Only then would we be able to declare like Paul that we have finished the race. Otherwise we would just be fighting like unsuccessful boxers hitting the air. In this issue, let us clearly find out what this Fight of the Faith is and what it is not, based on direct and solid Biblical evidences.This study is quite simple. At the same time, it’s very important. We sincerely pray to Yahweh God that this issue be beneficial for everyone. We hope it will help get rid of all confusion so that we may run the race of our faith with utmost clarity.
HOW DOES PAUL DEFINE THIS FIGHT?
CHAPTER I. SIN RESISTANCE – IS THAT THE FIGHT OF THE FAITH?
CHAPTER II. WORKS OF FAITH
CHAPTER III. PARTICIPATION IN THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST
CHAPTER IV. THINGS NON-BENEFICIAL TO THE FIGHT
CHAPTER V. TO THE POINT OF SHEDDING BLOOD
IN SUMMARY
HOW DOES PAUL DEFINE THIS FIGHT?
(2) In Christian life, the sinful desires of our flesh make us struggle many a time. Therefore, many come to a wrong conclusion that it’s those struggles that make up the Good Fight of the Faith. Truly, a majority is of the opinion that the Fight of the Faith is nothing but the struggle against sinful acts. In many of the present-day nominal Christian churches, it’s these kinds of struggles that are given higher prominence. Why, even in some true Christian churches we hear discourses that postulate fighting sin to be the Fight of the Faith. But, that is an extremely wrong understanding. Of course, the struggle against sinful acts is indeed important. But that is not the Fight of the Faith. So, what then is the Fight of the Faith? One can easily get the answer when one reads what Paul says about it in its proper context – “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim 4:5-8). Does this even need any further explanation? Isn’t it so direct and crystal clear! Paul says that he was already being poured out like a drink offering for the sake of his gospel ministry. He declares that to be the good fight that made him keep his faith and thereby won him the crown of righteousness. He advises Timothy to follow suit and discharge the duties of his gospel ministry. Thus, it becomes abundantly clear that Paul’s Fight of the Faith was essentially doing the works of the gospel. And yes, our Fight of the Faith – our spiritual race – is indeed the same. Many don’t realize this. Rather they get their struggle against sin mixed up with their Fight of the Faith. During discussions on this topic, some tend to ask what’s wrong in considering the struggle against sin as part of the Fight of the Faith along with works for the gospel. Some of our readers too might have the same question. Even as the intentions of such people might be noble, it would not be right to do so. Why not? If we consider struggle against sin as part of the Fight of the Faith, it would not only plunge our spiritual race into confusion, but also muddy up what Jesus really achieved for us on the cross by his ultimate sacrifice. Many do not really understand how we are justified. That’s one of the reasons behind this mix-up. Another cause for confusion is a lack of clarity regarding what sanctification means. We shall deal with sanctification in a later section. First let’s find out how God justifies us.
CHAPTER I. SIN RESISTANCE – IS THAT THE FIGHT OF THE FAITH?
(3) Man was indeed in a justified state when God created him. But, as we see in the diagram, mankind fell from that justified plane when Adam sinned. After that, mankind has remained in a fallen state that leads to death.
