Jude 1:3

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3, 4) The purpose and occasion of the Letter.

(3) Beloved.—“Very unusual at the beginning of an Epistle; Jude 1:2, is the only other example It indicates, possibly, the writer’s wish to be brief and get to his subject at once; and, as his subject is a very unpleasing one, he hastens to assure his readers of affection for them, to prevent his strong language from offending them.

When I gave all diligence.—Better, in giving all diligence: i.e., in having it much at heart. Wiclif and Rheims are nearly right. The expression is unique in the New Testament—2Peter 1:5 is similar, but the Greek for “giving” differs in verb and tense from the word used here.

Of the common salvation.—The best MSS. insert “our”—of our common salvation: i.e., of those things which pertain to the salvation of us all. (Comp. Titus 1:4.) Some would take these words after “it was needful for me to write unto you.” The Authorised version is better.

It was needful for me to write unto you.—Better, I found it necessary to write at once to you, St. Jude had intended to write on general grounds; then the circumstances stated in Jude 1:4 made him write immediately for the special purpose of warning them against a pressing danger. The “at once” comes from the tense, which is present in the first clause, aorist in the second. That St. Jude had intended to write a longer letter is pure conjecture, for which there is no evidence.

Contend for.—The word is a graphic one, implying standing over a thing to fight in its defence. You must fight as well as build (Nehemiah 4:16; Nehemiah 4:18).

The faith—i.e., that which is believed by Christians: not the expression of the doctrine, nor the holding of it, but the substance of it.

Once delivered.—Rather, once for all delivered. No change in it is possible. (Comp. Galatians 1:8-9.) By “the saints” are meant all Christians; comp. Acts 9:13 (where see Note), Acts 9:32; Acts 9:41. The word is used advisedly here, in marked contrast to the libertines now to be denounced.

(4) Certain men crept in unawares—viz., into the Church. The “certain” shows that these men are a decided minority, and has a tinge of depreciation, as in Galatians 2:12. “Crept in unawares” is analogous to “unawares brought in, who came in privily” (Galatians 2:4, where see Note), and to “privily bring in (2Peter 2:1). It is this insidious invasion which constitutes the necessity for writing stated in Jude 1:3. Unfaithful Christians are sometimes regarded as an emergence from within, rather than an invasion from without (1John 2:19).

Close similarity to 2 Peter begins here and continues down to Jude 1:18; the Notes on the parallel passages in 2 Peter 2 should be compared throughout. In this Epistle the first three and last seven verses are the only portions not intimately related to 2 Peter.

Who were before of old ordained to this condemnation.—Literally, who have been of old written down beforehand for this sentence; or, perhaps, “written up”; for the metaphor may come from the practice of posting up the names of those who had to appear in court for trial. The text is a favourite one with Calvinists; but it gives no countenance to extreme predestination views. “Of old” cannot refer to the eternal purposes of God, but to something in history. On the other hand, it is doubtful whether it can refer to the recent warnings of St. Paul and St. Peter that false teachers should arise: otherwise one would be tempted to refer it to 2 Peter 2 Something more remote from the writer’s own day seems to be required: either the Old Testament prophets, or the Book of Enoch, quoted below. The Greek word here rendered “before ordained” is in Romans 15:4 rendered “written aforetime.” (Comp. Ephesians 3:3.)

To this condemnation.—Literally, to this sentence, or judgment; but the context shows that the judgment is an adverse one. “This condemnation,” viz., the one stated in the denunciations which follow, and illustrated by the fate of those mentioned in Jude 1:5-7. Note the three-fold description of the men thus written down for judgment: they are ungodly; they pervert God’s grace; they deny Christ.

Turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.—Turning Christian liberty into unchristian license. “Our God,” not theirs; they are “without God in the world.” “Wantonness” would be better than “lasciviousness” here, as in 2Peter 2:18. The Greek word expresses license generally, not merely sins of impurity.

Denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.—Rather, denying the only Master, and our Lord Jesus Christ. “God” is an addition to the original text, and must be omitted. “Lord” represents two words in the Greek quite different one from the other. The Genevan version is right all but the insertion of “God;” the Rhemish quite right—having “Dominator,” however, for “Master.” We are once more in doubt whether one or two Persons of the Trinity are mentioned here. (Comp. 2Peter 1:1.) Certainly 2Peter 2:1 countenances our taking “the only Master” as meaning Christ; and the fact that the article is not repeated with “Lord” is in favour of only one Person being meant. But Luke 2:29, Acts 4:24, Revelation 6:10 countenance our understanding these words as meaning the Father; and the absence of the article before “Lord” is not conclusive. The insertion of “God” is, perhaps, a gloss to insist on this latter interpretation. If it be right, the clause is closely parallel to 1John 2:22 : “He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.” Note the emphatic insertion of “our” once more: they will not have Him for their Lord; His divine authority was precisely what they denied.

MacLaren's Expositions

Jude

THE COMMON SALVATION

Jude 1:3‘The common salvation.’- Jude 1:3.



‘The common faith.’- Titus 1:4.

Jude was probably one of Christ’s brothers, and a man of position and influence in the Church. He is writing to the whole early Christian community, numbering men widely separated from each other by nationality, race, culture, and general outlook on life; and he beautifully and humbly unites himself with them all as recipients of a ‘common salvation.’ Paul is writing to Titus, the veteran leader to a raw recruit. Wide differences of mental power, of maturity of religious experience, separated the two; and yet Paul beautifully and humbly associates himself with his pupil, as exercising a ‘common faith.’

Probably neither of the writers meant more than to bring himself nearer to the persons whom they were respectively addressing; but their language goes a great deal further than the immediate application of it. The ‘salvation’ was ‘common’ to Jude and his readers, as ‘the faith’ was to Paul and Titus, because the salvation and the faith are one, all the world over.

It is for the sake of insisting upon this community, which is universal, that I have ventured to isolate these two fragments from their proper connection, and to bring them together. But you will notice that they take up the same thought at two different stages, as it were. The one declares that there is but one remedy and healing for all the world’s woes; the other declares that there is but one way by which that remedy can be applied. All who possess ‘the common salvation’ are so blessed because they exercise ‘the common faith.’

