5 But you must stay focused, self-controlled and be alert at all times. Tolerate suffering[1]. Accomplish the good work of an evangelist, and complete the ministry to which you have been called.6 For I am already being poured out, and the last drops of this drink offering are all that remain; it’s almost time for me to leave[2].
7 I have fought the good[3] fight, I have stayed on course and finished the race, and through it all, I have kept the faith.[4] 8 I look forward to what’s in store for me: a crown of righteousness that the Lord—the always right and just judge—will give me that day (but it is not only for me, but for all those who have loved/have longed for His appearing). (2 Timothy 4:5-8)
Paul must have had a sense this day was coming. He had written years earlier:
“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.” (Philippians 2:17)
“Even if” has become “am already.” Paul sees his blood as the libation which had already started being poured on the sacrificial offering.[5] Libations were one of the final acts of a sacrifice, with the worshiper pouring (usually) wine on the altar after the burnt offering was mostly consumed. Paul was under a death sentence; it appears the cruelty had already begin. Paul’s blood is about to finish off his life of sacrifice, a spiritual commitment that had now become a physical reality. And then here comes his classic ‘legacy’ statement:
“I have fought the good fight, I have stayed on course and finished the race, and through it all, I have kept the faith.”
“I have fought the good fight”
This likely alludes to Grecian games: Literally, “I have wrestled that good wrestling.” "I have played out the honourable game" showed up in another commentary. This has two layers of meaning: I have struggled hard, with determination and commitment (that’s good – speaks to character and integrity) in an honorable cause (that’s good – speaks to nobility of the person or the cause for which we fight.).
Key point: not every struggle is noble. Paul often quoted the Greek poets. There is a passage from Euripides with the exact expression Paul uses that shows how “the good fight” was used among the Greeks to express the honorable nature of the fight. In this case, Euripides refers to a wife laying down her life for her husband when both his parents had refused to do it.
"Thou [the parents] wouldst not, neither darest thou to die for thy son… thou wouldst have fought a good fight hadst thou died for thy son."[6]
Sometimes, we get bloodied for terrible causes. From the perspective of the Bible, bravery, courage, and the willingness to take the blows of battle are not enough.
We don’t have to look further than 9/11 to see this is true. I suppose the terrorists were brave: they were willing to give their lives for a cause. They were faithful to the end. But none of us in this room would look at what they did and say, “Well done.” Why? Because the cause, the mission, was evil.
This is why we don’t applaud KKK members who stuck with it to the end of their lives, because they stuck with something horrific. Between 1882 and 1959[7] – around 75 years – there were almost 5,000 lynchings.[8] If you were dedicated to a movement that fueled that, your dedication counts against you, not for you.
Let’s be honest: we make this distinction when we see protestors/rioters who get tear gassed or arrested. If we think the cause is noble, they are heroes. If we think their cause is not, we think they are criminals and maybe even terrorists who got what was coming to them.
It’s why Just War Theory demands just ends, just means, and a just cause.
Sometimes we get bloodied in church over difference that should never have reached that level. When I grew up, I knew churches that split over coverings, Bible versions, and End Times theology. Now we are often deeply divided over elections and COVID responses. They rise up and threaten to overwhelm our fellowship and unity, when the ‘good’’ fight is the task of testifying to the Good news of God’s grace. (More on that in a minute).
Sincere and radical commitment is not enough. The cause matters. And the cause is what Paul calls ‘the course.’
“I have finished the course.”
This is a reference to the Games (which Paul does a lot). The course is what a runner has marked out. Paul's life was that course;[9] he explains “his course” in Acts 20:24.
“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.”
We can get distracted by asking the question, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” because we often mean, what vocation am I supposed to do, or how do I use my gifts and talents? These are important questions. However, they aren’t the most important question. We already know what God wants us to do with our life in the most important sense: testify to the good news of God’s grace. Paul has the same course we all do. This can happen anywhere, in any situation, with any set of skills. Land on this. Find stability and meaning and purpose on this. Then, ask the other questions. They are worthwhile, but they are not ultimate. Don’t confuse them.
