CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

There is a negative perception when it comes to contending for the faith. People think that those who do it are judgmental and have no love for people. Contending for the faith does not mean that we become contentious people, it does not mean criticising every church or Christian organisation that is different from us, certainly not. Contending for the faith simply means that we take our commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church seriously enough to take firm action whenever such a need arises concerning doctrine, to maintain the spiritual health of the body of Christ and for the welfare of souls in eternity. It is done out of pure selfless love.

If we truly love the Lord Jesus and His Word, and if we truly love the Church of God and the souls of men, then we must take strong action whenever it is needed. We must strongly contend for the faith. I want to make this explicitly clear. When I speak about the church, I am speaking about the universal church, the church at large, not a specific church or my church. I just felt that I needed to say that so that offense does not creep in when people are reading my work. The church at large has a great responsibility to God and to His people. The book of 1 John 4:20 tells us that to love God is to love His people. You cannot love God and hate His people then His love has not been perfected in you.

As the church there are certain things that we need to uphold. We are to keep His commandments and teach others to keep His commandments. We are to bear witness of Jesus Christ and to operate under the unction of the Holy Spirit. We are to equip the saints and shepherd the flock of Jesus Christ as they are His people and we are stewards over them. We are to serve the saints and strengthen them against the attacks from the enemy.