I. Note the underlying conception of a universal deepest need.

That Christian word ‘salvation’ has come to be threadbare and commonplace, and slips over people’s minds without leaving any dint. We all think we understand it. Some of us have only the faintest and vaguest conception of what it means, and have never realized the solemn view of human nature and its necessities which lies beneath it. And I want to press that upon you now. The word ‘to save’ means either of two things-to heal from a sickness, or to deliver from a danger. These two ideas of sickness to be healed and of dangers to be secured from enter into the Christian use of the word. Underlying it is the implication that the condition of humanity is universally that of needing healing of a sore sickness, and of needing deliverance from an overhanging and tremendous danger. Sin is the sickness, and the issues of sin are the danger. And sin is making myself my centre and my law, and so distorting and flinging out of gear, as it were, my relations to God.

Surely it does not want many words to show that that must be the most important thing about a man. Deep down below all superficialities there lies this fundamental fact, that he has gone wrong with regard to God; and no amount of sophistication about heredity and environment and the like can ever wipe out the blackness of the fact that men willingly do break through the law, which commands us all to yield ourselves to God, and not to set ourselves up as our own masters, and our own aims and ends, independently of Him. I say that is the deepest wound of humanity.

In these days of social unrest there are plenty of voices round us that proclaim other needs as being clamant, but, oh, they are all shallow and on the surface as compared with the deepest need of all: and the men that come round the sick-bed of humanity and say, ‘Ah, the patient is suffering from a lack of education,’ or ‘the patient is suffering from unfavorable environment,’ have diagnosed the disease superficially. There is something deeper the matter than that, and unless the physician has probed further into the wound than these surface appearances, I am afraid his remedy will go as short a way down as his conception of the evil goes.

Oh, brethren, there is something else the matter with us than ignorance or unfavorable conditions. ‘The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.’ The tap-root of all human miseries lies in the solemn fact of human transgression. That is a universal fact. Wide differences part us, but there is one thing that we have all in common: a conscience and a will that lifts itself against disliked good. Beneath all surface differences of garb there lies the same fact, the common sickness of sin. The king’s robe, the pauper’s uniform, the student’s gown, the mill-hand’s fustian, the naked savage’s brown skin, each cover a heart that is evil, and because it is evil, needs salvation from sickness and deliverance from danger.

For do not forget that if it is true that men have driven their rebellious chariots through God’s law, they cannot do that without bringing down God’s hand upon them, and they ought not to be able to do it; and He would not be a loving God if it were not so. There are dangers; dangers from the necessary inevitable consequences, here and yonder, of rebellion against Him.

Now, do not let us lose ourselves in generalities. That is the way in which many of us have all our lives long blunted the point of the message of the Gospel to our hearts. That is what we do with all sorts of important moral truths. For instance, I suppose there never was a time in your lives when you did not believe that all men must die. But I suppose most of us can remember some time when there came upon us, with a shock which made some of us cower before it as an unwelcome thing, the thought, ‘And I must.’

The common sickness? Yes I ‘Thou art the man.’ Oh, brother, whatever you may have or whatever you may want, be sure of this: that your deepest needs will not be met, your sorest sickness will not be healed, your most tremendous peril not secured against, until the fact of your individual sinfulness and the consequences of that fact are somehow or other dealt with, stanched, and swept away. So much, then, for the first point.

II. Now a word as to the common remedy. One of our texts gives us that-’ the common salvation.’

You all know what I am going to say, and so, perhaps, you suppose that it is not worth while for me to say it. I dare say some of you think that it was not worth while coming here to hear the whole, threadbare, commonplace story. Well! is it worth while for me to speak once more to men that have so often heard and so often neglected? Let me try. Oh, that I could get you one by one, and drive home to each •ingle soul that is listening to me, or perhaps, that is not listening, the message that I have to bring!

‘The common salvation.’ There is one remedy for the sickness. There is one safety against the danger. There is only one, because it is the remedy for all men, and it is the remedy for all men because it is the remedy for each. Jesus Christ deals, as no one else has ever pretended to deal, with this outstanding fact of my transgression and yours.

He, by His death, as I believe, has saved the world from the danger, because He has set right the world’s relations to God. I am not going, at this stage of my sermon, to enter upon anything in the nature of discussion. My purpose is an entirely different one. I want to press upon you, dear brethren, this plain fact, that since there is a God, and since you and I have sinned, and since things are as they are, and the consequences will be as they will be, both in this world and in the next, we all stand in danger of death-death eternal, which comes from, and, in one sense, consists of, separation in heart and mind from God.

You believe in a judgment day, do you not? Whether you do or not, you have only to open your eyes, you have only to turn them inwards, to see that even here and now, every sin and transgression and disobedience does receive its just recompense of reward. You cannot do a wrong thing without hurting yourself, without desolating some part of your nature, without enfeebling your power of resistance to evil and aspiration after good, without lowering yourself in the scale of being, and making yourself ashamed to stand before the bar of your own conscience. You cannot do some wrong things, that some of you are fond of doing, without dragging after them consequences, in this world, of anything but an agreeable kind. Sins of the flesh avenge themselves in kind, as some of you young men know, and will know better in the days that are before you. Transgressions which are plain and clear in the eyes of even the world’s judgment draw after them damaged reputations, enfeebled health, closed doors of opportunity, and a whole host of such things. And all these are but a kind of premonitions and overshadowings of that solemn judgment that lies beyond. For all men will have to eat the fruit of their doings and drink that which they have prepared. But on the Cross, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, bore the weight of the world’s sin, yours and mine and every man’s. There is one security against the danger; and it is that He, fronting the incidence of the Divine law, says, as He said to His would-be captors in the garden, ‘If ye seek Me, let these go their way.’ And they go their way by the power of His atoning death.

Further, Jesus Christ imparts a life that cures the sickness of sin.

