Lay Hold on Eternal Life to Which we are Called to Fight the Good Fight of the Faith

As believers in Christ who love Him and pursue Him both personally and corporately, we fight the good fight of the faith by laying hold on the eternal life; we lay hold on eternal life by living by this life so that we may be able to fight the good fight of the faith.

As we are preparing ourselves for the Lord’s coming, we need to first fight the good fight, second, run and finish the course, and third, keep the faith.

When we live such a life, we prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming, and He will reward us at His return.

When we speak of keeping the faith, we need to realize that faith has an objective aspect and a subjective aspect.

When the Bible speaks of “the faith”, it refers to the objective aspect, the things we believe in for us to be saved; this is the faith we are keeping and holding to, for this is God’s economy.

Faith is the entire contents of God’s economy, and all genuine believers in Christ hold to this faith to be saved.

We may differ in our practices and we may have certain doctrines that differ from others, but as long as we hold to the faith, the objective faith related to the person and work of Christ, we are saved, and we are brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Faith has also a subjective aspect; in the New Testament, it is mainly translated as belief or believing.

How can we have this subjective faith? How can we believe?

The subjective faith is produced by the objective faith.

When we hear, see, and receive the objective faith, this objective faith produces a reaction in us, an ability that we call faith, our believing.

When we say that we need to keep the faith, we don’t mean that we need to only keep the objective faith but even more, we let the objective faith become the subjective faith in us as our ability to believe.

One way to illustrate this is by watching TV; when we watch something on TV, it is being infused into us, and the scenery we watch is imprinted in our being.

When we come to the word of God and attend the meetings of the church, we watch the heavenly television.

We have the eternal economy played before us, and we are infused with the divine scenery.

What we watch in the Word of God and in the meetings of the church is the divine opera, the divine entertainment, and the heavenly divine television, having God’s economy displayed before us.

We are watching the divine television of God’s complete salvation being played before us, and this infuses us with the divine reality of all that Christ is.

As a result, we simply believe into the Lord, for the Lord Jesus with His preciousness is being televised into our being.

The objective faith we see produces faith in us, for Christ infuses us with Himself as our faith.

We all can testify that many times, as long as we “drag our bones” to the meetings of the church, we are infused with the divine and heavenly television and, when we leave the meetings, we are vital, refreshed, and filled with faith, for Christ has been infused into us to become our believing ability. Hallelujah!

We Fight the Good Fight of the Faith by Laying Hold on the Eternal Life, to Which we were Called

We believers in Christ treasure our faith very much; it is our speciality in the church life, and we do not deny it but rather, we hold to it, treasure it, exercise it, and fight for it.

Paul told Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith (1 Tim. 6:12); we need to fight the good fight of the faith by laying hold on the eternal life, to which we were called and have confessed the good confession before many witnesses.

What does it mean to fight for the faith? What is this good fight of the faith?

To fight for the faith is to fight for God’s New Testament economy, which is the contents of the faith.

We do not fight for doctrines, practices, and teachings; we fight for the faith.

We may hold very dear the practice of calling on the name of the Lord audibly, and we get so much life and supply by practicing to pray-read the word of God.

But we do not fight for calling on the Lord with other believers, neither do we fight for pray-reading the word.

Rather, we fight for the faith, which is the content of God’s New Testament economy.

We fight for Christ as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ.

Some may disagree with us concerning the matter of having one local church in one city, but as long as they keep the faith, they are our dear brothers and sisters in the Lord.

We may have discovered so many deeper truths in the Bible, but we don’t fight with others for them; we fight the good fight of the faith – we fight for the faith.

We have realized how much life and life supply we get when we have life practices such as calling on the Lord, singing, praying over the Word of God, prophesying, musing on God’s word, declaring the hymns, and exercising our spirit to speak for the Lord.

We treasure these practices, but we do not fight for any life practices – we fight for the faith.