Notice what Paul doesn’t say. He doesn’t brag about how awesome he has been. There’s no, “And I crushed it, dominating everything thrown at me.” No, in fact, Paul was pretty clear in his writing that he saw himself as the chief of sinners. In his first letter to Timothy, he noted:
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1.12-17)
There is no bragging here about merits of self-help or pulling himself up by his spiritual bootstraps. In fact, Paul says, God used Paul to demonstrate God’s perfect patience. Paul was the kind of guy who apparently had a tendency to draw out frustration and impatience from even God. In other places, he publicly acknowledges the war within.
15 Listen, I can’t explain my actions. Here’s why: I am not able to do the things I want; and at the same time, I do the things I despise. 16 If I am doing the things I have already decided not to do, I am agreeing with the law regarding what is good. 17 But now I am no longer the one acting—I’ve lost control—sin has taken up residence in me and is wreaking havoc.
18 I know that in me, that is, in my fallen human nature, there is nothing good. I can will myself to do something good, but that does not help me carry it out. 19 I can determine that I am going to do good, but I don’t do it; instead, I end up living out the evil that I decided not to do. 20 If I end up doing the exact thing I pledged not to do, I am no longer doing it because sin has taken up residence in me.
21 Here’s an important principle I’ve discovered: regardless of my desire to do the right thing, it is clear that evil is never far away. 22 For deep down I am in happy agreement with God’s law; 23 but the rest of me does not concur. I see a very different principle at work in my bodily members, and it is at war with my mind; I have become a prisoner in this war to the rule of sin in my body.
24 I am absolutely miserable! Is there anyone who can free me from this body where sin and death reign so supremely? 25 I am thankful to God for the freedom that comes through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!
This is a guy who is well aware of who he is apart from Christ, and well aware that he is still a work in progress while ‘in Christ,’ and therefore aware of just how glorious that makes Jesus. “Fighting the good fight” has nothing to do with our goodness and everything to do with the cause for which we are fighting, and strength God gives us – in His grace – to press on to the end.
“I have kept the faith.”
This is the good cause that makes the fight good. “Keeping the faith” could mean that Paul has kept the body of doctrine safe from distortion and heresy.[10] It could mean Paul has remained personally faithful in his commitment to God. Either one seems possible considering how Paul talks about both of those things in other places. The Pulpit Commentary puts them both together nicely.
“Through his long eventful course, in spite of all difficulties, conflicts, dangers, and temptations, he had kept the faith of Jesus Christ committed to him, inviolable, unadulterated, whole, and complete. He had not shrunk from confessing it when death stared him in the face; he had not corrupted it to meet the views of Jews or Gentiles; with courage and resolution and perseverance he had kept it to the end.” (Pulpit Commentary)
It sounds like ‘keeping the faith’ is a combination of preserving orthodoxy (right belief) while committing to orthopraxy (right actions).
If I may offer an encouragement to those of you who are struggling right now either just through life or with your faith. Notice Paul says nothing about how he feels or felt. He didn’t think his faith was going to make his life easy – just read the lists of what all he went through, and remember how many letters were written from Roman jails. In the midst of all these things, Paul stood on two things: he knew what was true, and he knew what to do. He clung to orthodoxy, and he lived orthopraxy. And in the end, he says: “I have fought the noble fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith.”
I look forward to what’s in store for me: a crown of righteousness[11]…
This is likely another Games reference. In the Games, the winner gets the crown. One historical record from the Greeks notes:
“‘Pytheas, broad-shouldered son of Lampo, won the crown of the double-contest (wrestling and boxing) at the Nemean games.”[12]
But note Paul said this crown is for “for all those who have loved/have longed for His appearing.” We won’t get the crown because of how broad-shouldered we are. This race isn’t about finishing ahead of other people. It’s about finishing by the grace and through the power of God. There is a reward for those who finish the race because we have a broad-shouldered savior who conquered death, hell and the grave so that we even have a race to run.
