case of Jude, contenders for the faith are also expected to love, pray, grow, hope, and demonstrate mercy toward others. Their faith is not reduced to a doctrinal dispute. Second, to “contend” does not necessarily mean to become defensive or to be conservative in the sense of making a goal of the status quo. The verb means “to wrestle” or “to struggle.” When put into English letters, the Greek word is “agonize.” Paul used the word when he asked the church in Rome “to join me in earnest prayer”; that