“…Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith…”. 

1 Tim. 6:11-12 ESV

When we surrender our life to Christ,  we quickly become aware that we are in a conflict.   It is a conflict between the Light of Christ who now resides within us and the powers of darkness that surround us.  Before we knew Christ, we may have recognized certain aspects of the darkness but we were not in conflict with it because we were also a part it.   We were blinded and enslaved by that darkness and did not even know it.  Once  Christ set us free, our eyes were opened for the first time and we could see what before was hidden from us.   Then, to our surprise, we discovered ourselves in direct conflict with the very darkness we once enslaved us!       

The Apostle Paul was well aware of this.  With that in mind, he encouraged Timothy to pursue godliness.   And in doing so he challenged him to “fight the good fight of faith.”    It is notable that Paul called it a fight.  But in reality it is!  We soon discover that there are three different adversaries that we must stand and fight against. 

The first one is our own sinful, fleshly nature that resists and sometimes rebels at the idea of submitting to Christ in a particular area.  (Rom. 7:21).  The second one is the lies of the adversary that attack us in our mind.  Those lies question the love of God, the goodness of God, the grace of God, and the faithfulness of God. (Gen.3:1). The third one is the culture at large that has no knowledge of God and is totally opposed to the ways of God. (1 John 2:16).    All three areas rise-up to fight against us when we embrace, lift up. and carry the banner of Christ. 

The best news about this fight is that it has already been won for us in Christ.  All we are required to do is to stand and obey. (Eph. 6:10-13).  He has already provided everything that is needed to enforce and experience the victory.  (2 Pet. 1:3). Therefore, let us resolve to “fight the good fight of faith” with absolute confidence.  We have nothing to fear! 

James W. Black