Our fight as Christians is a lifelong battle against the powers of Satan.Paul tells Timothy and us that we are to “fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:12). In the previous verse he told him how he was to fight: “Now flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness). Timothy was to flee from sin—everything that would distract him from being God’s servant.Fighting the “good fight” means that we runaway from sin. That does not mean that we get close to it, but that we avoid it, stay away from it. On the other hand we are to pursue—run after— righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fighting the “good fight” is all about making the right choices. To be a believer it a choice to pursue God’s will and His righteousness. It is a choice to live by faith, believing in God’s plan for our lives on a daily basis.If we are going to fight this good fight then we must first believe that God cares about us. We must believe that God is guiding us toward a purposeful goal. Peter tells us that we have been born again “to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). Then he says that this hope is in an inheritance that is “reserved in heaven” (vs 4), that this salvation is “ready to be revealed in the last time” (vs 5), and that this hope is the “outcome of our faith” (vs 9).Now we are also told that we can absolutely trust in God’s promise of salvation so that it is real right now! So we understand Peter’s point is that the ultimate fulfillment we be when Christ returns to gather all His saints. Everything will be complete!Therefore, this fight we are in means that it is a daily battle. So if we are going to fight this battle we must have faith. As Paul said “fight the good fight of faith.” We must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the only Savior and Lord. So Paul encourages us “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).Now we are ...
