The encouragement of the Apostle Paul to his apprentice, Timothy, in 1Timonthy 6:12(NKJV), is so incredibly impactful to our lives. In this verse he says, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” Faced with unprecedented darkness and evil of our day, it is exceedingly important for us as Christians to be totally convinced of our responsibility and privilege to have a fully persuaded faith in God. Our purpose for being on this earth is to live abundantly through Jesus Christ by having faith in our Creator. This does not mean that we will not have challenges. We will. Plenty of them. But God has given us the faith of Jesus Christ, and with it, we are armed to win no matter the situation we face.
Our problems, struggles, issues, and hard times are challenges to our faith. They can weigh on our hearts and minds very heavily, and they can make us battle-weary and consume a lot of our energy daily. This is not the Will of God for us. We live on planet earth, and Jesus Christ has told us that there are troubles here, but God has equipped us through Christ to stay on the battlefield of faith and not run away in fear. Through the Apostle Paul, our Heavenly Father tells us in Romans 8:37-39(NKJV), “37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. This informs us that faith comes where the truth is heard, and faith makes itself at home where the truth is believed. We can’t be delivered, healed, and made whole by a lie. Jesus Christ declares in John 8:32 that only the truth can set us free. We need to know the truth, which is the Word that God speaks, and once we know it, we must digest or believe it, so that God’s Word becomes a part of us.
Spiritual warfare is very real, and we’re witnessing it in the lives of believers at an accelerated pace. People are dealing with temptations to do things that make them feel ashamed and guilty. Marriages are being attacked and torn apart, sons and daughters are indulging the occult and behaving erratically, and some people are dealing with undiagnosable health issues that are threatening their lives and bringing them to death’s door. Our Heavenly Father has not turned a blind eye to the oppression believers are struggling against. He’s given us the truth of His Word so that we will develop greater confidence in who we are in Christ. And not only this, His Word informs us what we have received because of Christ and how to position ourselves spiritually and strategically, so that our minds are saturated with the life of God and our hearts beam with His light.
In Ephesians 1:3(NLT), Paul said, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” God has shed His abundant and overwhelming grace on us through Christ! Because of this grace, we can have peace. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, and none of them have been left out. So, we are complete in our union with Christ, Colossians 2:10 tells us this. God wants us to grab hold of His truth with faith. We need to be committed to the reality of who and what God has made us in Jesus Christ so that we stand strong in the victory He’s won for us.
The Apostle Paul was a spiritual father and mentor to Timothy, and to Paul, Timothy was like a son. Paul started a church in Ephesus and had left Timothy there to oversee it. This was a huge undertaking, and Timothy was timid and shy and about carrying this mission forward with the boldness of Christ. In 2Timothy 1:7(NLT), Paul told him, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” God has given us His Holy Spirit as a gift, and the Spirit dwells in the inner sanctum of our spirits. With the Holy Spirit, we’ve received the fullness of Christ. Colossians 1:27(NLT) says, “And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.” Christ is in us! Therefore, we can’t lose, but we will win every battle through our faith!
The psalmist declared in Psalm 24:8-10(NLT), “8 Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty; the LORD, invincible in battle. 9 Open up, ancient gates! Open up, ancient doors, and let the King of glory enter. 10 Who is the King of glory? The LORD of Heaven’s Armies—he is the King of glory.” Jesus Christ is the King of Glory, the captain of heaven’s army, and when God tells us in Ephesians 6:11 to put on all of His armor so that we will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of satan, He’s telling us to put on the mind and heart of Christ!
God would not tell us to do something that we’re incapable of doing. Christ is living inside us! We are victorious not because of how we feel. We’re victorious because God says we are! He sent His only begotten Son to sacrifice his life as payment for our sins, but Christ didn’t remain in the grave. The Holy Spirit got him up! Jesus was resurrected with all power and authority in his hands, and because of this, we are more than conquerors in Christ. We’re not to cower in a corner afraid of what the enemy might do to us. We are to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power as He commands in Ephesians 6:10. So stay on the battlefield with courage and strength, because if you fight the good fight of faith and guard your heart by staying in God’s Word, in Christ, you have already won!■
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“The Battlefield of Faith”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2024. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.