I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. – Jude 3b
Scripture reading: Jude 1–7
On this date last year, we celebrated the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. It wasn’t easy for Martin Luther to make his stand for the doctrine of Justification by Faith as taught in Holy Scripture. In fact, he had to hide for his life since both Church and State had sought his death. He was aware that before him others had sought to reform the Church and were martyred in “contending for the faith.” One was Savonarola, a Dominican monk in Florence, the other John Huss, a Czech reformer, who had been greatly influenced by Wycliffe. Both were burned at the stake!
The basic reforms were about the doctrines of Salvation and Church offices. The basis for the reformers’ stand was the Supreme and Final Authority of the Bible.
The task we face today is more daunting as every article of the Christian faith is under attack. Biblical authority and the Uniqueness and Supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ are being contested by doctrinal pluralism that advocates the equal validity of all religions, universalism that preaches all people will be saved, regardless of their beliefs, and strong attacks on Christian ethical standards that seek to overthrow the Biblical view of marriage.
Luther responded to the opposition of Church and State by the spiritual arms of the Bible and his publications made possible through the invention of the printing press. We possess the press and the internet for the defense of the Faith and its spread in many languages, all over the world!
Suggestions for prayer
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all-time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24).
This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Bassam Michael Madany has served as a missionary in Syria, and in 1958 he began a 36-year radio and literature ministry to the Arab world. After retirement Bassam & his wife Shirley began an Internet ministry, Middle East Resources, to provide a “Christian Response to the Global Challenge of Islam.”
