The Ministry of Jude
A Call to Battle
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Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed… (Jude 1:1–4)
It is not often that I get to write a Fiery Word piece about the man whose name I carry. But this one matters, not because of me, but because the Ministry of Jude belongs to every believer. Hidden near the end of Scripture, Jude is the small book most people flip past. Yet within this brief letter is a powerful summon. Jude sat down to write comfort, but Heaven placed a burden on his pen. And today, I feel that same burden stirring.
Jude’s letter carries a militant tone, and for good reason. He reminds us that the Christian life is not a stroll through a garden but a summons to a battlefield. We are not called to admire the faith from a distance. We are called to contend for it, protect it, and stand firm in a generation where truth is contested and compromise is common. Jude’s words echo through the centuries because they reveal a side of Jesus the modern church often forgets. We love Christ the Lamb, gentle and lowly, but Jude pulls back the curtain and shows us Christ the Lion. Eyes like fire, word like a sword, robe dipped in blood, this Jesus stands and fights. And if we belong to Him, this part of His nature must arise in us.
To understand Jude’s letter, we must enter it the way a soldier enters a briefing. It unfolds in four movements: the Commander, the Army, the Hostility, and the Artillery.
The Commander
“Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James”
Before Jude confronts the enemy or calls the believer to contend, he introduces himself. The way he chooses to identify tells us everything about the transformation that shaped his life. There were many men named Judas in Scripture, but only one name carried the stain of betrayal, so Jude begins by distinguishing himself. Matthew 13 gives us our first picture of him. When Jesus returned to His hometown and taught in the synagogue, the people marveled and said, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is this not Mary’s son? Are not his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?” Jude was part of the household of Jesus, He grew up with the Messiah, he ate at the same table, walked the same roads, and watched the same miracles unfold.
Yet Jude does not open his letter by calling himself the brother of Jesus. He does not appeal to familiarity or family ties, instead he chooses a title far weightier. He writes, “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ.” His identity does not come from their shared mother but from the authority of his commanding officer. He calls himself a servant, one bound by allegiance, one whose life no longer belongs to himself. This is not how siblings introduce themselves it is how soldiers speak. But Jude was not always a believer. Scripture tells us that Jesus’ own family did not understand Him. At one point, they even tried to restrain Him because they thought He had lost His mind. Mark 3 records the moment when they came to take charge of Him, convinced He was acting irrationally and Jude was part of that group. He stood among those who questioned and misunderstood the Son of God. He walked in unbelief even while living in the presence of Truth.
But something changed him. Something broke through the unbelief and shattered the skepticism. That something was the Resurrection. When your half-brother dies and rises from the dead, doubt cannot stand. When the grave opens and Christ walks out, His identity becomes undeniable. Acts 1 tells us that after the Resurrection, Jude stood in the upper room with the disciples, in prayer, in unity, in expectation. The Resurrection produced transformation and the skeptic became a servant. The brother became a believer and the bystander became a soldier. This is why we never stop praying for salvation. It is why we intercede for the hearts that seem far and the minds that seem closed. Transformation can come in a moment and the Resurrection still changes families. Jude is proof that God can reach the one who once misunderstood the gospel, the one who doubted, the one who resisted. No one is beyond the reach of grace.
Jude introduces himself as a bondservant because something in him had bowed. He had surrendered to the Commander of Heaven. And as he writes, he writes with that authority behind him. His message is not casual reflection, it is the charge of a man who has been changed by the risen Christ. It is the call of a servant who knows his Commander well. Only such a messenger can deliver such a summons to contend.
The Army
“To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.”
When Jude writes “to those who are called…” he is addressing the army of God. Every believer who belongs to Christ is enlisted in this holy company. We are not bystanders watching the battle unfold, we are the ones God has summoned, set apart, and secured for His purposes. Scripture tells us that we are soldiers in the Lord’s service, as Paul reminded Timothy to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” and to avoid entanglement with civilian affairs so we may please the One who enlisted us.
The Psalms reveal that the Lord trains our hands for war and our fingers for battle, equipping us with strength for the fight while Ephesians calls us to put on the whole armor of God so that we may stand in the evil day. The language of Scripture is unmistakable. The church is an army, and Jude’s audience is not composed of passive hearers but active soldiers under command. Jude assures us that preservation is guaranteed. We are kept in Christ, shielded by His mercy, strengthened by His peace, and surrounded by His love. The question is not whether we will be soldiers in this spiritual war, it is what kind of soldier we will choose to be.