We even get a hint of what keeps Paul (and by extension, us) focused: “have loved/have longed for his appearance.[13] “Have loved” seems to refer to his first epiphany of Jesus; “have longed” to his second.[14] I don’t know how to explain this word in this context, so I am going to recruit HELPS Word studies.
agapáō –for the believer, preferring to "live through Christ" (1 John 4:9,10), i.e. embracing God's will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power.
With the believer, agapáō ("to love") means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him (by His power and direction).
So, those who have loved the appearance of Christ have embraced God's will (choosing His choices and preferring His preferences) and been obedient with the help of God’s power and direction. I suspect this is what leads to the longing for his return. If we embrace and obey, we “taste and see that the Lord is good.” And when we get a taste of that, we long to see the One from whom that blessing has come.
QUESTIONS FOR PRAYER AND REFLECTION
What does it look like for you to focus your primary effort on “fighting the good fight” rather than getting distracted by all kinds of secondary fights that, while perhaps good in their own way, are not the good fight? Are there areas in which your priorities have been compromised? What does it look like to realign your life?
In what ways has it been challenging to “stay the course” in your life (testifying to the good news of God’s grace with your words and actions)? What does repentance – turning around - look like in this area?
In what areas do you need to pray for the Holy Spirit to help you “keep the faith”(studying to preserve the truth of God’s revealed word and committing to a life in the path of righteousness)?
Do you love/long for the appearance of Christ? Have you embraced God's will - choosing His choices and preferring His preferences? Are there areas of your life you need to surrender more fully so that the Holy Spirit will align your preferences and choices with the heart and mind of God?
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[1] Things of “a malicious disposition." (HELPS Word Studies)
[2] There are multiple images here having to do with loosing what is tied: raising a ship’s anchor; an army striking tents and marching. (Meyer’s NT Commentary)
[3] Kalos – beautiful or noble. He isn’t saying he did a good job; he’s saying that for which he fought is good and noble.
[4] Does “the faith” that Paul has kept mean the body of doctrine, as elsewhere (2 Tim. 1:12, 14; see also Eph. 4:5), or does it refer to Paul’s personal faith? Either is possible. It is interesting to note that “to keep the faith” was a fixed expression in extrabiblical literature for those who remained faithful to God. It is not inconceivable that Paul used a common expression but with the added meaning that is so important in the Pastorals. (NIV Application Commentary)
[5] For libations or ‘drink offerings’ accompanying Old Testament sacrifices, see Exodus 29:40-41; Leviticus 23:13, 18, 37; andNumbers 15:4-10, 24; 28:7-10).
[6] Found this example thanks to Adam Clarke.
[7] The last year the Tuskegee Institute published a report.
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States#Statistics
[9] Pulpit Commentary
[10] See 2 Timothy 1:12, 14; Ephesians 4:5),
[11] ‘Righteousness’ then is the ‘race’ of the Christian life. So in 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22, ‘follow after righteousness,’ and in ch. 2 Timothy 3:16, ‘the discipline which is in righteousness. (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)
[12] Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
[13] “The Apostle specifies here exactly the persons for whom “the crown” was reserved—those who in this life have indeed longed for the appearance of the Lord... . None here could in very truth desire “His appearing,” save His own, who love Him and struggle to live His life.” Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
[14] “As in 2 Timothy 4:1, of the second coming; to which all the six occurrences of the substantive in N.T. refer. The verb in Luke 1:79 and Titus 2:11; Titus 3:4 refers to the first Epiphany. Some have interpreted appearing as Christ's first coming into the world, as 2 Timothy 1:10; but the other sense is according to the analogy of 1 Corinthians 2:9; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 9:28.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)