Paul moves from his discussion of the false teachers to how Timothy should live in response. Paul calls Timothy a “Man of God,” which is a sharp contrast to the sick greed and false doctrine of the false teachers just discussed.

This week’s passage is found in 1 Timothy 6:11-12:

The first thing that Paul tells Timothy is to flee “all of this.” What is Timothy to flee from? The greed just discussed in verses 6-10, but Paul also includes the false teachings and different doctrines from verse three and earlier in the letter.

Paul refers to Timothy as a “man of God.” This is in compete contrast to the false teaching of the men infiltrating the Ephesian church, and indicates that Timothy’s doctrine comes from God himself, while that of the false teachers does not. The background for this phrase, which isn’t common usage for Paul, is based in the Old Testament. Each time it is used in the Old Testament it refers to one of God’s servants, such as Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1), David (Nehemiah 12:24), or one of the prophets.

Since Timothy is a man of God, he is to pursue something different than the false teachers. His behavior is to stand in stark contrast to theirs. Among others, Paul lists a few qualities that Timothy is to continue to develop in his life and ministry:

• Righteousness – The idea of being upright in conduct.
• Godliness – This reflects the relationship built upon faith, with the emphasis on visible actions.
• Faith – The idea of trust in Christ’s redeeming power.
• Love – The ultimate concern and care for others, built upon God’s love for us. Faith and love always appear together in Paul’s lists in the Pastoral Epistles.
• Endurance – This connotes the idea of persistence and perseverance.
• Gentleness – This idea is reminiscent of Jesus’ use of “meekness” in the Beatitudes.

From this list of instructions, Paul moves right into a second list of instructions that tag right onto these.

• Fight the good fight of the faith – This is less of a warfare term and more of an athletic phrase, giving the idea of running or boxing. The Christian life is like a contest, requiring one to be disciplined enough to train and to be intentional in growing.
• Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called – This extends the imagery of winning the prize in the contest started in the last phrase. Paul’s terminology here encourages Timothy to stay strong until successfully triumphant. There is a bit of a dichotomy here, giving us an “already” but a “not yet.” “Take hold” indicates a present action; while the “eternal life” is something that hasn’t come to completion yet.
• When you made your confession – Many think that this phrase refers to Timothy’s ordination. I’m not sure that this is the case. It’s far more likely that it refers to Timothy’s original confession, when he professed belief and became a Christian and was baptized.

So Paul gives Timothy several imperative commands here: He is to endure in his Christian life and ministry. This indicates a present action. Doing so secures his prize in eternity. This is a future event. But this only happens by being reminded of where he came from, his commitment to the faith, and his response to God’s call on his life. This points to the past.

Paul’s encouragement to Timothy is something we can take heart from as well. We can take to heart these instructions and pursue a life that honors God through righteousness, godliness, faith, love endurance and gentleness. We can fight the good fight, looking forward to eternity, basing our strength upon the knowledge of what God has done in our past.

What does it take for you to fight the good fight of the faith? What disciplines do you find to be necessary to facilitate this? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.