The Good Fight of Faith

February 25, 2018 Background Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:11 – 21 Lesson Passage: 1 Timothy 6:11 – 21 The pretext of this lesson presents an interesting backdrop for Paul’s instructions to Timothy about the good fight of faith. Paul warns Timothy to avoid becoming entangled in worldly greed. He mentions that some who have attempted to use godliness for worldly gain had found themselves in ruin and destruction because of their harmful desires. Paul reiterated one of his principles; and that is the principle concerning the power of contentment. It is only through contentment that Paul equates godliness to great gain. The love of money is a dangerous behavior and can lead saints away from the faith. Paul’s warning is the beginning of the lesson today. Paul warned Timothy to run away from the love of worldly gain and to pursue after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Note that these things must be pursued because they are not a part of the natural order of this world. These things are characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. In other words, these characteristics give evidence of the indwelling Spirit of Christ being allowed to rule in the life of the believer. The focus should be on the eternal life that the believer has received in Christ and not on the things of this world that are all temporary—seeing that this world is under condemnation and will be totally destroyed by God. The focus on eternal life is absolutely necessary if the believer is going to fight the good fight of faith. Secondly, the good fight of faith requires persistence. It is not enough to have a few really good days every now and then. The good fight of faith requires persistence day in and day out. With this pursuit in mind, then Timothy was to warn those who were rich to not depend on their riches which are not always certain but depend on God who is the true supplier of all good things that we may enjoy. The rich should strive to be generous to others and to engage in good works. This behavior in the rich will provide eternal wealth for them. Finally, Timothy must treat divine knowledge and doctrine as peculiar treasures which he should be careful to guard. Sometimes it can be tempting to believe that others may have something that is worth more than the divine knowledge God has given us, and this attitude should be avoided. Not appreciating what one has and chasing something that is believed to be superior can lead one to stray away from the faith. Like Timothy, all Christians can be encouraged to fight the good fight of faith by heeding the same advice that Paul gave Timothy. God has not changed, Satan has not changed, but the world is ever changing, and Satan takes advantage of it to lure unsuspecting Christians into his trap of entanglement. We must fight to overcome our worldly desires, remember our confession of faith, and protect that which God has entrusted to us. Robert C. Hudson January 22, 2017