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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.
Jude 3 says that we should “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” In this verse, as in 1 Timothy 6:12 and 2 Timothy 4:7, 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.
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, was incarnated as a 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 to become the life-giving Spirit. 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, these truths 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. This will includes even the Triune God Himself. However, the contents of this will do 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 this is not the correct understanding of what Jude means by contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. In Jude contending for the faith is to contend for the basic and crucial matters of God’s new will, His new testament. Someone may say 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 the basic items of the faith. Therefore, we need to contend for the truth concerning Christ’s redemption. This is 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. The Christian life is a race, and we are runners. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us also, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race which is set before us.” Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that those who run on a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? Run in this way, that you may lay hold.” These verses indicate that we must not only run, but run successfully in order to obtain the prize, which is a reward as an incentive to us. First Corinthians 9 reveals that the Christian course involves preaching 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. To run in a racecourse is to labor, but to receive the prize is to have enjoyment. When we preach the gospel, we are running the course. However, to receive a reward, a prize, at the coming of the Lord Jesus is to have a particular enjoyment.
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. Christ is the race because He is the way. The way we are walking is the race we are running. Therefore, Christ, who is the way, is also the race we have to run. Although Christ is our way, we should not take this way simply as a way; rather, we should take the way as a race to run. We should not take the time to consider, look around, stand still, or walk slowly. We need to run the race until we can declare, like Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:7, “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 continued to run (1 Cor. 9:24-26; Phil. 3:12-14) until he finished the course (Acts 20:24). Then at the end he triumphantly proclaimed, “I have finished the course.” He also proclaimed that he would receive from the Lord a reward—the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8).
The prize that the believers win for running the race is an incorruptible crown (1 Cor. 9:25), which is a reward as an incentive. This 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 at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) and enjoyed in the coming kingdom (Matt. 25:21, 23). This prize 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). Eternal salvation is by faith, having nothing to do with our work (Eph. 2:8-9), whereas the reward is for our work after we are saved (1 Cor. 3:8, 14). As believers in Christ, we have all received His salvation through faith. This has been settled once for all. But whether we will 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 charges us to run the race so that we may obtain an incorruptible crown.
We should not run the race without a clear aim; rather, we must have a clear goal. This is according to Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 9:26: “I therefore run in this way, not as though without a clear aim.” If we run with a clear aim and in reality, our running of the racecourse will not be in vain (Gal. 2:2).
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,” or “impediment.” If we would run the Christian race, we need to put off every unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden, so that we would have no encumbrance or impediment in running the race. In addition, we also need to put off “the sin which so easily entangles us.” Here the sin refers mainly to the thing that entangles us, hindering us from running the race. The encumbrances are outward, but the sin is inward, both of which frustrate us in running the race. In order to run the course of the Christian life, we need to put off the encumbrances and the entangling sin.
There is much opposition to the Christian race; therefore, in order to run this race, the believers must suffer opposition with endurance and never grow weary or faint in our souls (vv. 1, 3).
The believers run the course of the race by “looking away unto Jesus” (v. 2). The Greek word translated as “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 Jesus and look to Him with undivided attention. The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor (2:9), is the greatest attraction in the universe. He is like an immense magnet, drawing all His seekers to Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him so that we may run with endurance the race which is set before us. This is the way we run the race.
The Lord Jesus is “the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2). In Hebrews Paul points us particularly to the Christ who is seated in heaven with so many aspects to care for us in every way. 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 (1:5) and the Son of Man (2:6), that is, in the person of God (1:8) and of man (2:6), as the appointed Heir of all things (1:2), the anointed One of God (v. 9), the Author of our salvation (2:10), the Sanctifier (v. 11), the constant Succor (v. 16), the instant Helper (4:16), the Apostle from God (3:1), the High Priest (2:17; 4:14; 7:26), the Minister of the true tabernacle (8:2) with a more excellent ministry (v. 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 the great Shepherd of the sheep (13:20). If we look unto Him as such a wonderful and all-inclusive One, He will transfuse and infuse us with all that He is by ministering heaven, life, and strength to us, to enable us to run the heavenly race and to live the heavenly life on earth. In this way, He will carry us through our lifelong pathway and lead and bring us into glory (2:10).
Galatians 5:7 says, “You were running well. Who hindered you that you would not believe and obey the truth?” Truth in this verse does not refer to doctrine but to the reality in Christ, as preached to the Galatians by Paul. Therefore, we need to run the race by obeying the truth, which is the reality in Christ preached by the apostle.
The believers need to run the course of the race to the end. This is indicated by Paul’s word in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have finished the course.”
The believers further experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the matters of fighting the good fight and running the course of the race. To fight the good fight of the faith is to fight for the contents of the complete gospel according to God’s New Testament economy and to fight against the different teachings of the dissenters, so as to accomplish God’s economy according to the apostle’s ministry concerning the gospel of grace and eternal life for the glory of the blessed God. The focus of our preaching and teaching is Christ and the church. Hence, to teach and preach God’s economy concerning Christ and the church is to fight the good fight. In order to fight the good fight of the faith, we need to lay hold on God’s life and not trust in our human life. We have been called to the eternal life of God. Now by living this life, enjoying and laying hold on the eternal life, we will be able to fight the good fight of the faith. We also need to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. This is to contend for the contents of God’s will given to us in the New Testament.
The believers should experience the dispensing of the processed Triune God also by running the course of the race. As believers, we are runners in a race. The Christian life is a race. We must run, and run successfully, in order to obtain the prize, the incorruptible crown, which is a reward as an incentive. We must run the race with a clear aim so that our running may not be in vain. We also need to put off every outward encumbrance and the inward entangling sin, suffer opposition with endurance, and never grow weary or faint in our souls. We should also look away from everything other than Jesus, looking with undivided attention unto Him who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God in the heavens. He is the greatest attraction in the universe, like an immense magnet drawing us to Him. He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. Today He is sitting in the heavens with so many aspects to care for us in every way. He is ministering heaven, life, and strength to us, transfusing and infusing us with all that He is, to enable us to run the heavenly race and to live the heavenly life on earth. In this way He carries us through our lifelong pathway and leads us into glory. We need to run in this way until we finish the race.
