Lesson: 1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal
life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast
professed a good profession before many witnesses.
This section has six verses:
1 Timothy 6:11-16
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and
follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and
hast professed a good profession before many
witnesses.
13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who
quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who
before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
14 That thou keep this commandment without spot,
unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ:
15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and
Lord of lords;
16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light
which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath
seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power
everlasting. Amen.
We will begin with the Barclay commentary.
CHALLENGE TO TIMOTHY
1 Timothy 6:11–16
First the paraphrase of the verses:
But you, O man of God, flee from these things.
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of
faith; lay hold on eternal life, to which you are
called, now that you have witnessed a noble
profession of your faith in the presence of many
witnesses. I charge you in the sight of God, who
makes all things alive, and in the sight of Christ
Jesus, who, in the days of Pontius Pilate, witnessed
his noble confession, that you keep the commandment,
that you should be without spot and without blame,
until the day when our Lord Jesus Christ appears,
that appearance which in his own good times the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and
the Lord of lords, will show, he who alone possesses
immortality, he who dwells in the light that no man
can approach, he whom no man has seen or ever can
see, to whom be honour and everlasting power. Amen.
THE letter comes to an end with a tremendous
challenge to Timothy, a challenge all the greater
because of the deliberate sonorous [high-flown;
grandiloquent or lofty style] nobility of
the words in which it is clothed.
Right at the outset, Timothy is challenged to excel.
He is addressed as man of God. That is one of the
great Old Testament titles. It is a title given to
Moses. Deuteronomy 33:1 speaks of ‘Moses, the man of
God.’ The title of Psalm 90 is ‘A Prayer of Moses,
the man of God.’ It is a title of the prophets and
the messengers of God. God’s messenger to Eli is a
man of God (1 Samuel 2:27). Samuel is described as a
man of God (1 Samuel 9:6). Shemaiah, God’s messenger
to Rehoboam, is a man of God (1 Kings 12:22). John
Bunyan in The Pilgrim’s Progress calls Great-Grace
‘God’s Champion’.
Here is a tide of honour. When the challenge is
presented to Timothy, he is not reminded of his own
weakness and sin, which might well have reduced him
to pessimistic despair; rather, he is challenged by
the honour given to him, of being God’s man. It is
the Christian way, not to depress people by branding
them as lost and helpless sinners, but rather to
uplift them by summoning them to be what they have
it in them to be. The Christian way is not to fling
a humiliating past in someone’s face, but to set
before that person the splendour of the potential
future. The very fact that Timothy was addressed as
‘man of God’ would make him stand up straight and
throw his head back as one who has received his
commission from the King.
The virtues and noble qualities set before Timothy
are not just heaped haphazardly together. There is
an order in them. First, there comes righteousness,
dikaiosune¯. This is defined as ‘giving both to
other people and to God their due’. It is the most
comprehensive of the virtues; the righteous are
those who do their duty to God and to their
neighbours.
Second, there comes a group of three virtues which
look towards God. Godliness, eusebeia, is the
reverence of the person who never ceases to be aware
that all life is lived in the presence of God.
Faith, pistis, here means fidelity, and is the
virtue of the person who, through all the chances [opportunities]
and the changes of life, down even to the gates of
death, is loyal to God. Love, agape, is the virtue
possessed by those who, even if they tried, could
not forget what God has done for them nor the love
of God to all people.
Third, there comes the virtue which looks to the
conduct of life. It is hupomone¯. The Authorized
Version translates this as patience; but hupomone¯
never means the spirit which sits quietly and simply
puts up with things, letting the experiences of life
flow like a tide over it. It is victorious
endurance. ‘It is unswerving constancy to faith and
piety in spite of adversity and suffering.’ It is
the virtue which does not so much accept the
experiences of life as conquer them.
Fourth, there comes the virtue which considers
others. The Greek word is paupatheia. It is
translated as gentleness, but is really
untranslatable. It describes the spirit which never
blazes into anger for its own wrongs but can be
devastatingly angry about wrongs done to other
people. It describes the spirit which knows how to
forgive and yet knows how to wage the battle of
righteousness. It describes the spirit which walks
in humility and yet also in pride of its high
calling from God. It describes the virtue which
enables people to keep a true balance between
concern and respect for others and self-esteem.
MEMORIES WHICH INSPIRE
As Timothy is challenged to the task of the future,
he is inspired with the memories of the past.
