Regarding the faith as the object of our believing, we need to keep the faith, fight for the faith, speak the faith, and preach the faith, even hold to faith, for faith is the most special thing we have as Christians, believers in Christ.
We need to see what faith is and we need to realize the difference between the objective faith and the subjective faith.
In the New Testament faith is mentioned many times, but some of the times faith is mentioned it refers to the objective aspect while other times it refers to the subjective aspect.
The objective aspect of the faith refers to the contents of the faith, the faith into which we believe in order to be saved.
According to the New Testament, the faith in its objective aspect includes the entire God’s New Testament economy concerning Christ and the church.
There are many other aspects, auxiliary points and doctrines, that are not part of the faith.
For example, the way we baptize people is not part of the faith, neither is receiving and practicing the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
However, the incarnation of Christ as the first God-man is part of the faith.
So if anyone says that he doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man, he is not a real Christian.
The enemy has worked tirelessly throughout the ages to divide the believers in Christ based on little things in the Bible that he made big for them.
Some gather around the way they baptize people, while others emphasize things such as the gifts of the Holy Spirit, healing, a particular way to praise and worship, and gospel preaching.
In themselves none of these are wrong, but when these are made part of the faith to which the believers hold, they create division.
We need to know what is faith in its objective aspect, and we need to hold to faith, fight for the faith, keep the faith, and teach and preach the faith.
We do not teach and preach baptism by immersion nor do we preach the gospel of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Rather, we preach and teach Christ as the gospel and we emphasize Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ.
On the subjective side, faith is our action of believing; by faith we believe into the Lord and are one with Him organically.
Faith is our believing action, even our reaction, to seeing the Lord Jesus and His work for us.
When we see the Lord Jesus, when we hear the objective faith concerning Christ and the church, we simply react by believing.
This is why we cannot judge or put down others who do not have faith, for if they were under the hearing of faith as we are, they would also believe. Hallelujah for faith!
Keep the Faith: keep the entire New Testament Economy of God as our Faith
![Do you not know that those who run on a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? Run in this way, that you may lay hold. 1 Cor. 9:24 Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing [I do:] Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called [me] upward. Phil. 3:12-13](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Do-you-not-know-that-those-who-run-on-a-racecourse-all-run-but-one-receives-the-prize-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "Do you not know that those who run on a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? Run in this way, that you may lay hold. 1 Cor. 9:24 Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing [I do:] Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called [me] upward. Phil. 3:12-13")
According to 2 Tim. 4:7, a proper Christian life has three aspects: fighting the good fight, finishing the course (running the race), and keeping the faith.
As believers in Christ, we fight the good fight, that is, we struggle the good struggle against Satan and his kingdom of darkness for the interests of God’s kingdom (1 Tim. 6:12).
Also, we run the course, that is, run the Christian race, for the carrying out of God’s economy according to His eternal purpose (Heb. 12:1).
Finally, we as believers in Christ keep the faith for participation in the divine riches in God’s economy (1 Tim. 3:9).
Paul set up a pattern in this, and we follow. He began to run the heavenly race after the Lord took possession of him, and he continually ran the race so that he may finish it (1 Cor. 9:24-25; Phil. 3:12-14; Acts 20:24).
Toward the end of his life, he could triumphantly proclaim that he finished his course (2 Tim. 4:7), being assured that he will receive from the Lord a reward – the crown of righteousness.
Also, Paul kept the faith; to keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God.
To keep the faith is to keep the faith concerning Christ as the embodiment of God and the mystery of God, and the church as the Body of Christ and the mystery of Christ.
We do not keep doctrines and teachings, nor do we keep rules and regulations and spiritual principles.
What we keep is the faith; we keep the faith to the end.
We should be able to tolerate certain practices and not insist on particular doctrines, even though they are very enjoyable and helpful, but we cannot give up the faith for the sake of other things.
The faith we are talking about is the objective faith.
The word faith implies our believing in Christ, taking His person and His redemptive work as the object of our faith (1 Tim. 1:19; Gal. 1:23).
Faith is not just the teachings and doctrines of the Bible. Faith is concerning the person and work of Christ.
To keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God, the faith concerning Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ (1 Tim. 1:4).
To keep the faith is not to lose our faith. Some forsake the faith for this or for that reason, but we keep the faith (1 Tim. 6:10).
Some depart from the faith, having been misled from the faith. But we need to be established in the faith.
We need to know the faith and keep the faith. We need to pray in faith and keep the faith, not lose the faith.
Instead, we need to take the faith as the material for the foundation of our Christian life.
We pray in the Holy Spirit and we establish ourselves in the holy faith.
Faith is included in God’s word; if we want to have faith, we need to come to the word of God. As we read the Bible and exercise our spirit to welcome the word of God, something of God is infused into us.
Within the word of God, there’s the truth, which is being dispensed into us by our hearing of the Word.
![Holding faith and a good conscience, [concerning] which some, thrusting [these] away, have become shipwrecked regarding the faith. 1 Tim. 1:19 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 1 Tim. 3:9](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Holding-faith-and-a-good-conscience-concerning-which-some-thrusting-these-away-have-become-shipwrecked-regarding-the-faith-1-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "Holding faith and a good conscience, [concerning] which some, thrusting [these] away, have become shipwrecked regarding the faith. 1 Tim. 1:19 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 1 Tim. 3:9")
In the proper dispensing and teaching, the reality of the faith is transmitted into us.
As we hear the word, the faith is rising up in us and we receive it.
We are like a camera which, once opened and ready to take in the scenery, has click after click as the shutter is pressed so that the image outside the camera is imprinted on the film or memory inside the camera.
We keep the faith not only by staying away from different teachings but even more by coming to the word of God and to the meetings of the church to receive the hearing of faith so that faith may increase in us.
As we read the Bible and hear the speaking of the Lord in the meetings, we receive the divine scenery in God’s eternal economy into our being.
As we read the Recovery Version Bible with its excellent footnotes, and as we read the life-studies of the Bible, having a spirit of prayer, faith increases in us, we are established in the faith, and we keep the faith.
We want to be able to testify one with Paul that we have kept the faith at the end of our course.
We may suffer an illness, rejection, persecution, and even imprisonment, but we want to keep the faith.
We keep the faith not by our own strength but by coming to the Lord in His word to be freshly infused with Him as our faith.
We diligently read and pray the word of God so that we may cooperate with the Lord and have faith produced in us.
Lord Jesus, thank You for infusing us with Yourself as our faith, our believing ability. Hallelujah, we now have faith, and we can be under the hearing of faith to be established in the faith! Amen, Lord, we want to keep the faith that has been entrusted to us. We want to be in the contents of God’s New Testament economy and keep the faith delivered to the saints. We place ourselves under the hearing of the faith so that faith may increase in us. We hold not to doctrines or teachings but to faith. Amen, Lord, we pray ourselves in the Holy Spirit and hold the holy faith! We come to You in Your word and we come to the meetings of the church, opening our being to You and exercising our spirit to contact You, so that we may be infused with faith, be established in the faith, and keep the faith. May You shine on us every time we come to Your word. Infuse us with the truth and increase our faith. Amen, Lord, we want to be like the apostle Paul, being able to declare at the end of our life that we have kept the faith!
Being Established in the Faith and Fight the Good Fight of the Faith against Different Teachings
What we hold, fight for, and keep is not any doctrine, teaching, or practice but the faith. We keep the faith.
Even more, we fight the good fight of the faith, as Paul charged Timothy to do in 1 Tim. 6:12.
Since the objective faith which we hold and keep is the contents of God’s New Testament economy, to fight for the faith is to fight for God’s New Testament economy.
In other words, we fight the good fight of the faith by fighting for the contents of the complete gospel according to God’s New Testament economy (Eph. 1:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:4).
Why do we need to fight for the faith?
On one hand, we need to keep the faith; on the other hand, we need to fight for the faith.
We fight for the faith because of the different teachings that have crept into the church throughout the ages.
Because of these different teachings, the church has become degraded and deviated from the faith.
When you go to some so-called churches today, you don’t hear the word of God but a particular teaching.
