How do you fight the good fight?

[RDKirk]

Thank you so much for this really good thought to focus on.

Its a war for souls!

And when you remember in the moment that the goal is the soul, then you also have to ask yourself in that moment if your tactics are commensurate with that goal.

Let's say, for instance, that you've been locked into a debate for weeks with an atheist about creation versus evolution. Even if you win the debate, and the atheist acknowledges that Genesis is true--the best you've done is made him a Jew. You've still failed the real objective of getting him to accept Christ as his Lord and Savior.

But when you realize in the moment that the real objective is to speak the gospel--because it's only the gospel that saves--then you know that you're "fighting for the wrong hill."

The enemy has been successful in distracting you from your real goal.

 

[dqhall]

Is the good fight a literal fight with fists flying or words flying or how you vote or is it with being a prayer warrior?

Or are there many shades of grey in between?

Is it ever good to fight?

You may fight a lion or wolf.

Jesus was teaching a non-violent way of life.

Matthew 5:38-48 (WEB Public Domain)

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.41 Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

 

[Mathetes66]

I Tim 6:9-12 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from THE FAITH & pierced themselves with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee from these things & pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance & gentleness. Fight the good fight OF THE FAITH. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.

Jude 1:3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about OUR COMMON SALVATION, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to CONTEND FOR THE FAITH that was once for all ENTRUSTED to the saints.

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have SECRETLY SLIPPED IN AMONG YOU. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality & deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign & Lord.

But, dear friends, REMEMBER what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts & do not have the Spirit.

20But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up IN YOUR MOST HOLY FAITH & PRAYING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, KEEP YOURSELVES IN God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

24To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling & to present you before His glorious presence without fault & with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power & authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now & forevermore! AMEN.

Titus 1:4 To Titus, my true child IN OUR COMMON FAITH: Grace & peace from God the Father & Christ Jesus our Savior.

Philippians 1:27,28 Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come & see you or hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, CONTENDING SIDE BY SIDE FOR THE FAITH of the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, & it is from God.

I Cor 16:13 Be on the alert. STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH. Be people of courage. Be strong.

Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work & increasing in the knowledge of God.

Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love & long for, my JOY & CROWN, that is HOW you must STAND FIRM IN THE LORD, MY BELOVED.

Acts 6:7 So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly & a great number of priests became OBEDIENT TO THE FAITH.


I Peter 5:5-11 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

8Be alert & of sober mind. Your ENEMY the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. RESIST HIM, STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the SAME KIND OF SUFFERINGS.

10And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you & make you strong, firm & steadfast. 11To Him be the power for ever & ever. AMEN.

There is much to say, Amen, about & for, in terms of what it means to fight the good fight of THE FAITH, common among all true believers who love & follow Christ. Ours is a spiritual battle in the midst of living in a physical world that hates & ridicules us & an enemy of our souls that is the enemy of Christ, who causes much suffering to Christians throughout the world.

We need to be strong in the Lord, resisting evil & standing firm in our faith, standing side by side for the faith of the gospel. We need to encourage one another in this good fight, until God finally says, 'Come home.' Then we have 'FOUGHT' our good fight, we have 'KEPT' the faith, we have 'FINISHED' the race.

2 Tim 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, & the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have KEPT THE FAITH. From now on the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who lovingly long for His appearing.

Thank you, dear lady & sister in Christ, for asking the question & for encouraging others & being an example of one who is fighting the good fight of faith! Until He comes again: Maranatha! The Spirit & the Bride say, 'Come!'

 

[Magillacuddy]

Is the good fight a literal fight with fists flying or words flying or how you vote or is it with being a prayer warrior?

Or are there many shades of grey in between?

Is it ever good to fight?

I think maybe you should consider fighting the good fight as a very personal call to yourself.

Many abandon the faith.

Many fall at a strong breeze.

Fighting your good fight should find you echoing what Paul said, you have run the race, fought the good fight, at the end of your life.

After all, once you determine you are still in the faith, thankful and praising God, after all your trials, tribulations, rebukes and corrections, then you have indeed fought the good fight.

 

[gideon123]

Read the Book of Acts.

When Paul fought the good fight ... he was beaten senseless. He was left to die on the road by his enemies, and even his own friends thought that he was not going to make it. He probably had very bad concussion, and facial fractures. There is NO evidence that Paul responded to violence ... with violence. He did not raise his fists against his oponents! Instead, the Holy Spirit raised him, and he went back into town the same day, preaching the gospel more openly.