What is the meaning of this Whitsuntide that all the Christian world is professing to keep today? Is it to commemorate a thing that happened nineteen centuries ago, when a handful of Jews for a few minutes had the power of talking in other languages, and a miraculous light flamed over their heads and then disappeared? Was that all? Have you and I any share in it? Yes. For if Pentecost means anything it means this, that, all down through the ages, Jesus Christ is imparting to men that cleave to Him the real gift of a new life, free from all the sickness of the old, and healthy with the wholesomeness of His own perfect sinlessness, so that, however inveterate and engrained a man’s habits of wrong-doing may have been, if he will turn to that Saviour, and let Him work upon him, he will be delivered from his evil. The leprosy of his flesh, though the lumps of diseased matter may be dropping from the bones, and the stench of corruption may drive away human love and sympathy, can be cleansed, and his flesh become like the flesh of a little child, if only he will trust in Jesus Christ. The sickness can be cured. Christ deals with men in the depth of their being. He will give you, if you will, a new life and new tastes, directions, inclinations, impulses, perceptions, hopes, and capacities, and the evil will pass away, and you will be whole.

Ah, brethren, that is the only cure. I was talking a minute or two ago about imperfect diagnoses; and there are superficial remedies too. Men round us are trying, in various ways, to stanch the world’s wounds, to heal the world’s sicknesses. God forbid that I should say a word to discourage any such! I would rather wish them ten times more numerous than they are; but at the same time I believe that, unless you deal with the fountain at its head, you will never cleanse the stream, and that you must have the radical change, which comes by the gift of a new life in Christ, before men can be delivered from the sickness of their sins. And so all these panaceas, whilst they may do certain surface good, are, if I may quote a well-known phrase, like ‘pills against an earthquake,’ or like giving a lotion to cure pimples, when the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. You will never cure the ills of humanity until you have delivered men from the dominion of their sin.

Jesus Christ heals society by healing the individual. There is no other way of doing it. If the units are corrupt the community cannot be pure. And the only way to make the units pure is that they shall have Christ on the Cross for their redemption, and Christ in the heart for their cleansing. And then all the things that men try to produce in the shape of social good and the like, apart from Him, will come as a consequence of the new state of things that arises when the individuals are renewed. Apart from Him all human attempts to deal with social evils are inadequate. There is a terrible disillusionising and disappointment awaiting many eager enthusiasts to-day, who think that by certain external arrangements, or by certain educational and cultivated processes, they can mend the world’s miseries. You educate a nation. Well and good, and one result of it is that your bookshops get choked with trash, and that vice has a new avenue of approach to men’s hearts. You improve the economic condition of the people. Well and good, and one result of it is that a bigger percentage than ever of their funds finds its way into the drink-shop. You give a nation political power. Well and good, and one result of it is that the least worthy and the least wise have to be flattered and coaxed, because they are the rulers. Every good thing, divorced from Christ, becomes an ally of evil, and the only way by which the dreams and desires of men can be fulfilled is by the salvation which is in Him entering the individual hearts and thus moulding society.

III. Now, lastly, the common means of possessing the common healing.

My second text tells us what that is-’ the common faith.’ That is another of the words which is so familiar that it is unintelligible, which has been dinned Into your ears ever since you were little children, and in the case of many of you excites no definite idea, and is supposed to he an obscure kind of thing that belongs to theologians and preachers, but has little to do with your daily lives. There is only one way by which this healing and safety that I have been speaking about can possibly find its way into a man’s heart. You have all been trained from childhood to believe that men are saved by faith, and a great many of you, I dare say, think that men might have been saved by some other way, if God had chosen to appoint it so. But that is a clear mistake. If it is true that salvation is a gift from God, then it is quite plain that the only thing that we require is an outstretched hand. If it is true that Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross has brought salvation to all the world, then it is quite plain that, His work being finished, we have no need to come in pottering with any works of ours, and that the only thing we have to do is to accept it. If it is true that Jesus Christ will enter men’s hearts, and there give a new spirit and a new life, which will save them from their sins and make them free from the law of sin and death, then it is plain that the one thing that we have to do is to open our hearts and say ‘ Come in, Thou King of Glory, come in!’ Because salvation is a gift; because it is the result of a finished work; because it is imparted to men by the impartation of Christ’s own life to them: for all these reasons it is plain that the only way by which God can save a man is by that man’s putting his trust in Jesus Christ. It is no arbitrary appointment. The only possible way of possessing ‘the common salvation ‘ is by the exercise of ‘the common faith.’

So we are all put upon one level, no matter how different we may be in attainments, in mental capacity -geniuses and blockheads, scholars and ignoramuses, millionaires and paupers, students and savages, we are all on the one level. There is no carriage road into heaven. We have all to go in at the strait gate, and there is no special entry for people that come with their own horses; and so some people do not like to have to descend to that level, and to go with the ruck and the undistinguished crowd, and to be saved just in the same fashion as Tom, Dick, and Harry, and they turn away.

Plenty of people believe in a ‘common salvation,’ meaning thereby a vague, indiscriminate gift that is flung broadcast over the mass. Plenty of people believe in a ‘common faith.’ We hear, for instance, about a ‘national Christianity,’ and a ‘national recognition of religion,’ and ‘Christian nations,’ and the like. There are no Christian nations except nations of which the individuals are Christians, and there is no ‘common faith’ except the faith exercised in common by all the units that make up a community.

So do not suppose that anything short of your own personal act brings you into possession of ‘ the common salvation.’ The table is spread, but you must take the bread into your own hands, and you must masticate it with your own teeth, and you must assimilate it in your own body, or it is no bread for you. The salvation is a ‘ common,’ like one of the great prairies, but each separate settler has to peg off his own claim, and fence it in, and take possession of it, or he has no share in the broad land. So remember that ‘the common salvation’ must be made the individual salvation by the individual exorcise of ‘the common faith.’ Cry,’ Lord! I believe!’ and then you will have the right to say, ‘ The Lord is my strength; He also is become my salvation.’