(1) He is to remember his baptism and the vows he
took there. In the circumstances of the early
Church, baptism was inevitably adult baptism, for
men and women were coming straight from the old
religions to Christ. It was confession of faith and
witness to all that the baptized person had taken
Jesus Christ as Saviour, Master and Lord. The
earliest of all Christian confessions was the simple
creed: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ (Romans 10:9;
Philippians 2:11). But it has been suggested that
behind these words to Timothy lies a confession of
faith which said: ‘I believe in God the Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth, and in Christ Jesus who
suffered under Pontius Pilate and will return to
judge; I believe in the resurrection from the dead
and in the [eternal
life].’ It may well have been a creed
like that to which Timothy gave his allegiance. So,
first of all, he is reminded that he is a man who
has given his promise. Christians are first and
foremost men and women who have pledged themselves
to Jesus Christ.
(2) He is to remember that he has made the same
confession of his faith as Jesus did. When Jesus
stood before Pilate, Pilate said: ‘Are you the king
of the Jews?’ and Jesus answered: ‘You say so’ (Luke
23:3). Jesus had witnessed that he was a king, and
Timothy had always witnessed to the lordship of
Christ. When Christians confess their faith, they do
what their Master has already done; when they suffer
for their faith, they undergo what their Master has
already undergone. When we are engaged on some great
enterprise, we can say: ‘We are treading where the
saints have trod’, but when we confess our faith
before others, we are able to say even more; we can
say: ‘I stand with Christ’; and surely this must
lift up our hearts and inspire our lives.
(3) He is to remember that Christ comes again. He is
to remember that his life and work must be made fit
for him to see. Christians are not working to
satisfy other people; they are working to satisfy
Christ. The question a Christian must always ask is
not: ‘Is this good enough to pass the judgment of
others?’ but: ‘Is it good enough to win the approval
of Christ?’
(4) Above all, he is to remember God. And what a
memory that is! He is to remember the one who is
King of every king and Lord of every lord; the one
who possesses the gift of life eternal to give to
men and women; the one whose holiness and majesty
are such that no one can ever dare to look upon
them. Christians must always remember God and say:
‘If God is for us, who is against us?’ (Romans
8:31). ~Barclay
Commentary
1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal
life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast
professed a good profession before many witnesses.
This is clearly Paul speaking to Timothy but in
reality it is God the Father speaking to each
firstfruit ever called. This verse is not only a
command and very specific admonition but one full of
absolute encouragement and excitement. This is the
perfect verse for any firstfruit caught up weary in
well-doing [2 Thessalonians 3:13]. This verse
screams for a sermon, so expect one in the near
future. Just look at the issues here: Faith, the
Kingdom of God, eternal life and your efforts in the
Salvation Process.
Let us begin with the general commentaries. We read
this one last week from the Matthew Henry Concise
It ill becomes any men, but especially men of God,
to set their hearts upon the things of this world;
men of God should be taken up with the things of
God. There must be a conflict with corruption, and
temptations, and the powers of darkness. Eternal
life is the crown proposed for our encouragement. We
are called to lay hold thereon. To the rich must
especially be pointed out their dangers and duties,
as to the proper use of wealth. But who can give
such a charge, that is not himself above the love of
things that wealth can buy? The appearing of Christ
is certain, but it is not for us to know the time.
Mortal eyes cannot bear the brightness of the Divine
glory. None can approach him except as he is made
known unto sinners in and by Christ.
~Matthew Henry Concise
Now to the larger Matthew Henry commentary, breaking
into the text that there covers verses 6-12.
Hence he takes occasion to caution Timothy, and to
counsel him to keep in the way of God and his duty,
and particularly to fulfil the trust reposed in him
as a minister. He addresses himself to him as a man
of God. Ministers are men of God, and ought to
conduct themselves accordingly in every thing; they
are men employed for God, devoted to his honour more
immediately. The prophets under the Old Testament
were called men of God.
1. He charges Timothy to take heed of the love of
money, which had been so pernicious to many: Flee
these things. It ill becomes any men, but especially
men of God, to set their hearts upon the things of
this world; men of God should be taken up with the
things of God.
2. To arm him against the love of the world, he
directs him to follow that which is good. Follow
after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness: righteousness in his
conversation towards men, godliness towards God,
faith and love as living principles, to support him
and carry him on in the practice both of
righteousness and godliness. Those that follow after
righteousness and godliness, from a principle of
faith and love, have need to put on patience and
meekness - patience to bear both the rebukes of
Providence and the reproaches of men, and meekness
wherewith to instruct gainsayers and pass by the
affronts and injuries that are done us. Observe, It
is not enough that men of God flee these things, but
they must follow after what is directly contrary
thereto. Further, What excellent persons men of God
are who follow after righteousness! They are the
excellent of the earth, and, being acceptable to
God, they should be approved of men.