Although the Bible doesnt say it, I believe that Paul's face was probably badly scarred and disfigured by the beating he took. He had no medical treatment afterwards. But please read his words in his letters ... he never complains about this ill treatment. Instead, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13 ... one of the most beauiful descriptions of love and faith.

Something to think about ... deeply.

 

[joymercy]

I Tim 6:9-12 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from THE FAITH & pierced themselves with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee from these things & pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance & gentleness. Fight the good fight OF THE FAITH. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.

Jude 1:3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about OUR COMMON SALVATION, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to CONTEND FOR THE FAITH that was once for all ENTRUSTED to the saints.

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have SECRETLY SLIPPED IN AMONG YOU. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality & deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign & Lord.

But, dear friends, REMEMBER what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts & do not have the Spirit.

20But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up IN YOUR MOST HOLY FAITH & PRAYING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, KEEP YOURSELVES IN God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

24To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling & to present you before His glorious presence without fault & with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power & authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now & forevermore! AMEN.

Titus 1:4 To Titus, my true child IN OUR COMMON FAITH: Grace & peace from God the Father & Christ Jesus our Savior.

Philippians 1:27,28 Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come & see you or hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, CONTENDING SIDE BY SIDE FOR THE FAITH of the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, & it is from God.

I Cor 16:13 Be on the alert. STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH. Be people of courage. Be strong.

Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work & increasing in the knowledge of God.

Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love & long for, my JOY & CROWN, that is HOW you must STAND FIRM IN THE LORD, MY BELOVED.

Acts 6:7 So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly & a great number of priests became OBEDIENT TO THE FAITH.


I Peter 5:5-11 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

8Be alert & of sober mind. Your ENEMY the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. RESIST HIM, STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the SAME KIND OF SUFFERINGS.

10And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you & make you strong, firm & steadfast. 11To Him be the power for ever & ever. AMEN.

There is much to say, Amen, about & for, in terms of what it means to fight the good fight of THE FAITH, common among all true believers who love & follow Christ. Ours is a spiritual battle in the midst of living in a physical world that hates & ridicules us & an enemy of our souls that is the enemy of Christ, who causes much suffering to Christians throughout the world.

We need to be strong in the Lord, resisting evil & standing firm in our faith, standing side by side for the faith of the gospel. We need to encourage one another in this good fight, until God finally says, 'Come home.' Then we have 'FOUGHT' our good fight, we have 'KEPT' the faith, we have 'FINISHED' the race.

2 Tim 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, & the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have KEPT THE FAITH. From now on the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who lovingly long for His appearing.

Thank you, dear lady & sister in Christ, for asking the question & for encouraging others & being an example of one who is fighting the good fight of faith! Until He comes again: Maranatha! The Spirit & the Bride say, 'Come!'

Bless your heart for such a well thought out and thorough answer.

 

[joymercy]

Read the Book of Acts.

When Paul fought the good fight ... he was beaten senseless. He was left to die on the road by his enemies, and even his own friends thought that he was not going to make it. He probably had very bad concussion, and facial fractures. There is NO evidence that Paul responded to violence ... with violence. He did not raise his fists against his oponents! Instead, the Holy Spirit raised him, and he went back into town the same day, preaching the gospel more openly.

Although the Bible doesnt say it, I believe that Paul's face was probably badly scarred and disfigured by the beating he took. He had no medical treatment afterwards. But please read his words in his letters ... he never complains about this ill treatment. Instead, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13 ... one of the most beauiful descriptions of love and faith.

Something to think about ... deeply.

has anything actually changed in millennia?!

 

[joymercy]

And when you remember in the moment that the goal is the soul, then you also have to ask yourself in that moment if your tactics are commensurate with that goal.

Let's say, for instance, that you've been locked into a debate for weeks with an atheist about creation versus evolution. Even if you win the debate, and the atheist acknowledges that Genesis is true--the best you've done is made him a Jew. You've still failed the real objective of getting him to accept Christ as his Lord and Savior.

But when you realize in the moment that the real objective is to speak the gospel--because it's only the gospel that saves--then you know that you're "fighting for the wrong hill."

The enemy has been successful in distracting you from your real goal.

well, I really do work for a Jewish carpenter....