The Hostility
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
Jude wanted to write a gentle letter about the salvation we share. But the Spirit stirred him to address something heavier. He was “compelled” to exhort the church to contend for the faith once delivered. Scripture intensifies this command:
“Contend for the faith.” (NIV)
“Defend the faith.” (NLT)
“Fight strenuously for the faith.” (AMP)
“Put up a real fight for the faith.” (JB Phillips)
“Fight with everything you have in you.” (Message)
The Greek word is epagonizomai, a term from the athletic arena. It pictures an athlete straining forward with every muscle and every breath. This is not passive Christianity. This is earnest struggle, urgent vigilance, and unwavering devotion.
What is the faith we fight for? It is the salvation purchased by Christ on the cross, the body of truth entrusted to the church. Paul urges believers to examine themselves to see whether they remain in the faith. He warns that in later times many will abandon the faith. At the end of his life he testifies, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Jude warns that certain men had slipped into the church unnoticed. The hostility we face is subtle, it creeps in quietly. Paul reminds us in Ephesians that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of darkness. David declared that the Lord does not save by sword or spear, for the battle belongs to Him. Hebrews tells us that patient endurance is what we need. Jude wants the church awake, armed, and alert. This battle is real, and pretending otherwise does not make it disappear. To contend is not to fight in our own strength. It is to stand in truth, cling to grace, resist compromise, and hold fast to the faith once delivered.
The Artillery
“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit”
Jude does not leave the believer unarmed. After calling us to contend, he hands us the tools that make victory possible.
The faith he speaks of is the same faith the early church devoted themselves to in Acts 2. They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. This is the foundation of the church. This is the arsenal of the believer. Doctrine builds us, fellowship strengthens us, communion anchors us and prayer empowers us.
Prayer is the essential ammunition of spiritual warfare. Jude urges us to pray in the Holy Spirit, remain in God’s love, wait for Christ’s mercy, show compassion, rescue the wandering, and walk in purity. Every command is fueled by prayer. Prayer awakens the spirit, sharpens discernment and strengthens the inner man. Without prayer we fight empty but with prayer we fight empowered.
The contemporary church faces a dangerous spiritual lethargy. God declared in 2 Chronicles 7 that if His people humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from sin, He will heal their land. Pride steals prayer from the believer. It is the same pride that caused Satan to say, “I will be like the Most High,” leading to a war in heaven. That same pride fractures the modern church into factions, ignoring Christ’s plea that we be one. It is the pride that convinces believers they can live without prayer. Yet prayer is the oxygen of the kingdom, without it the church cannot breathe.
The enemy has used this apathy to press an advantage, but God is turning it for good. This is a Joseph moment for the body. What the enemy meant for harm, God is using for awakening. He is calling His people to arise, as Isaiah 60 declares, and shine with His glory. He is calling us to break up the fallow ground of our hearts, as Hosea 10 teaches, so He may rain righteousness upon us.
Nehemiah reminds us how to build and battle at the same time. The people rebuilt the wall with tools in one hand and weapons in the other. This must be the posture of every believer today. We build the house of God, and we guard the faith entrusted to us. Martin Luther once said that a preacher must be both soldier and shepherd. He must nourish, defend, and teach. He must have teeth in his mouth and be able to bite and fight. Jude was willing to fight, Jesus Himself was willing to fight.
Every believer must be ready to contend for this faith.
Prayer to Contend for the Faith
Father,
we thank You for the faith once delivered to the saints. Strengthen us now to contend for it with courage and conviction.
Awaken Your church, Lord, break off spiritual lethargy, pull down pride and every spirit that resists prayer.
Restore to us a hunger for Your presence, build us up in our most holy faith and teach us to pray with power.
Make us watchful, steadfast, and united. Lord Jesus, arise in us as the Lion of Judah and give us boldness to stand, wisdom to discern, and love to rescue those who wander.
Make us a people who build with one hand and fight with the other, faithful soldiers in Your kingdom.
To the Only Wise God be glory, honor, and dominion now and forever.
Amen.