3. He exhorts him to do the part of a soldier: Fight
the good fight of faith. Note, Those who will get to
[the Kingdom]
must fight their way thither. There must be a
conflict with corruption and temptations, and the
opposition of the powers of darkness. Observe, It is
a good fight, it is a good cause, and it will have a
good issue. It is the fight of faith; we do not war
after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, 2 Corinthians 10:3-4. He exhorts him to
lay hold on eternal life.
Quoted verse:
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong
holds;)
Observe,
(1.) Eternal life is the crown proposed to us, for
our encouragement to war, and to fight the good
fight of faith, the good warfare.
(2.) This we must lay hold on, as those that are
afraid of coming short of it and losing it. Lay
hold, and take heed of losing your hold. Hold fast
that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown,
Revelation 3:11.
(3.) We are called to the fight, and to lay hold on
eternal life.
(4.) The profession Timothy and all faithful
ministers make before many witnesses is a good
profession; for they profess and engage to fight the
good fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal
life; their calling and their own profession oblige
them to this. ~Matthew
Henry
Quoted verse:
Revelation 3:11
...the motto of the ICG
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou
hast, that no man take thy crown.
Now to the specific commentaries:
This verse is handled in four parts:
1] Fight the good fight
of faith.
2] Lay hold on eternal life.
3] Whereunto thou art also called.
4] And hast professed a good profession before many
witnesses.
1] Fight the good fight of faith
Fight the good fight of
faith - The noble conflict in the cause of
religion; see Ephesians 6:10-17; compare 1
Corinthians 9:26-27. The allusion is to the contests
at the Grecian games.
Quoted verses:
Ephesians 6:10-17
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and
in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
1 Corinthians 9:26-27
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight
I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection: lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
It is very important at this point that we look at
the commentary on verse 26.
Not as uncertainly
- (οὐκ ἀδήλως ouk adēlōs). This word
occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It
usually means, in the Classic writers,
“obscurely.” Here it means that he did not
run as not knowing to what object he aimed.
“I do not run haphazardly; I do not exert
myself for nothing; I know at what I aim,
and I keep my eye fixed on the object; I
have the goal and the crown in view.”
Probably also the apostle intended to convey
this idea, “I so live and act that I am
“sure” of obtaining the crown. I make it a
great and grand point of my life so to live
that there may be no room for doubt or
hesitancy about this rustler. I believe it
may be obtained; and that by a proper course
there may be a constant certainty of
securing it; and I so live.” O how happy and
blessed would it be if all Christians thus
lived! How much
doubt, and hesitancy, and despondency would
it remove from many a Christian’s mind!
And yet it is morally certain that if every
Christian were to be only as anxious and
careful as were the ancient Grecian
wrestlers and racers in the games, they
would have the undoubted assurance of
gaining the prize. Doddridge and Macknight,
however, render this “as not out of view;”
or as not distinguished; meaning that the
apostle was not “unseen,” but that he
regarded himself as constantly in the view
of the judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. I
prefer the other interpretation, however, as
best according with the connection and with
the proper meaning of the word. [emphasis
mine]
So fight I -
οὗτω πυκτεύω houtō pukteuō. This word
is applied to the “boxers,” or the
pugilists, in the Grecian games. The
exercise of boxing, or “fighting” with the
fist, was a part of the entertainment with
which the “enlightened” nations of Greece
delighted to amuse themselves.
Not as one that
beateth the air - The “phrase” here
is taken from the habits of the pugilists or
boxers, who were accustomed, before entering
the lists, to exercise their limbs with the
gauntlet, in order to acquire greater skill
and dexterity. There was also, before the
real contest commenced, a play with their
fists and weapons, by way of show or
bravado, which was called σκιᾷμαχία
skiamachia, a mock-battle, or a fighting the
air. The phrase also is applicable to a
“missing the aim,” when a blow was struck in
a real struggle, and when the adversary
would elude the blow, so that it would be
spent in the empty air. This last the idea
which Paul means to present. He did not miss
his aim; he did not exert himself and spend
his strength for nothing. Every blow that he
struck told; and he did not waste his
energies on that which would produce no
result. He did not strive with rash,
ill-advised, or uncertain blows; but all his
efforts were directed, with good account, to
the grand purpose or subjugating his enemy -
sin - and the corrupt desires of the flesh -
and bringing everything into captivity to
God. Much may be learned from this.
Many an effort of Christians is merely
beating the air. The energy is expended for
nothing. There is a lack of wisdom, or
skill, or perseverance; there is a failure
of plan; or there is a mistake in regard to
what is to be done, and what should be done.