Such a mankind can receive eternal life only when it returns back to the justified state. But how to make that happen? In the olden times, the Law Covenant was given unto that purpose. Many do not really know about the nature of the works prescribed by the Law Covenant. They assume them to be some kind of Jewish cultural rituals. So, they are not able to understand why the Law was given. First we need to get clarity on what the Law Covenant really is. Paul explains – ‘I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.’ (Rom 7:7). Indeed, Paul says that it was the Law which made known what sin is. For instance, he says ‘I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”’ (Rom 7:7). That being the case, there are around 613 commandments in the Law. Breaking any one of them is essentially sin in the sight of God. So, what are the works of the Law? – Adhering to its 613 commandments that keep us from sinning. Thus, it’s self-evident that sin-remediation works are essentially the works of the Law
Covenant. Truly, during the times of the Law Covenant, the Israelites were given a chance to achieve justification from their fallen state by undertaking works of sin-remediation. But, Man was in a sinful fleshly body. So, he was not able to achieve self-justification by his own sin-remediation works. Not even one of them could keep the whole Law with all its 613 commandments. That is, they were not able to keep themselves from sinning. Indeed, as human flesh itself has sin deeply ingrained, even as our intentions might be to do good, our flesh continues to fail us at times (Rom 7:19-24). That’s why, not even one was able to be justified by the Law. And no one ever can, says Paul – ‘no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law’ (Rom 3:20). From the times of the Law, it became clear that no one could achieve justification by their own works of struggling against sin. As a matter of fact, Paul says that the Law was given to drive home exactly that point – ‘Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.’ (Gal 3:23-25). Yes, Paul declares that the Law was given as a guardian that would help us realize that we could be justified only by faith. Let’s assume that the Law had not been given and Jesus had come and sacrificed himself. In that case, wouldn’t some people have asked why Jesus’ sacrifice was even necessary? Couldn’t they have claimed that they themselves could have been able to attain self-justification by fighting against sin on their own? But, the times of the Law Covenant unambiguously showed everyone that attaining self-justification by our own struggles against sin is simply not possible. That’s why Paul emphasizes in various places again and again that we cannot justify ourselves by our own works of fighting against sin. Because, if we were to justify ourselves by that means, we would have to keep all the 613 commandments of the Law. After all, didn’t Paul tell us that it’s the Law that shows us what sin is? Therefore, if someone breaks even one of the 613 commandments, he would be deemed a sinner, guilty of breaking the whole Law – ‘For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.’ (James 2:10). That’s why Paul says that mankind was in a wretched state before the times of Christ – ‘For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing…What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?’ (Rom 7:19-24). It was in such a situation that the death of Jesus on the cross and his subsequent resurrection happened in 33 A.D. And everything changed after that. How?
(4) What did the redeeming sacrifice of Christ accomplish? Paul explains this beautifully – ‘through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.’ (Rom 8:2-4). Yes, the righteousness that we could not attain by doing works of sin-remediation, God fulfilled it for us by fully meeting the righteous requirement of the Law in us through the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. This does not mean sin has left us. No, our sins are essentially covered by Christ’s righteousness and therefore God would not count them against us. Paul describes this state in his epistle to the Romans – ‘Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.’ (Rom 7:25). Indeed! Our body is still sinful. But, Paul explains that ‘there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom 8:1). When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we have the blessing of God’s grace and therefore, we have complete forgiveness – ‘Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.’ (Rom 5:1-2). Have you noticed one thing? Isn’t seeking divine forgiveness a permanent part of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught the disciples when they asked him how to pray? (Luke 11:1-4). Did Jesus teach there that divine forgiveness should be sought only by sinners or only when we sin? Did he teach that others don’t need to use the sin-forgiveness portion of the Lord’s Prayer? No! Why not? We, who daily violate the Law Covenant that showed us what sin is, are indeed sinners in the sight of God every single day.
(5) That’s why even John tells us that if we claim to be without sin, the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). Therefore, if we struggle against sin, thinking that we can attain justification by doing works of sin-remediation, it would simply mean we failed to learn the main lesson taught by the times of the Law Covenant – the lesson that it’s impossible to attain self-justification by those kinds of works. Rather, the Bible firmly declares that we are justified only by faith now – ‘But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ (Rom 3:21-24). Let us not fail to notice that Paul says we are justified freely! Yes, not by any of our sin-remediation works, but we are rather justified freely by our faith. Even the Old Testament Faithful were justified only by faith, not by any sin-redressal works – ‘What shall we say then thatAbraham our fatherhath found pertaining to the flesh? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath reason to glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Now to him that worketh, his reward is reckoned not according to grace, but according to debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth in Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness’ (Rom 4:1-5 – 21st Century KJV). What did Abraham find pertaining to the flesh? Nothing at all! 
