Fight Of Faith
The life of the believer is described, again and again, as a fight — but a fight whose weapons are not flesh and whose victory has already been pledged. Paul commands Timothy to "fight the good fight of the faith" (1 Ti 6:12); at the end of his own course Paul testifies, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Ti 4:7). The contest is real, the enemy is real, and the warfare is sustained over a lifetime; but Yahweh fights for his people, faith is itself "the victory that has overcome the world" (1 Jn 5:4), and the crown waits at the end of the course.
The Charge to Fight
The Pauline imperative gives the umbrella its name. Timothy is charged "according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may war the good warfare" (1 Ti 1:18), and then, more pointedly, "Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the eternal life, to which you were called and confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses" (1 Ti 6:12). The fight is not optional; it is the form Christian fidelity takes in time. Paul puts the same charge in soldier-language to the same disciple: "Suffer hardship with [me], as a good soldier of Christ Jesus" (2 Ti 2:3); "No soldier on service entangles himself in the affairs of [this] life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier" (2 Ti 2:4); "You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Ti 2:1).
To the Corinthian church the same combatant stance is pressed: "Watch⁺, stand fast⁺ in the faith, be⁺ manly, be⁺ strong" (1 Co 16:13). The corresponding warning sounds from the apocalypse: "I come quickly: hold fast that which you have, that no one takes your crown" (Re 3:11).
The Enemy and the Field
The fight does not target human opponents primarily. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]" (Ep 6:12). Peter names the adversary plainly: "Be sober, be watchful: your⁺ adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pe 5:8). Paul confesses the inward dimension as well: "but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and capturing me in the law of sin which is in my members" (Ro 7:23).
But the conflict — even on the spiritual plane — is fought with non-fleshly weapons: "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds, casting down imaginations" (2 Co 10:4).
The Whole Armor
The most extended description of the soldier's equipment is given to the Ephesians. The summons is first to draw on a strength outside oneself: "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might" (Ep 6:10). Then the gear: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you⁺ may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ep 6:11); "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you⁺ may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand" (Ep 6:13); "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ep 6:17).
The same image is condensed for the Thessalonians: "But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation" (1 Th 5:8). The note is consistent: the believer's defensive and offensive gear is faith, hope, love, salvation, and the word — none of them weapons in the ordinary sense, all of them sufficient.
Faith as the Victorious Power
What makes this fight winnable is faith itself. "Now faith is assurance of [things] hoped for, a conviction of things not seen" (He 11:1). And: "For whatever is begotten of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that has overcome the world, [even] our faith. And who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 Jn 5:4-5). The new birth carries an inherent triumph: "You⁺ are of God, [my] little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he who is in you⁺ than he who is in the world" (1 Jn 4:4).
The Hebrew faithful won the same fight by the same means. Of the ancient witnesses Hebrews says they "quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens" (He 11:34). Daniel's three friends in Babylon answer the king out of this same conviction: "If it is [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king" (Da 3:17). Jonathan goes against the Philistine garrison saying, "it may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few" (1 Sa 14:6). David goes against Goliath: "You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel" (1 Sa 17:45).
Sirach gathers the same wisdom into a sustained call: "Trust in him and he will strengthen you, Make straight your ways and hope in him" (Sir 2:6); "You⁺ who fear the Lord, put your⁺ trust in him, And your⁺ reward will not fail" (Sir 2:8); "Look to the generations of old, and see: Who trusted in Yahweh, and was put to shame? Or who abided in his fear, and was forsaken? Or who called on him, and was overlooked?" (Sir 2:10). The negative case is just as flat: "Woe to the faint heart; because it does not believe, Therefore it will not be sheltered" (Sir 2:13). Diognetus distills the matter: "He has showed himself through faith, through which alone it is granted to see God" (Gr 8:6).
Yahweh as the God of Battles
The fight is the believer's, but the outcome is Yahweh's. "[The Speech of] Yahweh will fight for you⁺, and you⁺ will hold your⁺ peace" (Ex 14:14). At the entry into the land Moses repeats the assurance: "Yahweh your⁺ God who goes before you⁺, he will fight for you⁺, according to all that he did for you⁺ in Egypt before your⁺ eyes" (De 1:30); "You⁺ will not fear them; for Yahweh your⁺ God, it is he who fights for you⁺" (De 3:22). Hezekiah tells the besieged city, "with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is Yahweh our God to help us, and to fight our battles" (2 Ch 32:8). When Jehoshaphat is encircled at Tekoa the word comes: "You⁺ will not need to fight in this [battle]: set yourselves, stand⁺ still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you⁺, O Judah and Jerusalem; don't be afraid, nor be dismayed: tomorrow go out against them: for Yahweh is with you⁺" (2 Ch 20:17).
Because the battles are his, he is also the field-promise of his people: "For the eyes of Yahweh run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Ch 16:9). And the psalmist: "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble" (Ps 46:1). 1 Maccabees, in the mouth of Judas: "the success of war is not in the multitude of the army, but strength comes from heaven" (1Ma 3:19).