Even worse, many times the teaching you hear in these “churches” is something that tickles your ears, not something of the faith.
Sometimes the word of God is not even mentioned in these so-called sermons. Oh, Lord Jesus!
Just as Timothy was charged to fight against the deviation from the faith, that is, to fight the good fight of the faith (1 Tim. 6:12), so we also need to fight the good fight of the faith today.
Today people do not know what is the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy.
Some brought in vain talk and their words spread like gangrene, and many have left the faith and have missed the mark (2 Tim. 2:16).
Many today have itching ears, piling up teachers who speak what they want to hear and forsaking the truth to follow things that are empty and vain (2 Tim. 2:14, 18).
What we need to do is proclaim the word, and be ready in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2).
No matter whether it is the season or not, we need to be ready to fight for the faith and keep the faith by speaking the truth.
This doesn’t mean that we need to go to this or that church and start arguing about the faith, nor does it mean that we should go out and start debating with non-believers about the truth.
We need to keep the faith by enjoying and being constituted with the truth of God’s eternal economy, and we simply need to fight for the faith by preaching and teaching the eternal economy of God.
On one hand, we need to establish ourselves in the holy faith through the healthy teaching so that we may be constituted with the truth of God’s economy.
On the other hand, we need to preach, teach, and speak the truth.
The mainstream Christianity has deviated from the truth, because so many among them speak different things and no one speaks the truth according to God’s New Testament economy.
We need to rise up, be equipped with the truth, and speak the truth.
As we live our daily life, we need to be those who fight for the faith by speaking the truth in God’s word to others to infuse them with Christ as their faith.
As we come to the home meetings, group meetings, prayer meetings, and other church meetings, we need to speak the truth.
We should not emphasize this doctrine or that way of doing things, even though they seem to be helpful and spiritual.
We should simply emphasize the truth in God’s word, the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy.
For us to fight the good fight of the faith in the Christian life, we need to lay hold on this life – the eternal life, the divine life – and not trust in the human life (1 Tim. 6:12).
We fight the good fight of the faith not only objectively but also subjectively by laying hold on the eternal life.
![Proclaim the word; be ready in season [and] out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. 2 Tim. 4:2 Who concerning the truth have misaimed, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and overthrow the faith of some. 2 Tim. 2:18](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Proclaim-the-word-be-ready-in-season-and-out-of-season-convict-rebuke-exhort-with-all-long-suffering-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "Proclaim the word; be ready in season [and] out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. 2 Tim. 4:2 Who concerning the truth have misaimed, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and overthrow the faith of some. 2 Tim. 2:18")
We need to lay hold on the eternal life; then we will be able to fight the good fight of the faith.
We have been regenerated by God with His divine life, and we should no longer live the old life of Adam but the divine life.
The life we live is in faith, the faith of the Son of God, for we live Christ (Gal. 2:20).
May we pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and meekness with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
And may we fight the good fight without setting our mind or hope on the uncertainty of the riches.
We may be working saints who earn money, and are faithful to give to the Lord, but we may set our hope on these things, the riches in this world.
Are we offering faithfully to the church and to the saints who are in need?
Are we only concerned for our own needs, our own treasure, and our comfort? Oh, Lord.
May we lay hold on the eternal life, not trust in the riches in this world, and fight the good fight of the faith by laying hold on the eternal life.
Lord Jesus, we want to fight the good fight of the faith today. We want to lay hold on the eternal life to which we were called and fight for the faith. We do not trust in ourselves. We don’t trust in the material riches. We do not trust in our strength nor do we trust in our zeal or strength to pursue You. We trust in You. We trust that You will take us all the way to the end. We hold to You, dear Lord, for You are our faith. Infuse us more with Yourself. Constitute us more with the truth. We set our mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth. We want to fight the good fight of the faith not only objectively but also subjectively by laying hold on the eternal life. Amen, Lord, we want to live one spirit with You today, speaking the truth and being one with You to infuse Christ as faith into others! We lay hold on the eternal life, we keep the faith, and we fight the good fight of the faith today!
