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In this message we shall 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.
In 2 Timothy 4:7a Paul says, “I have fought the good fight.” This good fight is against Satan and his kingdom of darkness for the interest of God’s kingdom. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul refers to this fight as “the good fight of the faith,” that is, a fight for the contents of the complete gospel according to God’s New Testament economy.
The believers fight the good fight by receiving the apostle’s charge. First Timothy 1:18 says, “This charge I commit to you, child Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that in them you might war the good warfare.” We need to consider Paul’s use of the word “charge” here in the context of the chapter as a whole. The charge in verse 18 covers the main points presented in the previous seventeen verses. On the positive side, the main point of these verses is God’s dispensation; on the negative side, it is the differing teachings. Hence, the charge given by the apostle to his spiritual son concerns the dispensation of God positively and the differing teachings negatively. Because of different teachings, the church had already become degraded, and a deviation from the faith had taken place. Paul charged Timothy to fight against this deviation from the faith, that is, to fight the good fight for the faith.
In verse 18 Paul says that he committed the charge to Timothy “according to the prophecies previously made” concerning him. It may be that some prophetic intimations were made concerning Timothy when he was admitted into the ministry (Acts 16:1-3). Paul charged Timothy to war the good warfare in the prophecies. This means in the sphere, support, and confirmation of the prophecies.
Paul told Timothy that in the prophecies previously made he “might war the good warfare.” To war the good warfare is to war against the differing teachings of the dissenters and to carry out God’s dispensation (1 Tim. 1:4) according to the apostle’s ministry concerning the gospel of grace and eternal life for the glory of the blessed God (vv. 11-16).
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 dispensation according to the apostle’s ministry. If we wish to carry out God’s dispensation, we must not do it according to the teachings of traditional Christianity nor 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 war a good warfare.
First Timothy 6:12a says, “Fight the good fight of the faith.” To fight for the faith means to fight for God’s New Testament economy. In particular, it is to fight for Christ as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ.
In 6:12b Paul goes on to say, “Lay hold on the eternal life to which you were called.” The eternal life here is the divine life, the uncreated life of God, which is eternal. Eternal denotes the nature more than the time element of the divine life. 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). To bring forth God’s dispensation 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, this life is a prerequisite.
We have been called to the eternal life of God. We were born of the human natural life, but we were reborn of the divine eternal life when we were called by God in Christ.
We fight the good fight of the faith not only objectively but also subjectively by laying hold on eternal life. We should not do anything apart from this life. As those who would fight the good fight, we need to lay hold on eternal life.
We need to realize that we have been called to eternal life. This eternal life does not mainly refer to blessings in the future. To be called to eternal life does not mean that we have been called to enjoy blessings in heaven. Eternal life should be our life today, 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. Although we should be truly human, even Jesusly human, we should not be human in our natural life. On the contrary, we need to live a human life by the eternal life. We have been called to this life, and now we need to live it.
As believers in Christ, we have been called uniquely to eternal life. This life, the divine life, is actually the Triune God Himself. Having been called to eternal life, we now should lay hold on this life, live this life, and have our whole being according to this life.
The subtlety of the enemy in bringing deviation from the faith is to keep the believers from the eternal life. Therefore, we, the genuine believers, must lay hold on the eternal life. Without the eternal life we are nothing. This eternal life is actually the processed Triune God being life to us.
Not only heretical teachings but even fundamental teachings may be used by the enemy to keep us from enjoying the eternal life. Teachings that are scriptural, fundamental, good, ethical, and moral, teachings about the improvement of character and about making up our mind to do good things, keep the believers from the experience of the processed Triune God as eternal life to them.
It is crucial for us to 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 eternal life. Some may teach according to the Bible without teaching the believers how to contact the processed Triune God and to receive His dispensing, which becomes the vital factor of our Christian life. Because even fundamental teachings may be subtly used by the enemy to keep us from enjoying eternal life, we need to lay hold on the eternal life. Then we shall be able to fight the good fight for the faith.
In 1 Timothy 6:12a Paul says, “Fight the good fight of the faith,” and in 2 Timothy 4:7c he says, “I have kept the faith.” Furthermore, Jude 3b tells us that we should “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” In these verses “the faith” refers not to our subjective believing but to our objective belief, that is, to what we believe. The faith denotes the contents of the New Testament as our faith (Acts 6:7; 1 Tim. 1:19; 3:9; 4:1; 5:8; 6:10, 21; 2 Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:13), in which we believe for our common salvation. This faith, not any doctrine, has been delivered once for all to the saints. For this faith we should contend.
