Jude says we should contend for the faith ‘once delivered unto the saints.’ Doesn’t that mean the gospel was finished in the first century?
They quote this
‘Once delivered’ is not ‘never speak again.’ Jude is fighting a hijack of the faith, then quotes Enoch as scripture.
King James Version
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.
NRSVUE
Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once and for all handed on to the saints.
How we read it
“Once delivered” means the faith is not for sale to hijackers. Jude is fighting a takeover, then he quotes Enoch as scripture. He is not a cessationist. If “once” closed the canon, Jude just opened a book Protestants do not bind. The doctrine of Christ can be delivered again to another nation without becoming another faith.
The Bible answers
The man who said ‘once delivered’ is quoting a book Protestants do not bind. He is not a cessationist.
King James Version
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all.
NRSVUE
It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘See, the Lord is coming with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all.’
The Book of Mormon answers
2 Nephi 29:9
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever — which means He still works.
And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished.
3 Nephi 11:31–33
The doctrine of Christ, delivered again, to another nation.
Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine… And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me… and whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved.
Dead Sea Scrolls and related extra-biblical texts that illuminate the same pattern the Restoration restores.
1 Enoch 1:9 — the very text Jude cites
Behold, he comes with ten thousand holy ones to execute judgment.
If ‘the faith once delivered’ meant ‘nothing outside the later Protestant table of contents,’ Jude sabotaged himself by quoting a book Protestants do not print. He is fencing the gospel of the Lord who comes to judge — not shrink-wrapping a canon that did not yet exist.
Scripture Central
Scripture Central
The faith once delivered is the common salvation in Christ. Jude writes because that faith is already being twisted. A Restoration that returns baptism, priesthood, apostles, and the doctrine of 3 Nephi 11 is contending for that faith, not replacing it. ‘Once for all’ (hapax) means the gift is decisive, not that God has been gagged. The same letter treats Enoch as a prophet whose words still count. That is an open-heavens instinct, not a closed-book one.
We contend for the faith once delivered — which is why we will not let later councils, or later silence, become a fifth gospel.
Faithful voices only. Most of these are independent — not official Church productions unless marked as such.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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