Paul the
apostle called Timothy a “man of God” and then told him to
“flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness” as he referred to the ideas
that “godliness” was determined by a measure of how much a
person “gained” in material possessions. To the contrary,
Paul desired Timothy to obtain spiritual, everlasting attributes
rather than the temporary things of the world. In chapter six and
verse twelve of his letter to Timothy, Paul tells him to “fight
the good fight of faith” where we read:
Fight the
good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also
called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.
The verse begins,
“Fight the good fight of faith,...”
Paul began
with the word, “Fight”
which is the Greek word “agōnizomai”
from
which we get our English word “agonize” and means
“to enter a contest, contend in the gymnastic games and with
adversaries,
struggle, endeavor and strive to obtain” “the
good” or
“beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing,
precious, useful, suitable, commendable and admirable” “fight”
which is the shorter Greek word “agon” and means “the assembly
of the Greeks at their national games, hence
the contest for a prize at their games, generally, any struggle,
contest or battle” “of faith”
or “the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of
all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through
Christ and a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is
the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom
of God”. Paul desired for Timothy to enter and contend in the
world's arena where the conviction of God the Father and Jesus His
Son would provide “eternal salvation” to all who will believe.
The verse goes on to
say, “lay hold on eternal life,...” Paul
desire for Timothy to “lay hold on”
or “take possession of, overtake, attain, seize, rescue from
peril, help and succor” “eternal” which means “without
beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be”
“life” or “living which is real, genuine, active,
vigorous, devoted to God and blessed in the portion even in this
world of those who put their trust in Christ, and after the
resurrection to be consummated by new accessions which will last for
ever”. Timothy was to “grasp and seize” the “age abiding
life” which is offered through God the Father and His Son Jesus
Christ.
The verse continues,
“... whereunto you are also called,
and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
Finally Paul
added, “whereunto”
or “into, unto, to, towards, for and among” “you
are also called”
which is the Greek phrase “kaleō
kai kaleō kai” and
means “uttered, invited and saluted in a loud voice”. Timothy was
“called”
by God to be a minister of the gospel who shares the “good news”
of eternal life through Jesus Christ in the world. Paul added, “and
have professed”
or “said the same thing as another, agreed with, assented to,
conceded, declared openly and spoken freely” “a
good profession”
or “confession and acknowledgement” of this eternal life “before
many witnesses” or
“in the presence of large groups of spectators”. Timothy was to
be a faithful minister of the gospel before many people who heard him
openly “contend” for “the faith”.
When
we meditate upon Paul's words, we can almost picture him thinking
about the competitions which took place in the great Roman Colosseum.
Paul tended to use sports analogies in his writings, and in this case
it's almost as though he was picturing Timothy as being a competitor
in the arena. This “arena”, however, is where the competition for
the eternal lives of those for whom Timothy would fight was held. It
is thus the same for us. We are “competitors” in the arena of
life, and the eternal lives of those surrounding us should inspire
our engagement in the seriousness of this battle. May we hear Paul's
voice encouraging us to “fight
the good fight of faith”
and “lay hold on eternal
life”
as we attempt to answer our “call” and “profess
a good profession before many witnesses”
in this world.
Next
time Paul writes about what Jesus did before Pontius Pilate, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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