He did not attain justification by his fleshly sin-remediation works. Paul explains that his justification was rather given as a reward for his faith in God. Truly, the justification that we have been blessed with is not something that’s achieved by our own acts against sin, but it’s rather a gift of God’s grace given freely to the faithful. It’s wrong to forget this and go about thinking that our Fight of the Faith is to just do sin-remediation works. Because, as we saw earlier, it was the Law that showed us what sin is. So, those who want to achieve perfection by performing sin-remediation works would have to keep the whole Law i.e. its 613 commandments to realize their goal for as we saw earlier, failing on even a single commandment is considered failing the whole Law. But, the Bible tells us that keeping the entire Law is impossible. So, such a struggle is certainly doomed to be a tiring and failing campaign. For sure, that’s not the Fight of the Faith we are called to fight.
(6) We who believe in Jesus have already been justified by faith. Even as we break the Law every single day, since our faith obtains forgiveness for us, our shortcomings are covered by Christ’s righteousness. That being the case, why then does the New Testament instructs us not to violate only certain commandments (regarding things like murder/slander/sexual immorality etc.) of the Law? To answer this question, we need to first find out what our Fight of the Faith is. We saw that it’s certainly not the fight against sin. So, what really is our Fight of the Faith? As a matter of fact, the answer to that question lies in its name – ‘Fight of the Faith’ itself. We studied that it is faith that elevates us to the justified plane from our fallen state. Our Fight of the Faith is the fight to do works that confirm that faith. But, what are these works that confirm our faith? The clear-cut answer to this question is present all over the New Testament. But James explains it in simple terms – ‘In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?’ (James 2:17-20). The deeds described by James here are not sin-resistance works, but rather works of faith. James questions the value of a man’s faith when that man just says that he has faith in God, but does not do any actions to confirm that faith. He deems such faith as useless and declares that such a faith by itself would not save that man. Some consider this to be in direct conflict with what Paul says in his epistle to the Romans, where as we saw earlier, he asserts that we are saved only by faith and not by works (Rom 4:1-5).As a matter of fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this has confused and perplexed many biblical scholars throughout the Church’s 2000-year history. So, what’s the cause for this confusion? It’s a mistaken assumption that Paul and James are talking about the same kind of works. Truly, if we assume that they are actually talking about the same kind of works, we have to conclude that there is definitely a conflict. But, when we study carefully, it becomes unambiguously and strikingly clear that the works mentioned by Paul are different from those described by James. As we studied earlier, Paul says that we cannot attain self-justification by our own sin-remediation works, but it’s rather by faith we are considered justified (Rom 4:4-6,16). So, Paul is essentially talking about those works that we undertake to fight against sin.
(7) That being the case, the works James describes here are totally different. So what exactly are they? James himself answers that question by providing many illustrations in the subsequent verses. When we study those examples, it would become very clear what kind of works he is talking about – ‘Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.’ (James 2:21-24). Abraham obeyed God and offered his son Isaac on the altar. And James says that Abraham was considered righteous when his faith was confirmed by that act. Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice Isaac was not an act of struggling against sin in any manner. It was rather an act of faith. God had promised Abraham that He would make him into a great and blessed nation (Gen 12:2,3). But how does one find out whether Abraham truly believed in God or if his faith was just namesake? Isaac was the sole heir of Abraham. Furthermore, he was born when Abraham was of old age. And God demanded such an only son as a sacrifice. How would have Abraham felt then! Had he doubted in his mind how God would make him a great and blessed nation when He was demanding his only heir as a sacrifice, he would not have been able to do what he did i.e. offer Isaac on the altar. But, Abraham had faith that God would fulfill what He had promised even if he lost his lone heir, and so he got ready to sacrifice that only
son. And that was the action that made his faith complete. So, as Paul says, it was his faith that justified Abraham. But to prove that his faith was true, an work of faith was required. As a matter of fact, like James, Paul too directly explains Abraham’s work of faith in his epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 11:17-19). Therefore, what’s required is not just faith, but also actions that prove that faith. This is what James essentially says. Indeed, we have faith in God. But that faith would have meaning only when we prove it by undertaking gospel/church works that support His plan. The very example of Abraham put forth by James serves as a typical lesson for this. Abraham believed that God would make him into a great and blessed nation. In the same way, we believe that God would bless us with eternal life. To confirm Abraham’s faith, God demanded Isaac, the sole heir in Abraham’s hands, as a sacrifice. Likewise, to prove our faith, God asks us to offer the only life in our hands now – our present life – as a living sacrifice, having firm faith in a future, unseen eternal life (Rom 12:1, 2). A living sacrifice implies a life exclusively devoted to God and divine works. Therefore, with faith in the promise of eternal life and heavenly blessings, we should cast side even our lawful worldly desires and relations, do gospel/church activities that are essentially God’s work and dedicate this life as a sacrifice to God (Mark 8:35). That is indeed our Fight of the Faith.
