{"id":1831,"date":"2011-02-14T21:19:29","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T05:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2011\/02\/14\/contend-2\/"},"modified":"2011-02-14T21:19:29","modified_gmt":"2011-02-15T05:19:29","slug":"contend-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2011\/02\/14\/contend-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Contend (2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wrote<\/a> about Jude 3 a few days ago. That post motivated me to study the passage in more detail. The verse is really a profound statement, vv. 3-4 serving as Jude\u2019s thesis statement for the epistle.<\/p>\n

I preached on the passage this past Sunday. The message really centered around the dominant word of the passage and was entitled simply, \u201cContend\u201d. This post reflects some of my observations from that sermon.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On my computer, I have something like 18 different English translations of the Bible. The Greek word used here, epagonizomai<\/em>, is translated by all but two of them as \u2018contend\u2019. The outliers are Tyndale\u2019s old NT, \u201cye shuld continually laboure in the fayth\u201d and Young\u2019s Literal Translation, \u201cexhorting to agonize for the faith\u201d. Hopefully you can see that \u2018agonize\u2019 is a bit of a transliteration rather than a translation. Our English word \u2018agonize\u2019 is picturesque, but it doesn\u2019t really communicate the meaning of the word.<\/p>\n

As noted in the earlier post, epagonizomai<\/em> means \u201cto exert intense effort on behalf of something\u2014\u2018to struggle for\u2019\u201d ((Louw-Nida<\/em>)) [as opposed to antagonizomai, \u2018to struggle against\u2019]; and it \u201csignifies \u2018to contend about a thing, as a combatant\u2019 (epi, \u2018upon or about,\u2019 intensive, agon, \u2018a contest\u2019), \u2018to contend earnestly,\u2019 Jude 3<\/a>. The word \u2018earnestly\u2019 is added to convey the intensive force of the preposition.\u201d ((Vine\u2019s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words<\/em><\/em>))<\/p>\n

The word contend, then, means \u2018to earnestly fight on behalf of a cause\u2019, in this case the cause being \u2018the faith once delivered to the saints\u2019. I plan to preach on that phrase next Sunday.<\/p>\n

Contend is a rather aggressive word. I remarked on Sunday about the difference between \u2018defend\u2019 and \u2018contend\u2019 this way: When I was a lad, I played hockey. I started out my hockey career (!) as a defenseman. I was a bit of a shy and awkward lad and thought that defense might be safer, a position where I wouldn\u2019t hurt the team too much. Little did I know that defense meant you were the last line between you and the goalie and when you made a mistake everybody<\/em> noticed!<\/p>\n

The point of defense, though, is to react to the attacks of the opposing offense. You respond and repel, you aren\u2019t leading an attack. The forwards, on the other hand, are generally on the offense. They are supposed<\/em> to come back and help with the defense, but their role is to lead the attack in the other team\u2019s defensive zone. They are to contend<\/em>. (Of course, the analogy breaks down a bit because hockey defensemen are often key parts of the offense as well, but I think you get my point.)<\/p>\n

So to contend is to be on the offense. To take the battle to the enemy. To attack.<\/p>\n

Attacking in the Spirit<\/h4>\n

A regular criticism of fundamentalists, however, is the contentiousness of their contention. We sometimes parody ourselves and make jokes about it (see the audio clip on my about page), but we have to admit that fundamentalists have sometimes (often) erred in their approach to contention, in taking the battle to the enemy.<\/p>\n

A couple of other passages inform us about the kind of contention the apostles had in mind.<\/p>\n

The first is 2 Cor 10.3-5. The key points in this passage are these:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • We do not war according to the flesh \u2013 our contention isn\u2019t intimidation by overwhelming force, manipulation by deceptive practices, etc.<\/li>\n
  • The weapons of our warfare are not \u2018of the flesh\u2019 \u2013 not fleshly \u2013 but instead are mighty through God to pulling down strongholds. Our weapons are different from fleshly weapons both in their nature and in their power.<\/li>\n
  • The realm of our warfare is spiritual rather than carnal \u2013 we are casting down imaginations\/speculations and lofty arrogance against God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Well, what are our weapons? That brings us to Ephesians 6.13-20, and the list of the Christians armour, first defensive:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Belt of truth<\/li>\n
    • Breastplate of righteousness<\/li>\n
    • Boots of the gospel<\/li>\n
    • Shield of faith<\/li>\n
    • Helmet of salvation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      These defenses are sure. Satan cannot overthrow us because our vitals are protected by righteousness. We must act on this by faith, but our position is secure.<\/p>\n

      But the Christian armour is not purely defensive. There are actually two offensive weapons for the spiritual battle. The first is pretty obvious in Eph 6.17b:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • \n
        The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Our ability to carry the attack in the spiritual battle depends entirely on the power of our sword, not any inherent power or might we hold in ourselves. It behooves us, then, to be mighty in the Word if we would carry the day.<\/p>\n

        But there is another weapon. Look at Eph 6.18:<\/p>\n

        \n

        Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, [NAU]<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Our sword is our offensive weapon, but it must be accompanied by another non-defensive activity: prayer. Prayer energizes every use of the Word, it is directed upward as the sword is directed outward.<\/p>\n

        In our contending, it is not a matter of belligerence and force of personality. It is a matter of being mighty in spirit, filled with the Spirit, and skilled in the use of the Word.<\/p>\n

        The subjects of contention<\/h4>\n

        The last thing I want to consider in this post is \u2018who is called to contend?\u2019 I suspect that many Christians think the spiritual battles are primarily to be fought by spiritual leaders, by pastors and maybe by deacons and \u2018ye who are spiritual\u2019 as Paul mentions in Gal 6.<\/p>\n

        Let\u2019s look at the people addressed by Jude.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Jude 1:1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called<\/strong>, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        And then note the beginning of v. 3:<\/p>\n

        \n

        Jude 1:3 Beloved<\/strong>, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Who is Jude addressing in his epistle? All believers in general. Not just leadership. Not just the spiritual. Not just pastors. But all believers.<\/p>\n

        This business of contending is an imperative \u2013 a command<\/em> \u2013 for all believers. Everyone needs to grow in the faith so that they are able to contend intelligently. And everyone needs to grow in the Spirit so that everyone is able to contend spiritually.<\/p>\n

        Next, we will look at the objective of earnest contention. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

        \"don_sig2\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        I wrote about Jude 3 a few days ago. That post motivated me to study the passage in more detail. The verse is really a profound statement, vv. 3-4 serving as Jude\u2019s thesis statement for the epistle. I preached on the passage this past Sunday. The message really centered around the dominant word of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[111,37,42,70],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2fYWj-tx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}