In the New Testament faith has both an objective meaning and a subjective meaning. When used in a subjective sense, faith denotes our action of believing. Used in an objective sense, faith denotes the object of our belief. In 1 Timothy 1:19 the word faith is used in both a subjective and objective sense. Here Paul says, “Holding faith and a good conscience, which some thrusting away have become shipwrecked regarding the faith.” The first reference to faith in this verse is subjective; it denotes our capacity to believe. The second use of faith is objective; it denotes the object of our faith.
The faith — our belief — is constituted of certain basic truths. First, we believe that God is one yet triune — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Second, we believe that our God became incarnated in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Third, we believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnated as man, lived on earth and died on the cross for our sins to secure our redemption. On the third day He was resurrected from the dead both physically and spiritually, and today He is our Savior, our Lord in resurrection, and our life. Because we believe in Him, our sins have been forgiven, He has come into us as our life, and we have been regenerated. Eventually, the Lord Jesus will come back to receive all His believers to Himself. These are basic truths, basic doctrines, that constitute the faith for which we should contend. Because every sound, genuine believer holds these basic truths, they are called the common faith (Titus 1:4).
The faith in the objective sense is equal to the contents of God’s will given to us in the New Testament. The law includes the contents of the Ten Commandments and all the subordinate ordinances. The law was given in the Old Testament, but what God gives in the New Testament is the faith that includes all the items of God’s new will. This will even includes the Triune God. However, it does not include such matters as head covering, foot washing, or methods of baptism. Nevertheless, some believers contend for such things, thinking that they are contending for the faith. But that is not the correct understanding of what Jude means by contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
To contend for the faith is to contend for the basic and crucial matters of God’s new will. One of these basic matters is Christ’s death for our redemption. Someone may tell you that Jesus died on the cross not for redemption but because He was a martyr and sacrificed Himself for His teachings. This understanding of the death of Christ is heretical; it is contrary to one of the basic items of the faith. Therefore, we need to contend for the truth concerning Christ’s redemption. This illustrates what it means to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The faith, the common faith, has been delivered to the saints once for all, and what we need to do now is to contend for it.
The believers also experience the dispensing of the processed Triune God by running the course of the race. In 1 Corinthians 9:24 Paul says, “Do you not know that those who run in a race-course all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may lay hold.” This verse reveals that the believers are runners in a race. The Christian life is a race that we must run successfully. The prize is a reward as an incentive; to “lay hold” is to obtain the prize.
First Corinthians 9 reveals that the Christian course involves the preaching of the gospel. To preach the gospel is to dispense Christ into others. By dispensing Christ into those who are receptive to our preaching we run the Christian course. However, because many believers today are not running the race, we need Paul’s word, “So run, that you may lay hold.”
To run in a race-course is to labor, but to receive the prize is to have enjoyment. As we preach the gospel today, we are running the course. But to receive a reward, a prize, at the coming of the Lord Jesus is to have a particular enjoyment.
Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, putting off every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, run with endurance the race which is set before us.” The race we are running is actually Christ Himself. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6). A race is a way, a course. Because Christ is the way, He is also the race. The race we are running is Christ. Our way is our race. These are not two things, one the way and the other the race. No, the way we are walking is the race we are running. Therefore, Christ, who is the way, is the race.
As believers, we should not stand still in Christ. Even walking in Christ is not adequate. We must run the race. We should not take the time to consider or look around, to stand still or walk slowly. We need to run the race, which is Christ Himself as our way. Although Christ is our way, we should not take this way as a way; rather, we should take the way as a race to run.
In 2 Timothy 4:7b Paul could declare, “I have finished the course.” Paul began to run the course of the heavenly race after he was taken possession of by the Lord, and he continually ran (Phil. 3:12-14) that he might finish it (Acts 20:24). Then at the end he triumphantly proclaimed, “I have finished the course.” For this he will receive from the Lord a reward — the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8).