Read this article in the Romanian language – citiți acest articol în limba română la următorul link, Să păstrăm credința, să fim stabiliți în credință și să luptăm pentru credință.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1971, vol. 4, “Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ,” ch. 14, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing in Order to Receive the Reward of Christ as the Crown of Righteousness (2024 ICSC), week 3, Keeping the Faith.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The oneness of the faith, a portion from, The Practical Expression of the Church, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
– Precious Faith Brings Forth Precious Stones for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Statement of faith, via, LSM.
– Contending for the faith, Beloved, while using all diligence to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you and exhort you to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. -Jude 3.
– God’s Faithfulness and Our Perseverance in Prayer, via, Living to Him.
– The proper faith, a portion from, The Normal Christian Faith, Chapter 14, by Watchman Nee.
– How some Christian books are adding to the confusion, via, Affirmation and Critique.
– Msg 02 – The Linking Faith—the Faith of the Overcomers, a message by brother Ed Marks via, Heavenly Foods.
– A proper Christian life has three aspects: fighting the good fight against Satan and his kingdom of darkness for the interests of God’s kingdom; running the course for the carrying out of God’s economy according to His eternal purpose… via Living to Him.
– Introducing the Defense & Confirmation Project (DCP), via, Shepherding Words.
– Why Using Your Spirit is Crucial to God’s Eternal Purpose, via, Holding to Truth in Love. - Hymns on this topic:
– My spirit, soul, and body, / Dear Lord, I give to Thee, / A consecrated offering, / Thine evermore to be. / My all is on the altar; / Lord, I am all Thine own; / Oh, may my faith ne’er falter! / Lord, keep me Thine alone. (Hymns #447 stanza 1 and chorus)
– I have fought the good fight; / I have finished the course; / I have fought the good fight; / I have kept the faith. / Henceforth there is laid up for me / The crown of righteousness, / Which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, / Will recompense me in that day, / And not only me / But also all those who have loved His appearing. (Scripture song)
– Thus we must relinquish doctrines of all kinds, / Only keep the faith that oneness we may find. / In the Lord the Spirit we are one indeed; / Just to keep this oneness is our only need. / Truth we must be holding, which is Christ Himself, / That we be delivered from the sects of self, / That in all things growing into Christ the Head, / Built will be the Body and to fulness led. (Hymns #832 stanzas 3-4)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1971, vol. 4, “Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ,” p. 144
We need to keep the faith and fight the good fight of the faith by laying hold on the eternal life.
The faith in its objective aspect is the contents of God’s New Testament economy concerning Christ and the church.
May we not emphasise anything else except the faith, and may we fight for this speciality in the church life, our faith.
Amen! We need to keep the faith.
We must realise that even keeping the faith is a warfare.
We must fight for this faith. We must know the items of the faith and keep them!
Never to be influenced by any other teachings.
Amen! Yes Lord!
To keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy, concerning Christ as the embodiment of God and the mystery of God and the church as the Body of Christ and the mystery of Christ!
Amén. May we fight firmly for the faith
A proper Christian life involves fighting the good fight, running the course and keeping the faith.
Paul doesn’t say he kept various doctrines but that he kept the faith.
As long as we have faith we are brothers, there is no need to fight for other things but for faith; the speciality of the church life
Ameeen!!!
Dear brother, The faith is the speciality of the church life.
To keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God—the faith concerning Christ as the embodiment of God and the mystery of God and the church, both universally one and locally one as the Body of Christ and the mystery of Christ for participation in the divine riches in God’s economy.
We have to fight the good fight of such a faith.
We have to contend for such a faith.
We have to teach and preach such a faith.
Praise the Lord! 😃🙌🙋🏼
https://on.soundcloud.com/V1thR
We have a responsibility to keep the entire New Testament economy of God.
This is the faith for which Paul struggled, and we have to teach & preach this faith in every place.
There’s no need for us to fight for other things.
Rather, we need to consecrate ourselves to fight the good fight against Satan and his kingdom of darkness, to run our course for the carrying out of God’s economy, and to keep the faith for participation in the divine riches of Christ and the church.
What a life and what a calling!