(8) This becomes furthermore clear with the next Old Testament example that James illustrates – ‘In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?’ (James 2:25). Pay attention! From this example, it becomes crystal clear that James is not contradicting Paul’s doctrine, but he’s rather writing in support of it and complementing it. How so? Rahab was in the sin of prostitution. James does not say here that she was justified because of her acts against that sin. If he had said so, then it would have been totally against Paul’s statements. But that’s not the case. Even as Rahab was a gentile woman, she lived with faith in God. But, if that faith had been just namesake, it would have been useless. Rather, when she knew that the divine plan was to hand over her country to the Israelites, she did not fear acquiring death penalty for national treason because she had faith in God, and helped the Israelites (See Josh 2:9). Indeed, by that action, she proved her faith in God. And that’s what justified her, James says. Doesn’t Paul too declare that it’s not our own sin-remediation works, but rather our faith that justifies us? Accordingly, it’s evident that Rahab was justified only because she confirmed her faith and not by works of sin-redressal. Paul too directly explains Rahab’s this act of faith in his letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:31). Thus, it comes out with utmost clarity that both Paul and James are essentially advocating the same doctrine. Even the example of Rahab teaches us a typical lesson. Living within Jericho, Rahab did works suitable for God, against Jericho, and proved her faith in God. We too, living in Satan’s world, need to do works of the gospel that God desires, in opposition to Satan’s world, and confirm our faith in God. Instead, if we fail to do any works of faith, our faith would be dead just as a body without spirit is dead, James warns. Therefore, we should plunge ourselves with all our strength into works of faith like spreading the gospel and church activities. It is those works that justify us. And it’s the struggles that we face when we undertake those works that essentially make up our Fight of the Faith.
(9) We clearly discovered what works of faith are. From that discovery, aren’t we also able to understand what our Fight of the Faith is? And also doesn’t Paul’s advice to Timothy now make sense? –“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Tim 4:5-8). Truly, doing the work of an evangelist which is a work of faith and suffering for it is essentially the Fight of the Fight that we need to fight. As Paul says here, only such works keep/confirm our faith and deliver us victory in our spiritual race. Gospel work would indeed be a fight for us. Because, James says even demons know Yahweh to be the God (James 2:19). In that case, what’s the difference between demons and us? Demons do works against the plan of God. We, on the other hand, have been called to do gospel work/church development activities that advance God’s plan (Acts 10:42, 1 Cor 1:17). Yes, demons commit acts that obstruct the spread of the gospel. But we should immerse ourselves in activities that promote the gospel. Demons work to divide churches, to mislead the saints and to make them weary. We, on the other hand, should work to unite churches, to help them grow in the Truth and to motivate them. Thus, there would always be a constant struggle between us and the forces of this wicked world, concerning the works of faith. We should run without tiring in that fight. We know how many trials came upon Paul’s gospel work. He victoriously fought against all of them, being poured out like a drink offering for the sake of the gospel. That’s why he declared he had fought the good fight. He didn’t mention his struggle against sin as the Fight of the Faith anywhere.
