“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
When Paul wrote 2 Timothy he knew that his days were coming to an end, and he was ready to die and go to heaven. 2 Timothy 4:7 reveals that Paul was satisfied now that his life had been worthwhile. It also gives us some insight into Paul’s character, i.e., what made Paul the outstanding person that he was. Paul wrote that he had “fought a good fight.” What did he mean by that? His life, like ours, was a daily battle to do the right thing. Like us, he had to fight with Satan every day, because Satan wanted to pull the great apostle down and ruin his witness. It is no different in our lives. Every Christian has a target on his back, and Satan takes aim at that target everyday. We are never free of his temptations. Also, Paul’s fight was with false witnesses who wanted to call people’s attention away from the centrality of Christ. It was a constant fight. It is still a fight today. There are always people who want to get us sidetracked on religion and ritual instead of focusing on Christ. Christian character is obviously built on devotion to Christ. We cannot be Christlike in our character if we don’t give our complete devotion to Him. There were other things that Paul had to fight, but what I have shared should be adequate to help us build our own character. Like Paul, we need to fight a “good” fight. That means that we hang in there and keep on fighting, even when things are difficult. Paul wrote that he had “finished the course.” Another translation of this is, “I have finished the race.” Paul saw his ministry through to its conclusion, i.e., he did not quit. You know the old saying: “A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.” What was this race that Paul was running? He was primarily called to be the missionary to the Gentiles.(Isn't it interesting that when God wanted to call a missionary to the Gentiles, He chose the meanest, and most feared Jew of that day to do it?) This would have been difficult for Paul in the beginning, because until his Damascus Road experience, he had been a devout Jew. This meant that he could have nothing to do with Gentiles. After that experience his ministry was mostly about and among Gentiles. Think of all that Paul had to do to overcome his lifelong prejudice. The fact is, though, that he did it. He went all over Palestine, Asia Minor, Greece, eventually to Rome and maybe to Spain carrying the gospel to the Gentiles. Now that he was about to die, Paul could look back on his life and see that he had finished what God had given him to do. If you want to build Christian character in your life, you need to find out what it is that God wants you to do. If you don’t already know what it is, find out, and do it to the best of your ability, following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. When we get away from God’s will, God’s purpose for us, we are wasting His time and ours. What is the “race” that God has given you to run? Will you see it through to the end? Paul wrote that he had “kept the faith.” I interpret this to mean that through it all Paul stayed true to his faith in Christ, and to the doctrines that His faith led him to. Paul did not stray from preaching Christ, and from living for Christ. If we would build Christian character, we would stay true to Christ and to His plain teachings in scripture. We cannot let ourselves get sidetracked with minor arguments over faith and practice. Are you “keeping the faith”? Do you quit when the going get's rough? Are you keeping the faith in spite of what others might say about you? Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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