Benson Commentary

Jude 1:3. When I gave all diligence — Or made all haste, as πασαν σπουδην ποιουμενος literally signifies, Jude being informed of the assiduity, and perhaps the success, with which the false teachers were spreading their pernicious errors, found it necessary to write this letter to the faithful without delay. To write to you of the common salvation — The salvation from the guilt and power of sin, into the favour and image of God here, and from all the consequences of sin into eternal felicity and glory hereafter; a salvation called common, because it belongs equally to all who believe; to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews; to men of all nations and conditions; designed for all, and enjoyed in part by all believers. For the same reason Paul terms the faith of the gospel, the common faith, (Titus i, 4,) because an opportunity of believing is afforded to all. Here the design of the epistle is expressed, the end of which exactly answers the beginning. It was needful for me to exhort you that ye should earnestly contend — Yet humbly, meekly, and lovingly, otherwise your contending will only hurt your cause, if not destroy your souls; for the faith — All the fundamental truths of the gospel. “In the circumstances in which the faithful were when Jude wrote this letter, an exhortation to hold fast and maintain the true doctrine of the gospel against the false teachers, was more necessary and profitable for the disciples, than explications of the particular doctrines of the gospel. By strenuously contending for the faith, the apostle did not mean contending for it with fire and sword, but their endeavouring, in the spirit of meekness and love, to establish the true doctrines of the gospel, by arguments drawn, not only from the Jewish Scriptures, but especially from the writings of the evangelists and apostles, which were all, or most of them, published when Jude wrote this letter. In the same manner they were strongly to oppose and confute the errors of the false teachers. The word επαγωνιζεσθαι properly signifies, to strive as in the Olympic games, that is, with their whole force.”

Once delivered to the saints — By απαξ, once, Macknight understands formerly, the word being used in that sense, Jude 1:5. But Estius and Beza adopt the common translation, supposing the meaning of the clause to be, that the faith spoken of was delivered to the saints once for all, and is never to be changed; nothing is to be added to it, and nothing taken from it. By the saints Jude first means the holy apostles and prophets of Christ, (in which sense the word saints is used, Colossians 3:26, compared with Ephesians 3:5,) to whom the Lord Jesus delivered the doctrine of the gospel in all its parts, including the truths which men were to believe, and the precepts they were to perform, together with the promises of present and eternal salvation made to the believing and obedient, and the threatenings denounced against the unbelieving and disobedient. This doctrine the apostles and evangelists delivered to their hearers in their various discourses, and consigned it to writing for the instruction of future ages. “Hence it is evident that the faith for which Christians are to contend strenuously, is that alone which is contained in the writings of the evangelists, apostles, and Jewish prophets. Now as they have expressed the things which were revealed to them in words dictated by the Spirit, (1 Corinthians 2:13,) we are to contend, not only for the things contained in their writings, but also for that form of words in which they have expressed these things, lest by contending for forms invented and established by human authority, as better fitted to express the truth than the words of inspiration, we fall into error. See 2 Timothy 1:13. Jude’s exhortation ought in a particular manner to be attended to by the ministers of the gospel, whose duty more especially it is to preserve the people from error, both in opinion and practice.” — Macknight.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:1-4 Christians are called out of the world, from the evil spirit and temper of it; called above the world, to higher and better things, to heaven, things unseen and eternal; called from sin to Christ, from vanity to seriousness, from uncleanness to holiness; and this according to the Divine purpose and grace. If sanctified and glorified, all the honour and glory must be ascribed to God, and to him alone. As it is God who begins the work of grace in the souls of men, so it is he who carries it on, and perfects it. Let us not trust in ourselves, nor in our stock of grace already received, but in him, and in him alone. The mercy of God is the spring and fountain of all the good we have or hope for; mercy, not only to the miserable, but to the guilty. Next to mercy is peace, which we have from the sense of having obtained mercy. From peace springs love; Christ's love to us, our love to him, and our brotherly love to one another. The apostle prays, not that Christians may be content with a little; but that their souls and societies may be full of these things. None are shut out from gospel offers and invitations, but those who obstinately and wickedly shut themselves out. But the application is to all believers, and only to such. It is to the weak as well as to the strong. Those who have received the doctrine of this common salvation, must contend for it, earnestly, not furiously. Lying for the truth is bad; scolding for it is not better. Those who have received the truth must contend for it, as the apostles did; by suffering with patience and courage for it, not by making others suffer if they will not embrace every notion we call faith, or important. We ought to contend earnestly for the faith, in opposition to those who would corrupt or deprave it; who creep in unawares; who glide in like serpents. And those are the worst of the ungodly, who take encouragement to sin boldly, because the grace of God has abounded, and still abounds so wonderfully, and who are hardened by the extent and fulness of gospel grace, the design of which is to deliver men from sin, and bring them unto God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Beloved - An expression of strong affection used by the apostles when addressing their brethren, Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 4:14; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Corinthians 12:19; Philippians 2:12; Philippians 4:1; and often elsewhere.

When I gave all diligence - When I applied my mind earnestly; implying that he had reflected on the subject, and thought particularly what it would be desirable to write to them. The state of mind referred to is that of one who was purposing to write a letter, and who thought over carefully what it would be proper to say. The mental process which led to writing the Epistle seems to have been this:

(a) For some reasons - mainly from his strong affection for them - he purposed to write to them.

(b) The general subject on which he designed to write was, of course, something pertaining to the common salvation - for he and they were Christians.

(c) On reflecting what particular thing pertaining to this common salvation it was best for him to write on, he felt that, in view of their peculiar dangers, it ought to be an exhortation to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to them. Macknight renders this less correctly, "Making all haste to write to you," etc. But the idea is rather that he set himself diligently and earnestly to write to them of the great matter in which they had a common interest.

To write unto you of the common salvation - The salvation common to Jews and Gentiles, and to all who bore the Christian name. The meaning is, that he did not think of writing on any subject pertaining to a particular class or party, but on some subject in which all who were Christians had a common interest. There are great matters of religion held in common by all Christians, and it is important for religious teachers to address their fellow Christians on those common topics. After all, they are more important than the things which we may hold as peculiar to our own party or sect, and should be more frequently dwelt upon.

It was needful for me to write to you - "I reflected on the general subject, prompted by my affectionate regard to write to you of things pertaining to religion in general, and, on looking at the matter, I found there was a particular topic or aspect of the subject on which it was necessary to address you. I saw the danger in which you were from false teachers, and felt it not only necessary that I should write to you, but that I should make this the particular subject of my counsels."

And exhort you - "That I should make my letter in fact an exhortation on a particular topic."

