I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 With these words the great Apostle Paul gives his last instructions to his beloved disciple Timothy. Paul had experienced an immense amount of persecution (2 Corinthians 11:23-27). In 2 Timothy 4:7, Paul summarizes his life as a Christian by calling it a “grand fight,” the underlying symbolism likely being a wrestling-match, boxing-bout, or some other similar contest (1 Tim. 4:7b, 8; 6:12). The Apostle Paul’s life was a fight, indeed. He fought against Satan, against the principalities and powers, against the world-rulers of this present darkness in the heavenlies, against Jewish and pagan vice and violence, against Judaizing among the Galatians, against fanaticism among the Thessalonians, against contention, fornication, and litigation among the Corinthians, against incipient Gnosticism among the Ephesians and Colossians, against fighting without and fears within, and last but not least, against the law of sin and death operating within his own heart. But Paul was still able to triumphantly profess, “I have fought the good fight.” And when the Apostle adds, “I have finished the race”— an obstacle race, indeed! — he stressed the fact that in his life as a believer he had fully accomplished that ministry to which the Lord had called him (Acts 20:24). His eye, like that of a skilled runner, was riveted at all times upon the finishing post for the glory of God by means of the salvation of sinners (Gal. 2:2; 5:7; Phil. 2:16; Heb. 12:1-2). In summarizing the past, Paul finally drops every metaphor and writes, “I have kept the faith.” Here, as in 1 Timothy 6:12, the meaning is not “I have kept the pledge” nor “I have maintained the true doctrine,” nor " kept the dress code' but in harmony with the present context it should be taken to mean, “I have retained my personal trust in God, my confidence in all his Christ-centered promises. In the spiritual arena of life I have not only fought hard and run well but I have also been sustained to the end by the deeply rooted conviction that I shall receive the prize the glorious reward.”