To fight the good fight of the faith is to struggle against Satan and his kingdom, for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy concerning Christ and the church and to participate in the divine riches.
07/02/24 Keeping the Faith (Week 3, Day 2)
“I Have Fought the Good Fight for the Faith; I Have Kept the Faith”
According to 2 Timothy 4:7, a proper Christian life involves a threefold aspect:
a.) Fighting the good fight
b.) Finishing the course, and
c.) Keeping the faith.
After we were regenerated, God has put us in a racecourse in order for us to run with endurance to receive the reward that has been set before us. And in order for us to run with endurance, that is, to run, in spite of, the many oppositions and obstacles before us by looking away unto Jesus (Heb 12:2).
We need to fight the good fight because Satan and his spiritual forces in the air, his rebellious angels, are continually hindering us from running. We also need to continue running to finish the course so that we may receive the reward, the crown of righteousness, which qualifies us to reign with Christ for a thousand years in the Millennial age (1 Cor 9:24-25).
In 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul speaks of keeping the faith: “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith.” Here Paul does not say that he had kept various doctrines but that he had kept the faith; faith here refers to the objective faith. Paul was a man who could tolerate any kind of practice and could give up any doctrine, but he could never give up the faith, the things that he needed to believe. Rather, he kept the faith to the end.
To keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God, which is, the faith concerning:
a.) Christ as the embodiment of God, and
b.) the church as the Body of Christ and the mystery of Christ.
To keep the faith in 2 Timothy 4:7 is to contend for the faith in Jude 1:3, saying, “Beloved, using all diligence to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, entreating you to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” Here Jude speaks of our common salvation. This is general salvation, which is common to and held by all believers, like the common faith (Titus 1:4).
Some Christians misapply Jude’s word about contending for the faith. They think that to contend for the faith means to contend for matters such as baptism and foot washing. Some argue concerning head covering or about the kind of bread used in the Lord’s table.
However, it does not include such matters as head covering, foot washing, or methods of baptism. Nevertheless, some believers contend for such things, thinking that they are contending for the faith. But that is not the correct understanding of what Jude means by contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
The faith in Jude 1:3 does not refer to such matters. Instead, we must contend, keep, and fight for the objective faith, as revealed in the Bible, not outside of the Word of God, which concerns with the Person of Christ and His redemptive work, and the church, with its nature and itslocal and universal aspects.
The faith in Jude 1:3 is not subjective; it is objective. It does not refer to our believing, but refers to our belief, to what we believe. The faith denotes the contents of the New Testament as our faith (Acts 6:7; 1Tim 1:19; 3:9; 4:1; 5:8; 6:10, 21; 2Tim 2:18; 3:8; 4:7; Titus 1:13), in which we believe for our common salvation. This faith, not any doctrine, has been delivered once for all to the saints. For this faith we should contend (1Tim 6:12).
The faith in the objective sense is equal to the contents of God’s will given to us in the New Testament. The law includes the contents of the Ten Commandments and all the subordinate ordinances. The law was given in the Old Testament, but what God gives in the New Testament is the faith that includes all the items of God’s new will, whch includes the things concerning the Triune God, Christ and the church.
We have to fight the good fight of such a faith. We have to contend for such a faith. We have to teach and preach such a faith.
Listen to the audio version of this article via,
Youtube:
https://youtu.be/s-3MdZ1qTXY
Rumble:
https://rumble.com/v551q0y-keep-the-faith-and-fight-for-the-faith.html
Gal. 1:23, footnote 2 on “faith,” Recovery Version Bible
This is a basic truth. Most believers do believe in the 1 Body, 1 Spirit, 1 Lord, 1 Father, in Ephesians 4, and the other items of the faith (such as the Bible being the Word of God). But many don’t see that the 1 Body universally is not practical if that oneness is not expressed anywhere locally. That doesn’t mean they are not saved, certainly. But there is something lacking for the proper church life.
2 Tim. 4:7
I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith.
—
1 Tim. 6:12
Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold on the eternal life, to which you were called and have confessed the good confession before many witnesses.
—
HWMRW3D2
𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩
[Excerpt from HWMR-Wk. 3 Day 2]