That ye should earnestly contend - Compare Galatians 2:5. The word here rendered "earnestly contend" - ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι epagōnizesthai - is one of those words used by the sacred writers which have allusion to the Grecian games. Compare the notes, 1 Corinthians 9:24, following. This word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It means "to contend upon" - i. e., "for or about" anything; and would be applicable to the earnest effort put forth in those games to obtain the prize. The reference here, of course, is only to contention by argument, by reasoning, by holding fast the principles of religion, and maintaining them against all opposers. It would not justify "contention" by arms, by violence, or by persecution; because:

(a) that is contrary to the spirit of true religion, and to the requirements of the gospel elsewhere revealed;

(b) it is not demanded by the proper meaning of the word, all that that fairly implies being the effort to maintain truth by argument and by a steady life;

(c) it is not the most effectual way to keep up truth in the world to attempt to do it by force and arms.

For the faith - The system of religion revealed in the gospel. It is called "faith," because that is the cardinal virtue in the system, and because all depends on that. The rule here will require that we should contend in this manner for all "truth."

Once delivered unto the saints - The word here used (ἅπαξ hapax) may mean either "once for all," in the sense that it was then complete, and would not be repeated; or "formerly," to wit, by the author of the system. Doddridge, Estius, and Beza, understand it in the former way; Macknight and others in the latter; Benson improperly supposes that it means "fully or perfectly." Perhaps the more usual sense of the word would be, that it was done once in the sense that it is not to be done again, and, therefore, in the sense that it was then complete, and that nothing was to be added to it. There is indeed the idea that it was formerly done, but with this additional thought, that it was then complete. Compare, for this use of the Greek word rendered "once," Hebrews 9:26-28; Hebrews 10:2; 1 Peter 3:18. The "delivering" of this faith to the saints here referred to is evidently that made by revelation, or the system of truth which God has made known in his word. Everything which He has revealed, we are to defend as true. We are to surrender no part of it whatever, for every part of that system "is" of value to mankind. By a careful study of the Bible we are to ascertain what that system is, and then in all places, at all times, in all circumstances, and at every sacrifice, we are to maintain it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. Design of the Epistle (compare Jude 20, 21).

all diligence—(2Pe 1:5). As the minister is to give all diligence to admonish, so the people should, in accordance with his admonition, give all diligence to have all Christian graces, and to make their calling sure.

the common salvation—wrought by Christ. Compare Note, see on [2664]2Pe 1:1, "obtained LIKE precious faith," This community of faith, and of the object of faith, salvation, forms the ground of mutual exhortation by appeals to common hopes and fears.

it was needful for me—rather, "I felt it necessary to write (now at once; so the Greek aorist means; the present infinitive 'to write,' which precedes, expresses merely the general fact of writing) exhorting you." The reason why he felt it necessary "to write with exhortation," he states, Jude 4, "For there are certain men crept in," &c. Having intended to write generally of "the common salvation," he found it necessary from the existing evils in the Church, to write specially that they should contend for the faith against those evils.

earnestly contend—Compare Php 1:27, "striving together for the faith of the Gospel."

once, &c.—Greek, "once for all delivered." No other faith or revelation is to supersede it. A strong argument for resisting heretical innovators (Jude 4). Believers, like Nehemiah's workmen (Ne 4:17), with one hand "build themselves up in their most holy faith"; with the other they" contend earnestly for the faith" against its foes.

the saints—all Christians, holy (that is, consecrated to God) by their calling, and in God's design.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

When I gave all diligence to write unto you: the apostle here declares the first cause of his writing to them, viz. his own inclination and readiness, according to the duty of his place, (as an apostle), so to do: q. d. Being of myself willing, and earnestly desirous to promote your welfare, when absent from you, by writing unto you.

Of the common salvation; i.e. those things which concern the salvation of us all in common, or that salvation which is common to us all; there being but one salvation for all believers, and one way to it.

It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you; the second reason of his writing, viz. the necessity of it, in respect of the danger they were in, as follows, Jude 1:4.

That ye should earnestly contend; by constancy in the faith, zeal for the truth, holiness of life, mutual exhortation, prayer, suffering for the gospel, &c.; against those that would pervert the gospel.

For the faith; the doctrine of the gospel; faith is taken for the object of faith.

Which was once; either, once for all, because it was delivered by all the apostles as the only unchangeable rule of governing their lives, and obtaining salvation, to which nothing is to be added, and from which nothing is to be taken away; or it implies, that it was therefore delivered to them that they might never forsake it, and that if they do, they miss of their salvation, as being never like to have another way made known to them.

Delivered unto the saints; viz. by God, not invented by men.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you,.... The apostle calls the persons he writes unto "beloved"; as they were of God, and by him and other saints; and he signifies his diligence in writing to them: and the subject of his writing was,

