“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to be only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.”
In a sense, this text is Paul’s epitaph, especially verse 7. Paul knew that he was about to be martyred and he left this message as a comfort and charge for Timothy, and ultimately for all of us. I want to focus on verse 7 as a reminder, and charge to us. Paul wrote that he had “fought a good fight.” Indeed, he fought a good fight in establishing the Christian faith. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, he wrote about his weapons for warfare: “For though we walk in the flesh, we war after the flesh: 4/ for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” His weapons were prayer, scripture and the Holy Spirit’s power. He wrote about weapons of warfare in Ephesians 6:10-18. (Look it up and read it.) We are in a spiritual battle and we need to use everything that God has put at our disposal to fight the battles that we will face. Maintain faith in Christ on a daily basis, and fight in the love of Christ. Paul wrote that he had “finished the course.” He fought the spiritual battle until he could fight no more. He did not say that what he fought for and taught from his conversion until his final imprisonment was finished. But consider this: As it turned out Paul wrote at least a third of the New Testament. The words that he wrote are preached from pulpits around the world. He finished his course, but he did not lose his influence. He did not lose his witness. What an example he leaves for us in these trying days. We should “keep on keeping on” until we cannot fight no more. Do not let Satan keep you from finishing your course. Fight on! Finally, Paul wrote, “I have kept the faith.” What did Paul mean by “the faith”? Basically, it was faith in Jesus Christ. Paul always kept faith in Christ as the centerpiece of all that he taught and wrote. Jesus Christ is the reason that we can be saved, and he is the reason that we witness to the world. False teachers were always attempting to replace Christ with religion. This is still true today. We should not relinquish our faith in Christ to those who have replaced Christ as the centerpiece of their faith. Let it be said of you that you “fought a good fight,” that you “finished the course” and that you “kept the faith.” Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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