GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH

Fight the GOOD FIGHT of FAITH, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed a GOOD CONFESSION in the presence of many witnesses – 1 Timothy 6:12

Fight infers battle, conflict, opposition, struggle, wrestling, and warfare. The Bible pictures the Christian, not as a spiritual glutton feasting at a banquet table, or a sluggard on the bed of ease, but as a GOOD SOLDIER with a sword girt upon his thigh, ready for the “GOOD FIGHT of FAITH” (2Tim.2:4). God’s first words to humankind were battle words (Gen.1:26-28)! There is no vacuum in the spirit; no room for neutrality or “sitting on the fence” (Mt.11:12). Life is a succession of battles from the cradle to the grave (2Tim. 4:7). There are battles everywhere. The world is warfare. We believers are God’s battle-axes and weapons of war (Jer.51:20). There is an enemy to overcome, whose works must be destroyed (1 John 3:8).

God is raising and sending His army of believers to rise up and turn Satan’s world upside down, and bring Jehovah’s divine rule of love, peace, joy and righteousness into the lives of nations, cities, families and individuals. Every Christian is ordained to be a Good Soldier (2Tim.2:3), equipped for a Good Warfare (1Tim.1:18), and to fight a Good Fight of Faith! Faith is a fight, but not a fleshly one. It is not a fight of fear, despair, desperation, emotions, suspicion, ambition, unholy competition, and unbelief. Faith is a good fight: one with a concluded victory! (1Pet.1: 6-7; Col.2: 15; 1Jh.5:4). But we must earnestly contend “for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). As soldiers in an enemy’s country, we must always stand on the watchtower, constantly contending with spiritual wickedness in high places.

There are many who have joined the armies of earthly kings, and even become Generals, yet never fought a battle! This cannot be so in the Army of the Lord. Each soldier of Christ must “fight the good fight of faith”, endure hardness, and prove faithful – if need be unto death. As in the case of Gideon’s army, there is no room in the Lord’s army for spiritual cowards (Judg.7:1-7). God always required His people to openly declare themselves as to whose side they are on (Exo.32:25-29). Soldiers of Christ are bold to bear witness for Him before a scoffing world: on the pulpit preaching, in the workshop labouring, or in the marketplace, we are bold enough to profess the Lord and to uphold His cause. As good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we never fight in vain! We lay hold on eternal life, and secure crowns of righteousness (1Tim.6:12; 2Tim.4:6-8).

The good soldier of Jesus Christ displays such fixed resolve in the Father’s service, and persevering godliness and diligence in the Master’s business! Consecration is the enlistment into the Lord's army: giving up the fight for self and taking on the fight of faith. A soldier of Christ is devoted to the Redeemer as King, and confesses His sole and undivided sovereignty – the Good Confession. His enlistment declaration is: “My Lord and my God” (Jh.20:28). His motto is: “Christ is All”; and his lifework is to win all souls to obedience to God. Till his last breath on earth, the Crucified One is sole monarch of his soul. For Him he lives, for Him he’ll dare to die; so that ultimately, the Good Soldier becomes the Crowned Overcomer!