of the common salvation; which designs either the Gospel, sometimes called salvation, in opposition to the law, which is a ministration of condemnation; and because it is a declaration of salvation, and a means of it; and may be said to be "common", because preached to all, Jews and Gentiles: or Jesus Christ the Saviour himself, who is also sometimes called "salvation", because he was called and appointed to it, and undertook it, and is become the author of it; and may be said to be a "common" Saviour, not of all men, but of all his people; of his whole body, the church, and every member of it, and of all sorts of men, in all nations: or else that spiritual and eternal salvation wrought out by him, which is common, not to all men, for all are not saved with it, but to all the elect of God, and true believers in Christ; the love of God is common to them all alike; the choice of them to eternal salvation is the same; the covenant of grace, the blessings and promises of it, are equally shared by them; and they are bought with the same price of Christ's blood, and are justified by the same righteousness, and are regenerated, sanctified, and called by the same grace, and shall possess the same glory: there is but one way of salvation, and that is not confined to any nation, family, community, or sect among men. The Alexandrian copy and two of Beza's, and the Syriac version, read, "our common salvation"; and two other of Beza's copies and the Vulgate Latin version read, "your common salvation"; the sense is the same: 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; by the "faith" is meant the doctrine of faith, in which sense it is used whenever faith is said to be preached, obeyed, departed, or erred from, or denied, or made shipwreck of, or when exhortations are made to stand fast, and continue in it, or to strive and contend for it, as here; and which is sometimes called the word of faith, the faith of the Gospel, the mystery of faith, or most holy faith, the common faith, and, as here, faith only; and designs the whole scheme of evangelical truths to be believed; such as the doctrine of the Trinity, the deity and sonship of Christ, the divinity and personality of the Spirit; what regards the state and condition of man by nature, as the doctrines of the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity, the corruption of nature, and the impotence of men to that which is good; what concerns the acts of grace in the Father, Son, and Spirit, towards, and upon the sons of men; as the doctrines of everlasting love, eternal election, the covenant of grace, particular redemption, justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ, pardon and reconciliation by his blood, regeneration and sanctification by the grace of the Spirit, final perseverance, the resurrection of the dead, and the future glory of the saints with Christ. This is said to be "delivered to the saints": it was delivered by God the Father to Christ as Mediator, and by him to his apostles, who may more especially be meant by "the saints", or holy men; who were chosen to be holy, and to whom Christ was made sanctification, and who were sanctified by the Spirit of God; and this faith, being a most holy faith, is fit for holy men, and only proper to be delivered to them, and preached by them; and by them it was delivered to the churches, both by word and writing; and this delivery of it supposes that it is not an invention of men, that it is of God, and a gift of his, and given in trust in order to be kept, held forth, and held fast; and it was but "once" delivered, in opposition to the sundry times and divers manners in which the mind of God was formerly made known; and designs the uniformity, perfection, and continuance of the doctrine of faith; there is no alteration to be made in it, or addition to it; no new revelations are to be expected, it has been delivered all at once: and therefore should be "earnestly contended for"; for could it be lost, another could not be had; and the whole of it is to be contended for; not only the fundamentals, but the lesser matters of faith; and not things essential only, but also what are circumstantial to faith and religion; every truth, ordinance, and duty, and particularly the purity of faith, and its consistency: and this contention includes a care and solicitude for it, to have it, own it, and hold it fast, and adorn it; and for the preservation of it, and for the spread of it, and that it might be transmitted to posterity: and it denotes a conflict, a combat, or a fighting for it, a striving even to an agony: the persons to be contended with on account of it, are such who deny, or depreciate any of the Persons in the Godhead, the assertors of the purity and power of human nature, and the deniers of sovereign, efficacious, and persevering grace: the persons who are to contend with them are all the saints in general, to whom it is delivered; which they may do by bearing an experimental testimony to it, by praying for the continuance and success of it, by standing fast in one spirit in it, and by dying for it; and particularly the ministers of the Gospel, by preaching it boldly, openly, fully, and faithfully, by disputing for it, and writing in the defence of it, and by laying down their lives, when called for: the manner in which this is to be done, is "earnestly", heartily, in good earnest, and without deceit, zealously, and constantly.

Geneva Study Bible

{1} Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the {d} common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should {e} earnestly contend for the faith which was {f} once delivered unto the saints.

(1) The goal of this epistle, is to affirm the godly as opposed to certain wicked men both in true doctrine and good conduct.

(d) Of those things that pertain to the salvation of all of us.

(e) That you should defend the faith with all the strength you can muster, both by true doctrine and good example of life.

(f) Which was once given, that it may never be changed.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Jude 1:3-4. Statement of the reason which determined Jude to write this Epistle: comp. on this 2 Peter 1:12 f., 2 Peter 3:1 f.

ἀγαπητοί] found at the beginning of an Epistle only here and in 3 John 1:2.

πᾶσαν σπουδὴν ποιούμενος κ.τ.λ.] Giving all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, I felt constrained to write to you, exhorting you to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Pricaeus, Lachmann, Buttmann put a comma after the first and after the second ὑμῖν, so that περὶ … σωτηρίας is connected with ἀνάγκην ἔσχον, and παρακαλῶν, etc., is separated from γράψαι. Most expositors, on the contrary, as Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, de Wette, Wiesinger, etc., connect περὶ σωτηρίας with the preceding γράφειν, and unite παρακαλῶν with γράψαι. Not only the position of the words, but also the train of thought decides for this latter arrangement; for since, according to Jude 1:4, the ἀνάγκη, inducing the author to write this Epistle, consisted in the appearance of wicked men, so it is evidently more suitable to connect γράψαι with παρακαλῶν ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι, having special reference to it, than with the general idea περὶ τῆς κοινῆς σωτηρίας, particularly as the contents of the Epistle are anything but a treatise concerning the common salvation.[8] The preceding participial clause states in what condition Jude was when the ἀνάγκην ἔχειν came upon him; the σπουδή to write already existed when the entrance of certain ungodly men constrained him not to write generally περὶ τῆς κοινῆς σωτηρίας, but to compose such a hortative Epistle as the present. Some expositors incorrectly think that the ἀνάγκη had its reason in the σπουδή (Erasmus: tantum mihi studium fuit, ut non potuerim non scribere vobis); others, that to the σπουδή the ἀνάγκη supervened as a new point; so Hornejus: cum summum mihi esset studium scribendi ad vos aliquid de communi nostrum omnium salute, etiam necessitas insuper scribendi imposita fuit, quae autem illa sit, statim addit (so also Calvin and others). De Wette (with whom Brückner agrees) considers that Jude by the first clause expresses that “he had been engaged on the composition of a longer and more comprehensive Epistle (the loss of which we have to lament), when he was for the time called away from that work in order to write the present Epistle;” but the expression πᾶσαν σπουδὴν ποιούμενος does not necessarily involve actual writing.[9]

σπουδὴν ποιεῖσθαι is only found here in the N. T. (2 Peter 1:5 : σπουδὴν πᾶσαν παρεισφέρειν; prologue to Ecclus.: προσφέρειν τινὰ σπουδήν); the meaning is: to be eagerly solicitous about something; it may refer both to mental activity and to external action; here the former is the case. Luther’s translation: “After I purposed,” is too flat; Meyer’s is better: “since it lies pressingly upon my heart.”

πᾶσαν serves, as frequently, for the strengthening of the idea.

The participle ποιούμενος, in connection with the aorists ἔσχον γράψαι, is to be taken as the imperfect participle. Stier incorrectly translates: “when engaged in it I would take diligence.” It expresses the activity which took place, when the action expressed by the finite verb occurred and therefore must not be resolved, with Haenlein, into the perfect or pluperfect.

περὶ τῆς κοινῆς ἡμῶν σωτηρίας] states on what Jude intended to write. On κοινῆς, comp. Titus 1:4; 2 Peter 1:1. There is no reason to refer the idea, with Semler, to the Jews and Gentiles, as the object common to both.

