Fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:18b-19).
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul says of himself, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith
(2 Timothy 4:7). Paul is speaking the words of a man who is about to leave the battle of life. But here in 1 Timothy is Paul’s word to this young Christian, probably in his early or mid-twenties, who is being left to do a very dangerous and demanding work in Ephesus. The apostle tells him to fight the good fight.
The fundamental nature of Christianity is that it is a warfare in which we are all involved; and there is no exit until the end. The moment you began your Christian life, by faith in Jesus Christ, you entered a lifelong battle. And this struggle is not intended to be easy. Many Christians today forget that. Spread around somewhat by a lot of misleading teaching is a widespread attitude today that when you become a Christian, God begins working for you, so everything has to work out the way you want it to. People are being taught that they are in the will of God because bridges appear mysteriously across the chasms of life. Rubbish! If that is the sign of being in God’s will, then Paul was out of God’s will most of his life. He knew he was in a battle, and he tells Timothy that he too is going to be in a battle.