Because the Christian life is a race, the believers must run the race to win the prize (1 Cor. 9:24), which is not salvation in a common sense (Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 3:15) but a reward in a special sense (Heb. 10:35; 1 Cor. 3:14). The prize we win for running the race is an incorruptible crown (1 Cor. 9:25). The prize in 1 Corinthians 9:24 is a reward as an incentive, and this reward is an incorruptible crown, which the Lord will award His overcoming saints who win the race. This reward is in addition to salvation. Eternal salvation is by faith, having nothing to do with our work (Eph. 2:8-9), whereas reward is for our work after we are saved (1 Cor. 3:8, 14). We may not receive a reward but rather suffer loss, even though we are saved, because we are void of the work which the Lord would approve (1 Cor. 3:15). The reward will be given to us according to our works at the Lord’s coming back (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 1 Cor. 4:5). It will be decided by the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) and enjoyed in the coming kingdom (Matt. 25:21, 23). The Apostle Paul strived to gain the reward (1 Cor. 9:24-27; Phil. 3:13-14; 2 Tim. 4:7-8).
We, the believers in Christ, have all received His salvation through faith in Him. This has been settled once for all. But whether we shall be rewarded by the Lord depends on how we run the race. In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul was running the race. In Philippians, one of his last Epistles, he was still running (3:14). It was not until the last moment of his running, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, that Paul had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the Lord at His coming. With this reward in view, Paul charged the believers to run the race so that they may obtain the reward, the prize, an incorruptible crown.
In 1 Corinthians 9:26a Paul says, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly.” Paul did not run the race uncertainly but with a definite goal in view. Today we must run the race with a definite goal; we should not run uncertainly.
In order to run the course of the race, we need to put off every encumbrance and the entangling sin (Heb. 12:1). The Greek word translated “encumbrance” in Hebrews 12:1 may also be rendered weight, burden, impediment. The runners in a race must strip off every unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden, that they may have no impediment to running the race. It is easy for us to pick up unnecessary burdens. But if we would run the Christian race, we need to put off every encumbrance, every unnecessary burden or impediment.
From Hebrews 12:1 we see that we also need to put off “the sin which so easily entangles us.” Here the sin refers mainly to the thing that entangles us from running the race. Both the encumbering weight and the entangling sin frustrate us in running the race. The encumbrances are outward, but the sin is inward, for it involves our sinful nature. Within our sinful nature there is something that often entangles us. In order to run the course of the Christian life, we need to put off the entangling sin.
At the end of Hebrews 12:1 we are charged to “run with endurance the race which is set before us.” We need to run with endurance because there is much opposition to the Christian race. In order to run this race, we must suffer the opposition with endurance, never growing weary or fainting in our souls (v. 3).
The believers run the course of the race also by “looking away unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:2). The Greek word translated “looking away unto” means to look with undivided attention by turning away from every other object. The runners in a race should turn away from everything else and look at the goal with undivided attention. We need to turn away from everything other than Christ and look to Him with undivided attention. This is the way to run the race.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look away unto Jesus, “the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” In the book of Hebrews Paul points us particularly to the Christ seated in heaven with so many aspects to care for us in every way. If we would enjoy this heavenly Christ, we need to look away from all things on earth unto Him who is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. By His death and resurrection He accomplished everything that is needed for both God and us. Now in His ascension He is sitting in the heavens as the Son of God (Heb. 1:5) and the Son of Man (2:6), as the appointed Heir of all things (1:2), the anointed One of God (1:9), the Captain of our salvation (2:10), the Sanctifier (2:11), the instant Helper and constant Succor (2:18), the Apostle from God (3:1), the High Priest (2:17; 4:14; 7:26), the Minister in the true tabernacle (8:2) with a more excellent ministry (8:6), the surety and the Mediator of a better covenant (7:22; 8:6; 12:24), the Executor of the new testament (9:16-17), the Forerunner (6:20), the Author and Perfecter of faith (12:2), and as the great Shepherd of the sheep (13:20). If we look unto Him as such a wonderful and all-inclusive One, He, ministering heaven, life, and strength to us, will transfuse and infuse us with all that He is to enable us to run the heavenly race and to live the heavenly life on earth, carrying us through all the lifelong pathway and leading and bringing us into glory (2:10).
The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor (2:9), is the greatest attraction in the universe, like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers unto Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him that we may run with endurance the race which is set before us.
Our running the course of the race is not in vain. Paul was concerned about running in vain (Gal. 2:2). We do not run uncertainly or in vain; instead, we run with a definite goal and in reality.
The believers run the Christian race by obeying the truth, the reality in Christ preached by the gospel. Galatians 5:7 says, “You were running well; who hindered you that you should not obey the truth?” Truth here does not refer to doctrine but to the reality in Christ, as preached to the Galatians by Paul.
The believers need to run the course of the race to the end. This is indicated by Paul’s word in 2 Timothy 4:7b: “I have finished the course.”