σωτηρία, not the doctrine of salvation (Jachmann), but the salvation itself, acquired by Christ for the world, and applied to believers. The explanation of Beza: de iis quae ad nostram omnium salutem pertinent, deviates from strict precision, as σωτηρία itself is indicated by Jude as the object of writing. Schott incorrectly explains σωτηρία, state of salvation, possession of salvation.

ἀνάγκην ἔσχον] Comp. Luke 14:10; Luke 23:17; 1 Corinthians 7:37. The explanation of Grotius is inaccurate: nihil potius habui, quod scriberem, quam ut, etc. The translation of Luther is too flat: “I considered it necessary;” for in ἀνάγκην ἔχειν is contained the idea of an objective necessity founded on duty, circumstances, etc. (de Wette, Wiesinger, Schott). The meaning here is: the entrance of false teachers constrained me, made me to recognise it as necessary. On the one hand, Semler inserts a strange reference, paraphrasing it: accidit interea inopinato, ut statuendum mihi … esset; and, on the other hand, Schott, who, in order to emphasize the contrast between the two members of the sentence, finds in ἀνάγκ. ἔσχον the thought expressed that Jude wrote this Epistle unwillingly, contrary to his inclination.

γράψαι ὑμῖν παρακαλῶν] παρακαλῶν is closely united to γράψαι, as indicating the kind of writing to which the author felt constrained by circumstances; therefore no comma is to be put after ὑμῖν.

ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι τῇ … πίστει] ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι, a ἅπ. λεγ., as συναθλέω, Php 1:27, connected with the dative of the object which is contended for; Stier: “to fight for the faith;” comp. Sir 4:28 : ἀγωνίζειν περί.

πίστις is not = doctrina, system of doctrine; nor yet does it here denote the subjective quality of the believing disposition; but that which is believed by Christians (τοῖς ἁγίοις), the objective contents of faith. Schott is incorrect in explaining it: “the conduct arising from faith;” for the notion of conduct does not suit παραδοθείσῃ. The explanation: the way of salvation (Hofmann), is also wanting in correctness; it is not proved by Galatians 3:23.

As the subject to παραδοθείσῃ, by whom the communication or transmission was effected, God (Bengel) is not here to be thought of, but the apostles, as Jude 1:17 shows; 2 Peter 2:21; Luke 1:2 (comp. also 1 Corinthians 11:2; 1 Corinthians 11:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3); yet the author does not name them, because “he is not concerned here with the personal instruments, but with the mode and manner of transmission contained in ἅπαξ” (Schott). τοῖς ἁγίοις are not the apostles (Nic. de Lyra), but Christians.

ἅπαξ brings prominently forward the fact that as it once took place, so there is now an end to the παράδοσις; Bengel: nulla alia dabitur fides. Jachmann incorrectly explains it by ἤδη, olim, jam, appealing to Jude 1:5 and Hebrews 6:4. According to Hofmann’s view, ἅπαξ is used “with reference to the preceding intention of Jude to present to the readers a writing having the common salvation as its object;” but this reference is not indicated.[10]

[8] The translation of the Vulgate: omnem solicitudinem faciens scribendi vobis de communi vestra salute necesse habui scribere vobis depraecans supercertari, etc., may also be punctuated in both ways. Lachmann has, in his larger edition of the N. T., punctuated it as he has done in the Greek text; in other editions of the Vulgate, on the contrary, the other punctuation is found.

[9] De Wette incorrectly appeals for this supposition to Sherlock (in Wolf), who thus explains it: dilecti, animus mihi erat, scribere ad vos de communibus doctrinis et spe evangelii ad fidem vestram et Jesu Christi cognitionem amplificandam; jam vero coactum me video, ut hoc institutum deseram et ad cavendum praesens periculum, vos exhorter, ut serio teneatis eam quae vobis tradita est, doctrinam, contra falsos doctores, quos clanculum audio irrepsisse. What de Wette regards as accomplished, or in the act of being accomplished, Sherlock considers only as intended.

[10] When Hofmann maintains that ver. 4 could only have been written by an apostle, he evidently proceeds too far; for why could not also another besides an apostle have cherished the design to address a writing to Christians respecting the common faith?

Expositor's Greek Testament

Jude 1:3-4.—Reasons for Writing. He had been intending to write to them on that which is the common interest of all Christians, salvation through Christ, but was compelled to abandon his intention by news which had reached him of a special danger*[783] threatening the Gospel once for all delivered to the Church. His duty now was to stir up the faithful to defend their faith against insidious assaults, long ago foretold in ancient prophecy, of impious men who should change the doctrine of God’s free grace into an excuse for licentiousness, and deny the only Master and our Lord Jesus Christ.

[783]* For this see the Introduction on Early Heresies.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation …] More accurately, giving all diligence, as a present act connected with the time of writing. The word for “diligence,” as with the cognate verb in 2 Peter 1:10; 2 Peter 1:15; 2 Peter 3:14, implies earnest effort. The term “common salvation,” not elsewhere found in the New Testament, has a parallel in the “common faith” of Titus 1:4. In both passages stress is laid on the “faith,” or the “salvation,” as being that in which all Christians were sharers, as distinct from the “knowledge” which was claimed by false teachers as belonging only to a few.

it was needful for me to write unto you] Better, perhaps, I found a necessity. The ground of the necessity lies in the fact stated in the next verse. The words have been interpreted as meaning that he was about to write a fuller or more general Epistle, and was then diverted from his purpose by the urgent need for a protest against the threatening errors; and the inference, though not, perhaps, demonstrable, is at least legitimate, and derives some support from the change of tense (which the English version fails to represent) in the two infinitives, the first “to write” being in the present tense, such as might be used of a general purpose, the second in the aorist, as pointing to an immediate and special act.

that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints] The simple form of the verb for “contend” is found in Colossians 1:29; Colossians 4:12, and implies, as it were, “wrestling” for the faith. This expression finds a close parallel in the “striving together for the faith” of Php 1:27. “Faith” is obviously to be taken in its objective sense, as being, so to speak, the belief of the Universal Church. And this faith is described as being “once for all delivered to the saints.” It was not necessarily embodied as yet in a formal Creed, or committed to writing, but was imparted orally to every convert, and took its place among the “traditions” of the Church (2 Thessalonians 2:15; 2 Thessalonians 3:6), the noble deposit, “the good thing committed to their trust” which all pastors and teachers were to watch over and pass on to others (2 Timothy 1:14), identical with the “form of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13). In the words that describe the “mystery of godliness” in 1 Timothy 3:16, and in the “faithful sayings” of the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Timothy 3:1; 1 Timothy 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:11; Titus 3:8), we have probably portions of this traditional faith. It was now imperilled by teachers who denied it, both in their doctrine and their life, and it was necessary that men should redouble their efforts to maintain it unimpaired.

