In the Christian circle, there are various types of people that take the word of God and use it multiple ways. Some use it to cut down people and not do anything to uplift them, some use it to try and justify violent actions, some use it to try and justify their sinful lifestyle, some use it to try and justify their reasoning for spreading nothing but hatred which in turn incites nothing more than riots, and a very small percentage of Christians rightly divide the word of truth.
Here in 1 Timothy 6:12, we are exhorted to "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." In this verse, there are two exhortations given.
I. "Fight the good fight of faith..."
Fighting the good fight of faith... what does that mean? It isn't a physical fight (Ephesians 6:10-13), it is a spiritual one (2 Corinthians 10:4). It isn't one that we can fight by carnal means (Ephesians 6:12), it is one that can only be fought by spiritual means (Ephesians 6:11-13). Anything otherwise would be in violation to what we have been called to do. To fight the good fight of faith, we must first know that it is impossible to please God in any way without faith (Hebrews 11:6), and that without faith we cannot even come before God in prayer (Hebrews 11:6), nor can we begin to understand what our focus should be (Hebrews 12:1-2). Just as we are only to move forward in our daily Christian lives, so also is the nature of the course we are to be running (Philipians 3:13-14). And if we say that our fight is physical (carnal) as well as spiritual, how can we live a peaceable life? If we hold to the falsehood that our fight is physical, then we cannot be truly interceding for our fellow man (1 Timothy 2:1-4). If we say our fight is physical, we are no better than the Muslims who kill all those who will not submit to their religion or their law, nor are we better than the Roman Catholic Church who killed those who would not convert to Roman Catholicism and submit to so-called 'papal authority'. To fight the good fight of faith, we must first realize that our fight is spiritual and not carnal.
II. "...lay hold on eternal life..."
Laying hold on eternal life... this does not have to do with works salvation as many denominations of the church today would have us believe. This has to do with embracing the gift of God that was given to us upon accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
Philippians 3:13-14 says, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
How can we press toward the finish line, the victory on the battlefield, if we have anything whatsoever weighing us down? If we allow the world to get us down, how then can we truly "lay hold on eternal life"? How can people see that we are called to lay hold on it if we do not "profess a good profession"? We live in a world today that is constantly watching us, being an eye/earwitness to everything that we say/do. If we do not live what we so boldly profess to believe in, if we do not "practice what we preach" and actually take a stand on the Word of God according to the principles set forth?
We are not to literally fight against those who refuse to believe in and/or accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, for our fight is spiritual, not carnal. So often we mess this up and are willing to take up arms against those who hate Christ. Christians, we are at war. The devil is waging this war against us, and if you are willing to kill your fellow man because they refuse to accept, you are letting the devil win. If you remain silent about your faith, you are not fighting the good fight. To fight the good fight, you must stand. To stand, you must be vocal about the faith, not silent. Do you think you got saved because someone was silent? WRONG. You were saved because at some point in your life someone planted the seed by telling you about what Jesus Christ did for you. You may have rejected it continually, but eventually you got to the point that the conviction was so sore and you finally realized that you were lost and undone without Him filling that void in your heart that only He can fill and finally accepted Him as your Saviour. Fight the good fight. Embrace the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Do not be silent about the faith, do not be silent about what Jesus Christ did for you. HE DIED FOR YOU SO YOU THROUGH HIM MIGHT LIVE, IF AND ONLY IF YOU ACCEPT HIM! You claim to have accepted Him, now go and tell someone about Him!
Your fellow warrior and brother in Christ,
William L. Payne
1 Corinthians 15:58
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