Room 17 of 20
Jude 3
Faith once delivered
Verse
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Why they use it
They say the faith was once delivered, so it can never be lost and never needs restoring.
Why they are wrong
“Once delivered” is not “never in danger.” Verse 4 says men already crept in.
Translation note
Greek: hapax (ἅπαξ)
once / already — not ‘never again in history’
FAIR: the same word in Jude 5 is “once” as in previously. John Tvedtnes: Abraham was taught the gospel (Gal 3:8). If Jude locked a one-time dump, Abraham and Revelation 14:6 both break.
The room (aka the context)
- Who wrote it
- Jude.
- Who is in the room
- Believers watching the faith get twisted from the inside.
- Who is speaking
- Jude.
- What is going on
- He sat down to write a nice letter about common salvation. He had to pivot: contend. Why? Verse 4 — certain men crept in. The faith was delivered. It is already under raid in his lifetime.
- What they already believe
- The apostolic faith is precious. Guard it.
- How they would hear these words
- Not “this package can never be lost.” The next verses are the raid. Restoration is contending for that same faith, not inventing a new one.
Clarifying verse
Jude 4
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The reason for verse 3 is verse 4. The faith is already being perverted *inside* the church. That is apostasy language, not closed-canon language. FAIR’s apostasy essays start here.
Gal1:8 topic →Mark it
Tap when you can say the verse out loud.