Bengel's Gnomen

Jude 1:3. Πᾶσαν σπουδὴν ποιούμενος) when I gave all diligence.—γράφειν—σωτηρίας, to write—salvation) Antithetical to marked out before (fore-written) to judgment: Jude 1:4.—περὶ, concerning) Here is the design of the Epistle: Jude 1:20-21. There is a close agreement between the beginning and the end of the Epistle.—κοινῆς, common) by equally (“like”) precious faith: 2 Peter 1:1. The ground of mutual exhortation.—σωτηρίας, salvation) Even severe admonitions tend to salvation.—ἀνάγκην ἔσχον) I could not but.—γράψαι ὑμῖν παρακαλῶν, to write to you with exhortation) Of all kinds of writing, Jude judged exhortation to be most salutary at that time. The word, to write, is in close connection with exhorting. Exhortation is introduced in Jude 1:17-18. This is the express design of the Epistle.—ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι, that ye contend) It is a double duty, to fight earnestly in behalf of the faith, against enemies; and to build one’s self up in the faith: Jude 1:20. Comp. Nehemiah 4:16-18.—ἅπαξ, once for all) The particle expresses great urgency: no other faith will be given. Comp. in the second instance [subsequently, “afterward”], Jude 1:5.—παραδοθείσῃ, delivered) from God.—τοῖς ἀγίοις) to all the saints, who are such (i.e. holy) by reason of their most holy faith: Jude 1:20. Construe this with delivered.—πίστει, the faith) by which we arrive at salvation: Jude 1:20-21.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - The author's reason for writing. The statement of this is introduced by the conciliatory address, beloved - a form of address found twice again in this short Epistle (verses 17, 20). It occurs at great turning-points in all the Catholic Epistles, except for an obvious reason in 2 John. (See James 1:16, 19; James 2:5 (who couples the term "brethren" with it); 1 Peter 2:11; 1 Peter 4:12; 2 Peter 3:1, 8, 14, 17; 1 John 3:2, 21; 1 John 4:1, 7, 11 3John 2, 5, 11.) It is frequent also in the Pauline Epistles. It is only here, however, and in 3 John 1:2 that it is introduced so near the beginning of an Epistle. The statement itself contains several expressions which demand notice. The phrase which the Authorized Version renders, When I gave all diligence, is better rendered, while I was giving all diligence, with the Revised Version. In this particular form it occurs nowhere else in the New Testament; but it has close parallels in 2 Peter 1:5 and Hebrews 6:11. The noun is the same as is translated "diligence" in Romans 12:8, and "business" in Romans 12:11. It is not certain whether the phrase expresses action here as well as earnest desire; but it indicates the position of the author, whether as seriously bethinking himself to write, or actually engaged in the task, when he had occasion to send the counsels given in this Epistle. The subject on which he had thought of addressing them was the common salvation - the term "salvation" meaning here neither the doctrine nor the means of redemption, but the grace of redemption itself. And this grace is designated "common," or, as the better reading gives it, "our common salvation;" not with reference to any contrast of Jew with Gentile, but simply as a grace open to all, and in which writer and readers had an equal interest (comp. Acts 2:44; Acts 4:32; and especially the "common faith" of Titus 1:4). The "like precious faith' of 2 Peter 1:1 is a stronger expression, and probably points to a distinction, formerly existent, but now removed, between Jew and Gentile. The next phrase is rendered too weakly by the Authorized Version, It was needful for me to write unto you. Neither does the Revised Version quite bring out the idea when it substitutes, I was constrained to write unto you. What is in view is an objective necessity; certain circumstances which had arisen and imperatively demanded writing. So that we might translate it, "necessity arose for me to write," or, "an emergency occurred constraining me to write." He was thus induced to write in the way of exhorting them. The particular subject of the exhortation is described as the duty of contending earnestly for the faith; the contention being expressed by a strong term somewhat analogous to that used by Paul in Philippians 1:27, and the "faith" being taken, not in the subjective sense of the quality or grace of belief, but in the objective sense of the things believed. This "faith" is declared to have been delivered once for all (so, with the Revised Version; not once delivered, as the Authorized Version puts it, which might mean "once on a time") to the saints. It is not stated by whom the deliverance was made. The unexpressed subject may be God, as some suppose who point to the analogy of 1 Corinthians 11:23 and 1 Cor 15:3; or it may be the apostles, as others hold who look to the analogy of such passages as 1 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Peter 2:21, and especially the seventeenth verse of the present Epistle itself. The main point is, not the author or the instruments of the deliverance, but the fact that such a deliverance has taken place. What has been transmitted is carefully defined, not, indeed, as a system of doctrine, but at least as a sum or deposit of things necessary to be believed. This is said to have been given once for all, so that there is no repetition or extension of the gift. It is described; further, as committed, not to the Church as an organization, nor to any particular office-bearers, but to the saints in general. Jude 1:3

Vincent's Word Studies

Beloved

Occurring at the beginning of an epistle only here and 3 John 1:2.

When I gave all diligence (πᾶσαν σπουδὴν ποιούμενος)

Lit., making all diligence; the phrase found only here. In Hebrews 6:11, we find "shew diligence" (ἐνδεικνυσθαι); and in 2 Peter 1:5, "adding diligence." See note there.

The common salvation

The best texts add ἡμῶν, of us. So Rev., "our common salvation."

It was needful (ἀνάγκην ἔσχον)

Lit., I had necessity. Alford, I found it necessary. Rev., I was constrained.

Earnestly contend (ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι)

Only here in New Testament.

The faith

The sum of what Christians believe. See on Acts 6:7.

Once (ἅπαξ)

Not formerly, but once for all. So Rev., "No other faith will be given," says Bengel.