CHAPTER III. PARTICIPATION IN THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST
(10) To confirm this more directly, let us pay attention to this statement of Paul – ‘This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 1Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us’ (2 Tim 2:8-12). Doesn’t this make it absolutely clear that it’s only the sufferings we face while working for the sake of the gospel that would win us the glory of reigning with Christ? Let us think! It’s written that if we endure sufferings with Jesus, we would also reign with him. So, what were the sufferings Jesus faced? Since he was in a perfect body, there was essentially no need for him to struggle against sinful fallen flesh. Yes, his sufferings were indeed for the sake of the gospel. And he was also killed for the gospel. When we partake of those sufferings of Jesus and suffer for the sake of the gospel, proving our faith unto death, we would receive the glory of reigning with him in the end. All the writers of the New Testament essentially postulate this very doctrine – ‘Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.’ (1 Pet 4:12-16). Here, Peter too unambiguously asserts that we are blessed only when we participate in the sufferings of Christ and get insulted because of the name of Christ i.e. because of the gospel that testifies to the name of Christ, and not because of some struggle against sin. If we carefully look at the lives of the Apostles and the members of the Early Church, it becomes very obvious that the struggle for the sake of the gospel was indeed the Fight of the Faith they fought. Jesus commanded us to take up our crosses and follow him. Likewise, just as Jesus dedicated his life unto death to fulfill the Father’s plan, be it Apostle Paul or Peter or John, all of them followed Jesus and fought for the sake of the gospel and ultimately were also killed for it. Thus, based on so many evidences, we see that the fight for the gospel is indeed our Fight of the Faith that would win us the crown of eternal life. So, why then does the New Testament instruct us not to violate only certain commandments (regarding things like murder/stealth/sexual immorality etc.) of the Law?
CHAPTER IV. THINGS NON-BENEFICIAL TO THE FIGHT
(11) Paul answers that question in his epistle to the Corinthians – ‘“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.’ (1 Cor 6:12). Paul is writing this to rebuke the Corinthians for letting sexual immorality and other sins happen in their church (1 Cor 6:13). Since we stand justified by Christ, it’s indeed true that God does not count the sins that we commit in our flesh if we repent and seek forgiveness. Abusing this privilege, the Corinthians were brazenly committing sins like sexual immorality (1 Cor 5:1-2). It’s this behaviour that Paul reprimands saying certain things are not beneficial. The NASB renders it as ‘not profitable’. Yes, the reason we need to keep certain commandments of the Law (concerning slander, murder, stealing etc.) is because, breaking them would not be profitable to our Fight of the Faith. So, keeping some commandments like these is beneficial to us. And that’s why the Apostles urge us in the New Testament to refrain from such things that are not beneficial. What we need to understand is this – The objective of refraining from such inexpedient things is not to attain self-justification. Because self-justification would require us to keep the whole Law and simply cannot be attained by just abstaining from the few non-beneficial inexpedient things pointed out in the New Testament. We should never forget that we are reckoned justified only by our faith in Christ Jesus. The reason we resist these non-beneficial things is because they tend to be destructive towards the race of gospel we have to run. Any action that prevents or distracts us from the good fight is indeed to be avoided, be it sexual immorality or slander or any of the other unprofitable things that are indicated in certain portions of the New Testament. Those are the things that we should abstain from. And not just these things, we should actually renounce anything that would obstruct our race. But is this abstinence from such non-beneficial things essentially our race? No! This abstinence is not going to win us any heavenly glories. Today many deceive themselves by believing it would. As we saw earlier, our race is to embark upon gospel/church activities that are the works of faith. And for us – the Church, the things that hamper our gospel race become our sins and the reason we avoid them is essentially to focus on running a good gospel race. Suppressing desires is not our race/fight. We need to run the gospel race, like Paul did, suppressing all the desires that hinder us from running. And these desires might not just be forbidden cravings, but also be lawful worldly wishes. If a lawful worldly desire becomes an obstacle to our gospel race, we should resist even that desire as well. Paul explains this in his missive to the Hebrews – ‘let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.’ (Heb 12:1-4). Here Paul asks us to throw off not only the sinful activities that entangle us from running the gospel race but also everything (including lawful worldly desires/relations) that hinders our race and to run the race of our faith. Let us think for a moment! If resisting sin was indeed our race, once we throw that sin away, then what is there to run after that! But Paul says let us run ‘the race marked out for us’ after throwing off the sin that entangles us. Doesn’t this bring out the fact that the gospel race is indeed our race! Yes, it’s of course important to throw off not only the entangling sins that are the ‘non-beneficial things’ that we saw earlier, but also the lawful worldly desires/relations that hinder our race. But that is not our race. We should not forget why we are throwing them off. Truly, we are throwing them off so that we can run our gospel race.