Courage Commanded
If the fight is real, fear is the standing temptation, and the standing answer is a command. To Joshua at the threshold: "Be strong and of good courage; for you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them" (Jos 1:6); "Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my slave commanded you: don't turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go" (Jos 1:7); "Haven't I commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; don't be frightened, neither be dismayed: for [the Speech of] Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go" (Jos 1:9). To the people about to cross the Jordan: "Be strong and of good courage, don't fear, nor be afraid of them: for Yahweh your God, it is he [his Speech] who goes with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you" (De 31:6). And again, to Hezekiah's generation: "Be strong and of good courage, don't be afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him; for there is a greater [one] with us than with him" (2 Ch 32:7); "But be⁺ strong, and don't let your⁺ hands be slack; for your⁺ work will be rewarded" (2 Ch 15:7).
The psalmists answer fear in the same direction: "Though a host should encamp against me, My heart will not fear: Though war should rise against me, Even then I will be confident" (Ps 27:3); "[The Speech of] Yahweh is on my side; I will not fear: What can man do to me?" (Ps 118:6). 1 Maccabees fixes the formula in the camp of Judas: "And do not fear the words of a sinful man, For his glory is dung, and worms" (1Ma 2:62); "You⁺ therefore, my sons, be manly, be strong in the law: For by it you⁺ will be glorious" (1Ma 2:64); "Don't fear⁺ their multitude, neither be⁺ afraid of their assault" (1Ma 4:8). And Sirach: "He who fears the Lord will not be afraid, He will not lose courage, for he is his hope" (Sir 34:16); "Fear not death, [it is] your destiny, Remember that the former and the latter share it with you" (Sir 41:3).
Steadfastness and the Long Course
The fight is not a single skirmish. "Watch⁺, stand fast⁺ in the faith" (1 Co 16:13) becomes a lifetime posture. Peter, against the same prowling adversary, commands: "whom withstand steadfast in your⁺ faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished among you⁺ brothers who are in the world" (1 Pe 5:9). Paul holds Timothy to a long obedience: "But you stay in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them" (2 Ti 3:14). Hebrews recasts the warfare as a race: "Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (He 12:1), "looking to Jesus the author and perfecter of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (He 12:2). The race image presses against complacency: "For consider him who has endured such opposing of sinners against himself, that you⁺ do not wax weary, fainting in your⁺ souls. You⁺ have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin" (He 12:3-4). Paul takes up the same image to discipline himself: "Don't you⁺ know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Even so run; that you⁺ may attain. And every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they [do it] to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so I fight, not as beating the air" (1 Co 9:24-26).
The opposite of steadfastness is not weakness but doubleness. Sirach: "Woe to fearful hearts and faint hands, And to the sinner who goes two ways" (Sir 2:12). And again, gathering the umbrella's whole affect into one couplet: "Direct your heart aright, and continue steadfast, And do not hurry in time of calamity. Stick to him, and don't be far, That you may be increased in your latter end" (Sir 2:2-3).
Endurance under Trial
Trial is the medium in which faith is proved. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you⁺ fall into manifold trials; knowing that the proving of your⁺ faith works patience. And let patience have [its] perfect work, that you⁺ may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing" (Jas 1:2-4); "Blessed is the man who endures trial; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] promised to those who love him" (Jas 1:12). Sirach binds endurance to timing: "The longsuffering man endures until the [proper] time, And in the end joy will arise for him" (Sir 1:23); and conversely, "Woe to you⁺ who have lost patience, And what will you⁺ do when the Lord visits you⁺?" (Sir 2:14). The Hebrews letter commends the same endurance to its first readers in their own remembered conflict: "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after you⁺ were enlightened, you⁺ endured a great conflict of sufferings" (He 10:32).
Tribulation Already Defeated
The decisive note in the New Testament is that the world's hostility is not the last word. Jesus tells the disciples on the night of betrayal, "These things I have spoken to you⁺, that in me you⁺ may have peace. In the world you⁺ have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33). Paul argues the same logic out: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Ro 8:37). And John in the apocalypse names the means: "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they did not love their soul even to death" (Re 12:11).
The Crown at the Course's End
The fight is for a prize, and the prize is named. "Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the eternal life, to which you were called" (1 Ti 6:12). Paul sees the prize in view at the end of his course: "from now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing" (2 Ti 4:8). The Apocalypse pronounces the same on every overcomer: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God" (Re 2:7); "He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne" (Re 3:21); "He who overcomes will inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son" (Re 21:7).
The fight, then, runs from the soldier's enrollment under grace (2 Ti 2:1) through a lifetime under arms (Ep 6:10-17) and a long race uphill (He 12:1-4) to a kept faith and a waiting crown (2 Ti 4:7-8). The whole of it is "the good fight" because its commander has already won.