As long as a Christian believes in the person and work of Christ and as long as they believe that the Body is one both universally and locally, we fight for the faith together, for they are brothers and sisters in the Lord.

We may feel that many believers are lacking today, for they do not have a way to enjoy and experience Christ as life as we do; however, as long as they hold to the faith, they are our dear brothers and sisters in the Lord.

The faith is something specific in the church life, and we fight for nothing else but the faith.

We fight the good fight of the faith by laying hold on the eternal life.

This means that we don’t fight for the faith by standing on a pedestal and arguing with everyone about the faith; rather, we fight for the faith by enjoying, partaking of, and living by the divine life.

We fight the good fight of the faith by laying hold on the eternal life, to which we were called.

We were called to the eternal life; we were called to enjoy and partake of the eternal life.

This is not only an objective fight by standing on the side of the truth in God’s eternal economy; this is also a subjective fight, a fight by laying hold on the eternal life.

We believers in Christ have received another life in addition to our human life; we have the divine life of God, and we need to live by this life, enjoy this life, and express this life.

Especially today, in the age of the degradation of the church, eternal life is very important, even vital, to our Christian life and church life.

For us to carry out God’s economy concerning the church, confront the process of the church’s decline, and maintain a good order in the church life, the eternal life is a prerequisite (1 Tim. 1:16; 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7).

Lord Jesus, we want to fight the good fight of the faith today by laying hold on the eternal life. Hallelujah, we have received the life of God, the eternal, uncreated, divine life of God in us, and we can live by this life! Oh Lord, we want to stand one with You and one with our fellow believers in Christ to fight the good fight of the faith. We do not fight for doctrines, teachings, or practices, no matter how good and spiritual they are; we fight for the faith. Amen, Lord, we want to fight for the faith by laying hold on the eternal life and not trusting in our human life. We exercise our spirit to be one spirit with You. We want to live one spirit with You today. We put ourselves aside and we want to live by the eternal life in our spirit. Amen, Lord, may Your life flow in us, grow in us, and be expressed through us. May Your life within us strengthen us and empower us to fight the good fight of the faith together with all the genuine believers in Christ.

Lay Hold on Eternal Life by Enjoying and Living this Life, Not Trusting our Human Life

We believers in Christ were called into the eternal life of God (1 Tim. 6:12). This life is that which is really life (1 Tim. 6:19).

There are many kinds of life, including the vegetable life, the animal life, and the human life, but the divine life is the life that is really life.

We were born of our human parents to have the human life, and we were reborn to have the divine life of God; that which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6; 1:12).

Now we are those who live by this eternal life which we have received.

We are learning to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and meekness, and we fight for God’s New Testament economy and lay hold on eternal life (1 Tim. 6:11-12).

We are pursuing Christ with those who love Him and call on Him out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22).

As the Timothys of today, we are those who lay hold on eternal life, that is, we don’t trust our natural human life but live by the divine life.

When we received God’s life into us, we became a God-man, and now we are learning to live by this life.

By default, we are in the natural life and live by it, but we are learning to live by the divine life and express it.

To lay hold on eternal life to which we were called is to exercise our spirit to live by this life, express this life, and allow this life to be manifested in us.

The fact that we are called to the eternal life doesn’t mean that we have been called to blessings in heaven; rather, it means that we have been called to enjoy and live by the divine life.

The eternal life doesn’t mainly refer to the blessings we will receive in the future; it refers to our daily living today.

We are called to eternal life for us to live by the eternal life, that is, to live in our daily living a life not by our natural life but by the divine life.

We fight the good fight of the faith by laying hold on the eternal life to which we are called.

On one hand, we fight for the faith by declaring the truth and speaking the truth of God’s eternal economy.

On the other hand, we fight for the faith by living by the eternal life in our spirit.

Even when we speak to our spouse and our children or when we do some shopping, we fight the good fight of the faith when we lay hold on eternal life to live by this life.