CHAPTER V. TO THE POINT OF SHEDDING BLOOD
(12) That’s why Paul points out the example of how Jesus endured the cross for the sake of the divine will. We can become partners in Jesus’ sufferings on the cross only when we run the gospel race. Doesn’t Paul say that as well? – ‘Consider him whoendured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.’ Many wrongly understand this as a call to resist sin to the point of shedding blood. But what’s Paul saying here? As Jesus came to implement the will of God, he suffered unto shedding his blood on the cross because of the opposition from sinners of this sinful world (‘such opposition from sinners’) working against him. Having pointed that out, Paul extends that to us by saying that just as sin i.e. the sinful world rose against Jesus, it would rise against our gospel works too. And at that time, he says, we should not hesitate to resist it to the point of shedding our blood. Yes, Paul asks us to consider Jesus who stood against this sinful world to the point of shedding blood and asks us to do likewise. So, it’s pretty apparent that Paul refers only to the sinful world as ‘sin’ here. Because, the sinless Jesus in his perfect body never had to fight any sin living in him. Truly, as our Fight of the Faith is the gospel fight, we should not hesitate to even shed blood for its sake. That’s why the Apostles died as martyrs for the sake of the gospel. Truly, the sinful world is sure to fight against our gospel works. But we should not grow weary and lose heart, but rather continue to struggle against it for the sake of the gospel. And that is our Fight of the Faith. Paul tells the Corinthians – ‘To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.’ (1 Cor 9:22-27). Here, Paul declares his gospel work as the race and adds that he suppresses his body and keeps it under control because everyone who competes in a race should have self-control. Here too, many read the last verse alone, wrongly comprehend it and start talking that our calling and struggle is essentially to achieve self-control. But, when we study what Paul says in its entirety, aren’t we able to easily and decisively understand that Paul is actually asking us to control the body so that we can properly compete in the gospel race? Indeed, there is absolutely no use in just sitting at home and seeking to control the body – We have to run the gospel race! And we should suppress not just the entangling sins of non-beneficial things, but also everything that hinders us from running. But we should be careful not to consider attaining that kind of self-control as our race, but rather perform works, keeping in mind that suffering for the gospel is our real calling and our Fight of the Faith is indeed our works that prove our faith.
(13) Paul lived as someone who realized this – ‘I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.’ (Gal 2:2). Paul is talking about his meeting in Jerusalem with esteemed leaders like Peter when he had gone there to clear up the confusion that had risen in the Early Church whether it was right to preach the gospel among the Gentiles. When describing that, he says that he did so ‘to be sure he was not running and had not been running his race in vain’. Preaching the gospel is indeed the race. But if it weren’t right to preach it among the Gentiles, then Paul thought ‘the race he was running and had been running’ i.e. performing gospel work amidst the Gentiles, would be in vain. And that’s why he says he went and presented his doctrine to the then leaders of the church. This too conclusively brings out the fact that the race we need to run is essentially the gospel race! There are many more such direct evidences. For instance – ‘I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they mustturn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.’ (Acts 20:21-24). Yes, Paul truly understood that the struggle for the gospel was indeed the Fight of the Faith. Like him, we too should run our race as someone who realizes what really our Fight of the Faith is.
(14) Struggling against sin is not our Fight of the Faith. Fighting for the sake of the gospel is indeed the Fight of the Faith that proves our faith. Based on many direct Biblical evidences, we have confirmed this with absolute certainty. Failing to realize this very important truth, many today are fighting like boxers vainly beating the air. In the next issue, let us study further in-depth about the Fight of the Faith based on a lot more scriptural proofs. In particular, we are to seek answers for questions like – How do we defeat the flesh by walking in the Spirit? What is a good life? How do we get sanctified? How do we fulfill the greatest commandment of love? Let God guide us! Amen.