?

3. Why should we continue to fight for the faith? How?