In this lesson we will consider two further aspects of the believers’ experience of the dispensing of the Divine Trinity: fighting the good fight and running the course of the race.
For the interest of God’s kingdom, the believers have to fight the good fight against Satan and his kingdom of darkness. Hence, in 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul says that he had “fought the good fight.” In 1 Timothy 6:12 he charges the believers to “fight the good fight of the faith,” that is, to fight for the contents of the complete gospel according to God’s New Testament economy. In this matter we need to experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
As believers, we need to fight the good fight by receiving the apostle’s charge. First Timothy 1:18 says, “This charge I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you might war the good warfare.” Paul charged Timothy to war the good warfare according to the prophecies. On the positive side, this charge concerns the economy of God, and on the negative side, it concerns the different teachings. Because of different teachings, the church had already become degraded and had deviated from the faith. Paul charged Timothy to fight against this deviation from the faith, which is to fight the good fight of the faith. To fight the good fight is to war against the different teachings of the dissenters and to carry out God’s economy (v. 4) according to the apostle’s ministry concerning the gospel of grace and eternal life for the glory of the blessed God (vv. 11-16).
Verse 18 says that Timothy should war the good warfare according to the prophecies made concerning him. The prophecies may refer to some kind of prophetic intimations made concerning Timothy when he was admitted into the ministry (Acts 16:1-3). According to the prophecies means to be in the sphere, support, and confirmation of the prophecies. Hence, Timothy was to fight against the deviations of the faith in the sphere, support, and confirmation of the prophecies that were made concerning him.
On the one hand, Timothy was to war against the differing teachings of the dissenters. On the other hand, he was to carry out God’s economy according to the apostle’s ministry. If we wish to carry out God’s economy, we must not do it according to the teachings of traditional Christianity or according to systematic theology but according to the apostle’s ministry. All true apostles teach and preach the same thing, even the one thing—God’s New Testament economy. The focus of our preaching and teaching is Christ and the church. To teach and preach God’s economy concerning Christ and the church is to fight the good fight.
Paul charges the believers to fight for the faith, that is, to fight for God’s New Testament economy. In particular, this is to fight for Christ as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ. Paul also charges us to “lay hold on the eternal life” (1 Tim. 6:12). The eternal life is the divine life, the uncreated life of the Triune God, which is eternal in nature. In order to fight the good fight of the faith in the Christian life, especially in the Christian ministry, we need to lay hold on this divine life and not trust in our human life. Hence, in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus the eternal life is stressed again and again (1 Tim. 1:16; 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7). Life is a prerequisite in order to carry out God’s economy concerning the church in 1 Timothy, to confront the process of the church’s decline in 2 Timothy, and to maintain good order in the church life in Titus.
We have been called to the eternal life of God (1 Tim. 6:12). We were born of the human natural life. However, when we were called by God in Christ, we were reborn of the divine eternal life. Being called to eternal life does not mean that we have been called to enjoy blessings in heaven. Eternal life should be our life today. The eternal life is a life for our present daily living. By our first birth, the physical birth, we received the adamic life. But because we have been called to eternal life, we should no longer live by the adamic life, the natural life. On the contrary, we need to live our human life by the eternal life. We have been called to this life, and now we need to live this life.
The subtlety of the enemy to bring in deviation from the faith keeps the believers from the eternal life. Heretical teachings may be used by the enemy to keep us from enjoying the eternal life; even teachings that are scriptural, fundamental, good, ethical, and moral and teachings that are about the improvement of character and about resolving to do good things may be used by the enemy to keep the believers from the experience of the processed Triune God as eternal life. Hence, we must see that all the matters in the New Testament concerning the believers are related to the dispensing of the processed Triune God into us. To experience this dispensing is to enjoy the eternal life. Some may teach according to the Bible without teaching the believers how to contact and receive the dispensing of the processed Triune God, which is the vital factor of our Christian life. Since such teachings may be used by the enemy to keep us from enjoying the eternal life, we need to lay hold on the eternal life. Then, by enjoying the eternal life, we will be able to fight the good fight of the faith.