There is often among Christians very little
“aim” or object; there is no “plan;” and the
efforts are wasted, scattered, inefficient
efforts; so that, at the close of life, many
a man may say that he has spent his ministry
or his Christian course mainly, or entirely,
“in beating the air.” Besides, many set up a
man of straw and fight that. They fancy
error and heresy in others and oppose that.
They become a “heresy-hunters;” or they
oppose some irregularity in religion that,
if left alone, would die of itself; or they
fix all their attention upon some minor
evil, and they devote their lives to the
destruction of that alone. When death comes,
they may have never struck a blow at one of
the real and dangerous enemies of the
gospel; and the simple record on the
tombstone of many ministers and many private
Christians might he, “Here lies one who
spent his life in beating the air.”
~Barnes Notes
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Note: At
this point in the Bible study I played a video of a
modern-day athlete who, in 2008 was running a
600-meter race and fell down with just one lap to
go. She rises to not only continue the race
but actually win it. Heather, the runner shown
in the video is the perfect metaphor to the
firstfruits race in the quest for Salvation.
It also matches up with the Grecian game athletes
that Paul is using in his discussion to Timothy.
See the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsOBaV_93yQ
Fight the good fight of faith
- “Agonize the good agony.”
Thou hast a contest to sustain in which thy honor,
thy life, thy soul, are at stake. Live the
Gospel, and defend the cause of God. Unmask
hypocrites, expel the profligate, purge and build up
the Church, live in the spirit of thy religion, and
give thyself wholly to this work.
~Adam Clarke [emphasis
mine]
2] Lay hold on eternal life
Lay hold on eternal life
- As the crown of victory that is held out to you.
Seize this as eagerly as the competitors at the
Grecian games laid hold on the prize; see 1
Corinthians 9:25.
~Barnes Notes
Quoted verse:
1 Corinthians 9:25
And every man that striveth for the mastery is
temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
Lay hold on eternal life
- All this is in allusion to the exercises in the
public Grecian games: Fight, conquer, and seize upon
the prize; carry off the crown of eternal life!
~Adam Clarke
Lay hold on eternal life
- as Timothy for his encouragement is here
bid to do. Eternal life is the prize of the high
calling of God, which is held up, and held forth to
those who are fighting the Lord's battles; and this
they should look unto as the recompense of reward;
and this they may lay hold upon, even now by faith,
believing their interest in it, their right unto it,
and that they shall enjoy it; of which they may be
the more assured, because of their effectual
calling: ~John Gill
3] Whereunto thou art also called
Whereunto thou art also
called - That is, by the Spirit of God, and
by the very nature of your profession. God does not
“call” his people that they may become rich; he does
not convert them in order that they may devote
themselves to the business of gain. They are
“called” to a higher and nobler work. Yet how many
professing Christians there are who seem to live as
if God had “called” them to the special business of
making money, and who devote themselves to it with a
zeal and assiduity that would do honor to such a
calling, if this had been the grand object which God
had in view in converting them!
~Barnes Notes
Whereunto thou art also
called - not barely by the external
ministration of the Gospel, in which sense many are
called, but few chosen and saved [ultimately];
but internally, by the special grace and power of
the Spirit of God; and such who are so called, are
not only called to grace, but to eternal glory; and
the God of all grace, who has called unto it, of his
sovereign good will and pleasure, is faithful, and
will bestow it. The word "also" is left out in the
Alexandrian copy, and in the Vulgate Latin, and in
all the Oriental versions; but it seems to be
emphatic, and is used to strengthen Timothy's faith,
as to the enjoyment of eternal life; since it was
not only the reward of grace, following upon the
good fight of faith, but was that also to which he
was called by the grace of God:
~John Gill
4] And hast professed a good profession before many
witnesses.
Hast professed a good
profession. - When called to eternal life.
"This refers probably to his baptism, when, as we
know from very early times, a public profession of
faith was made."--Speaker's Commentary.
~People's New Testament
And hast professed a good
profession before many witnesses - both
before the brethren at Lystra, at his baptism and
admission into the church [Body
of Christ], before whom he gave an
account of his faith, and made a profession of it;
and who, upon this, and his agreeable life and
conversation, gave a good report of him to the
Apostle Paul, and before the apostle, and the rest
of the elders, when they laid their hands on him,
whereby an extraordinary gift was conveyed unto him,
1 Timothy 4:14 [see
Lesson] or it may be before the men of
the world, some violent persecutors, before whom he
bravely, and with great intrepidity [resolutely
fearless; dauntless], professed his faith
in Christ Jesus; and which he continued constantly
to do, in every place wherever he came; and which
being done so often, and so publicly, is a reason
why he should keep on till the battle was over.
~John Gill
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