Keeping Faith
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I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (2) The Service of Ministry (4:7)
Paul found three metaphors to reflect the struggles of his ministry, not merely the difficulties of his life. His use of three Greek perfect tenses suggests that something was completed with consequences that still abide. The fight and the race were over, but the victory still abides. Paul had kept the faith, and it remains unshaken.
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (2) The Service of Ministry (4:7)
To “have finished the race” involves a foot race as a metaphor. Paul was not commending himself for having “run the full distance” (GNB) but was stating that he had followed the course laid out by his Lord. For a similar metaphor see Paul’s expression in Acts 20:24.
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (2) The Service of Ministry (4:7)
To keep the “faith”
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (2) The Service of Ministry (4:7)
keeping a loyalty to the trust the Father had given him.
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (2) The Service of Ministry (4:7)
Certainly Paul did hold to the Christian faith, but he emphasized here his fidelity to his commission.
Paul was not boasting of his accomplishments but was reflecting on his life course with a statement of confidence. He was describing what the grace of God had produced in him.
“Keep faith. The most amazing things in life tend to happen right at the moment you’re about to give up hope.”
“Faith is like WiFi. It’s invisible, but it has the power to connect you to what you need.”
Three things that Paul emphasizes,
Fighting a good fight
Finishing our course
Keeping the Faith
In order to finish our course, we will have to fight for our faith. This suggest that our faith is under attack.
The enemy is after our faith. In all your battles you are experiencing, the object of desire is your faith.
Faith is the one thing the enemy wants from you. But our faith should be the most valuable asset we have. This faith cost us something. You don’t know the trials this faith has brought me through. It’s time we let the devil know that enough is enough. I’m not giving you my faith. He may have taken everything else, but he will not get my faith.
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
In order to live a life pleasing to God, we must have faith. The enemy knows that if he can get our faith, we will not please God. So the devil don’t want you to have faith.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
He wants to keep you in unbelief. He doesn’t want you to believe. He will test you, put you in situations that seem impossible to get out of, but the devil has never built a wall that faith can’t climb over.
When Abraham and Sarah was well past child bearing years, faith gave them a baby.
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
Faith will move mountains, faith will knock down walls, faith will do the unimaginable, the impossible. That devil that’s telling you it’s too late, that you have missed your turn. That devil that’s telling you that you won’t make it. Faith doesn’t follow man’s rules and conditions. Faith will heal on the Sabbath day. Faith will roll the stone away from a graveside. Faith will stop the hemorrhaging of a bleeding woman. Faith will cause a man with a withered hand to stretch forth his hand. Faith will heal a blinded man eyes with spit and mud.
Keep faith in your life. Keep faith in your marriage. Keep faith in your home. Keep faith in your business.
By Faith.
When we got married at 17, we didn’t have anything but faith. We lived with my parents, trying to work and raise a child while everyone was wagering how long we would make it. But we keep on believing. We seen things come, we’ve seen things go, but we have kept the faith. I know what it’s like to have a car taken from you, a foreclosure on a house. I’ve lost my dad, a son, my mom, my grandmother. I’ve lost some very close people in my life but he ain’t getting my faith.
He fought me, still fighting me but I’m keeping my faith. I’m still believing. Let them talk, I’m not intimidated by gossip. I refuse to give my faith up because of what someone said about me.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
I have made up my mind that when I die, I’ll die with my faith.
Reach way down right now and I want you to determine in your mind that you will fight for your faith. For you spouse, for your significant other, for your children, for your health. Awaken that warrior in you and be determined not to lose your faith. Your faith is enough!