This New Testament postcard is written to believers regarding the insidious threat of apostates. The danger is serious and each generation must take up the challenge of preserving the Faith unblemished for those who follow. Jude speaks to Christ followers in 2025 every bit as much as he spoke to the Church of the first century.

Contending for the faith is not the most pleasant of spiritual duties, but it is action required of particular generations of believers at moments of intense spiritual warfare. Jude writes at just such an historical moment. His words are disturbingly relevant for our time.

Paul Billheimer asserts, “Prayer is not primarily God’s way of getting things done. It is God’s way of giving the Church ‘on-the-job’ training in overcoming the forces hostile to God. This world is a laboratory in which those who are destined for the throne are learning, by actual practice in the prayer closet, how to overcome Satan and his hierarchy.”

The earthly ministry of Jesus foreshadows Satan’s ultimate defeat. In Acts and beyond, Jesus extends His power over the demonic by giving His Word as a weapon to His disciples. With Word, witness, and authority, the invasion of hostile territory ravages the forces of evil.

Spiritual warfare in the New Testament is never presented as an esoteric activity reserved for specialists. Rather, spiritual warfare encompasses not only the dramatically supernatural, but also the mundane realities of “normal” life. We are consecrated for the ordinary no less than for the exceptional.

Primary opponents in spiritual warfare include both demonic influences and deep-rooted human self-righteousness. These enemies are not the same, yet they originate from a common origin—a rebellious view of God. When confronted with Jesus, there are only two responses.

During days in prison, Paul often taught about and demonstrated prayer. Ephesians concludes with one of the broadest definitions of prayer in the Bible. Prayer for spiritual warfare has a wide scope, a focused passion, and specific objectives…all inspired by the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.

One of the most repeated words from John 1 is testimony. It comes at least 5 times [testify - vs.7, 34, testified - vs.15, testimony - 19, 32]. Through the framework of testimony, the chapter could reflect a 3-part testimony about Jesus that could deepen both our worship and witness of Him.

Paul outlines in great detail the weapons of our unseen warfare because he understood that victory in war is achieved by warriors who are properly trained, sufficiently committed, and confident in their resources. Spiritual conflict demands that Jesus followers take up both armor and sword.

In the middle of extensive discussion about the everyday aspects of the faith life, Paul inserts an explanation of the principles of spiritual warfare. The clear implication is that spiritual warfare is not to be seen as some esoteric or unusual feature of Christianity; but rather, it is the common concern and occupation of every ordinary Christian.