March 30
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FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
18 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 20Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. – 1 Timothy 1:18-20
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According to Jeff Benner, an ancient Hebrew researcher, the word command, as wel as commandment, are used to translate the Hebrew word mits’vah but does not properly convey the meaning of mits’vah. The word command implies words of force or power as a general commands his troops. The word mits’vah is better understood as a directive. In this light, The word “command” used by Paul to Timothy would probably mean more like a directive to his protegee or son in the faith. Paul mentions that there were prophetic words spoken to Timothy even before he was given such ministry. This letter to Timothy is to safeguard that he fights the go good fight. The term fight here does not mean to engage in a physical battle, but more in a spiritual one.
Paul mentions the weapons he needs to use in this spiritual battle in verse 19. Keeping the faith and a good conscience. Paul must be referring also to his letter to the Ephesians with regards to this battle. In Ephesians 6:12, Paul says “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” In his 2nd letter to the Corinthians in 2:4, Paul mentions about weapons of spiritual warfare and says that “We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.”
So, what he is really charging Timothy here is to fight this spiritual battle with his faith intact and never wavering which opens doors to be shipwrecked in their trust in the Lord. Good conscience is also mentioned as one of the weapons. In other words, if one is to be a good soldier of Christ, he must live a pure life, not mixed with the world system.
Hymenaeus and Alexander were mentioned as examples of those whose faith were shipwrecked. The phrase “handed over to Satan” must mean they have been removed from the body of believers and left to follow the world’s ways, which is ruled by Satan himself. I don’t think Paul punished them but separated them from the believers.
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REFLECTION
• Why is every believer to continue to fight the good fight no matter what comes?