We need to exercise our spirit all the time, throughout the day, to live by the divine life and not by our human life.

To fight the good fight of the faith in the Christian life, we need to lay hold on eternal life and not trust in human life.

This seems to be impossible, for we are natural, human, and fallen, and by default, we trust in ourselves and in our human life.

The whole world teaches us and encourages us to live in ourselves, by ourselves, for ourselves, and to express ourselves.

The more “yourself” you are, the more they appreciate you and uplift you. Oh, Lord.

We believers in Christ are here to live by another life. We are here to lay hold on eternal life and live by this life.

Indeed, we must be human, but we are Jesusly human, not human in a natural way. We live by the life of Jesus in our spirit.

We live a human life by the eternal life; we have been called to this life, and now we live by this life.

Even though there are so many distractions today and there are many things, persons, and situations that may preoccupy us, we need to keep turning to our spirit and live by the divine life in our spirit.

We have been called uniquely to the eternal life, which is the Triune God Himself being our life.

As those called to eternal life, we should now lay hold on this life, live this life, and even have our whole being according to this life.

And this is not something theoretical or doctrinal; this is something we practice and live in our daily living.

We daily contact the Lord, We daily check with Him about all things.

And we constantly call on His name, learning to live by Him, with Him, and live Him out.

He is life in us. Christ is our life (Col. 3:4), and He is also the hope of glory in us (1:27).

We take Him and live by Him, even live because of Him and one with Him (John 6:57; 1 Cor. 6:17).

It is good to check with the Lord in this matter and be before Him concerning this, telling Him,

Lord Jesus, thank You for calling us to eternal life. Hallelujah, we have the eternal life of God in our spirit, and we have been called uniquely to this life. Amen, Lord, we want to live by Your life, not trusting our natural life but allowing Your life to live in us and be expressed through us. We come to you again and again, Lord. You see how many things are trying to distract us and preoccupy us. Cause us to see our calling: we have been called to eternal life, to live by this life and express this life. Amen, Lord, we want to live by the eternal life today so that we may fight the good fight of the faith. We take You as our life. Keep us checking with You in all things so that we may allow You to live in us. May we be not just human in our living but Jesusly human, human in a divine way by allowing the divine life to be expressed in us. Keep us coming back to You, dear Lord, concerning all things, so that You may be expressed through us.

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, Life-study of 1 Timothy, msg. 12, by Witness Lee, 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:
  – Eternal Life and New Jerusalem (3), via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Our faith, testimony, and history, via, An Open Letter.
  – Laying hold on eternal life, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee.
  – The Error of Denying That the Infinite God Became a Finite Man through Incarnation, via, Contending for the Faith.
  – The charge to a man of God, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee.
  – 7 – The Ministry Bearing the Mark of Death and Resurrection (5) – Brother Nee and Brother Lee as Grains of Wheat Falling into the Ground and Dying to Bear Much Fruit in Resurrection, via, Shepherding Words.
  – What is life? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The Second Great Pillar in the Lord’s Recovery—Life, via, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The myst’ry of the common faith, / A conscience pure requires; / A holy, separated life / For us the Lord desires. / This outline of the healthy words, / In faith and love we’ll hold; / All different teaching, fruitless talk, / Reject with spirit bold. (Hymns #1285 stanzas 3-4)
  – Given us, given us, God has given us / Precious faith, power divine, greatest promises. / We believed, we received, now we have all three; / By these we may grow unto maturity. / Precious faith in each saint, precious equally, / Precious faith holding us, holding ceaselessly. / Disagree or agree, still it holds us fast, / Day by day, eternally this faith shall last. (Hymns #1211 stanzas 1-2)
  – Ever tender, quiet, restful, / Inclinations put away, / That Thou may for me choose freely / As Thy finger points the way. / Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me, / For my very life art Thou; / Thee I take to all my problems / As the full solution now. (Hymns #403 stanza 4)