Laying hold on the eternal life is the solution to the degradation in the church today, for without this eternal life and the divine truth in the Holy Scriptures, we believers in Christ are nothing and have nothing. Amen!
As we live in the age of the degradation of the church, we believers in Christ need to return to the pure, unadulterated word of God and remain in it.
We don’t have to invent new things, come up with new ways, and bring in new teachings; we simply need to come to the Lord in His word and be simple: just enjoy Him in the word and according to His word.
There is a fight going on today, the good fight of the faith (1 Tim. 6:2).
This good fight is for the keeping of the faith and the rejecting of the different teachings.
Paul charged Timothy in 1 Tim. 1:3-4 to remain in Ephesus so that he may charge certain ones not to teach different things but rather, focus on God’s economy, which is in faith.
God’s economy is the main focus of the entire Bible.
God has an economy, a household arrangement, for Him to dispense all that HE is into us, His chosen people.
In the Old Testament God had an economy, but now in the New Testament He has a New Testament economy, according to which we are called to be the believers in Christ.
In His New Testament economy, God saves us by grace, not by works of law.
We simply need to believe, and when we believe into the Lord Jesus, we are joined to Him as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
Our Christian life should be a life in this one spirit, the mingled spirit; day by day we need to live not in and by our natural life but in and by the eternal life, the divine life in our spirit.
Due to the degradation of the church that is so prevailing today, we need to lay hold on the eternal life, to which we were called.
What we need is not more teachings, more doctrines, more gifts, or more miracles; we need to simply lay hold on the eternal life. The eternal life can deal with all the degradation.
This eternal life is not only everlasting; even more, it is the uncreated divine life, the life of God, which is eternal both in time and in quality.
May we learn to turn to the Lord and enjoy the eternal life daily, live by the eternal life, and allow the eternal life to be expressed through us.
When we are persons of life, those who lay hold on the eternal life, we will overcome the decline of the church and any degradation will be exposed and removed.
When we lay hold on the eternal life, we fight the good fight of the faith in our Christian life.
Subjectively Fight the Good Fight of the Faith by Laying Hold on the Eternal Life
We fight the good fight of the faith not only objectively, by speaking some doctrines that are sound and are found in God’s word, but even more, subjectively, by laying hold on the eternal life.
We are in a warfare that is very subjective.
The good warfare we war today is not using the Bible to hit others and put them down or convince them.
All these things are objective. Our fight is very subjective.
It is only by laying hold on the eternal life in our daily life that we can fight the good fight of the faith.
If we do not know the divine life of God, if we don’t experience this life, then we’re just fighting about some outward matters, trying to convince or defeat people outwardly, but we don’t fight the good fight of the faith.
The good fight of the faith is something very subjective, in our spirit, and it is related to the eternal life.
We may be quite limited outwardly and our work for the Lord seems to be restrained and small; we may even be in prison like Paul and Silas, but inwardly we enjoy the Lord by laying hold on the eternal life.
Paul and Silas sang in prison; outwardly, they were defeated, even locked up, but inwardly they were laying hold on the eternal life, for they enjoyed Christ to the uttermost.
We can be saved by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19) and by the petition of the saints, for everything will turn out to our salvation when we’re laying hold on the eternal life.
The difficulties around us, the limitations that keep us down and restrict us in function, all these will turn out to our salvation, for we inwardly lay hold on the eternal life.
The subtlety of the enemy in bringing deviation from the faith is to keep us, the believers in Christ, from the eternal life.
He brings in teachings and practices which become our focus, and many things are used by the enemy to distract us from the eternal life.
We need to be in spirit, one with the Lord, to expose the subtle works of the enemy.
He is so subtle; he will not show his devilish face to us but rather, he will put on a sheep’s skin.
We need to beware not to be blown by winds of teaching (Eph. 4:14). These winds are in the sleight of man, in craftiness, with a view to a system of error.
If we consider the enter world situation and the condition of the children of God, we cannot deny that the enemy has a lot of deceitful and subtle works.
There are a lot of things that the authority of darkness does constantly to exercise control over people so that many believers in Christ would unconsciously deviate from the faith.
We shouldn’t think that this will never happen to us, for we will never deviate from the faith. We may deviate just a little, one inch, and later the deviation will be by a mile.
We need to know God’s economy, be filled with the healthy teaching in God’s word, and focus only on the eternal economy of God in our teaching.
And we need to lay hold on the eternal life to which we were called.
When we know God’s economy, we will be able to discern the different teachings so that we may lay hold on the eternal life and not be distracted by many things that would excite us, give us so-called success, and bring us benefits.
We, the believers in Christ, must lay hold on the eternal life, for without the eternal life we’re nothing (1 John 5:11).
If we are those laying hold on the eternal life, we will be able to fight the good fight of the faith in a subjective way.
The purpose of this good fight is that the economy of God can be fulfilled so that He can gain a corporate expression in this universe.
This is a matter of life, not something done by man’s arrangement or works.
May we grow in the knowledge of the divine life, advance in the Lord by laying hold on the eternal life, and arrive at the full measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The church needs to arrive at the full knowledge of Christ so that the church may be filled unto all the fullness of Christ.
When the Lord comes, He wants to marry a bride that fully matches Him, a bride that is mature in life and perfected in the truth.
This bride, who has such a stature and measure to match Him, is being prepared today, and we can be part of the bride of Christ.
May we be those who are daily laying hold on the eternal life!
Lord Jesus, we want to fight the good fight of the faith subjectively by laying hold on the eternal life in our daily living. Save us from falling pray to the enemy who is so subtle in bringing many things to distract us. Expose the wearing-out tactics of the enemy and his subtle works. Oh Lord, we choose to lay hold on the eternal life today. We turn to You and we want to live in our spirit so that Your life may be expressed through us. Lord Jesus, without the eternal life we are nothing. Grow in us. May Your life grow in us unto maturity until we all arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ! Amen, Lord Jesus, grant us today’s portion of grace so that we may grow in life a little more unto maturity! We want to be saved from the downward trend of the degradation of the church by laying hold on the eternal life. We want to carry out God’s economy concerning the church by laying hold on the eternal life! Hallelujah for God’s life in us!
Enjoy and Live by the Eternal, Incorruptible Life of God and Abide in the Divine Truth in the Holy Scriptures
2 Tim. 1:10 says that our Savior Jesus Christ nullified death and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel.
As the decline of the church is going on today, we need to realize that the eternal life of God contains the antidote to this decline.
Paul saw the decline of the church in his time, but he was not discouraged or disappointed; rather, he was laying hold on the eternal life.
He realized that all believers have something within them that never changes: the eternal, uncreated, incorruptible life of God.
The whole Roman Empire tried to destroy this life, but it could not; rather, Christ as life in the believers put an end to the Roman Empire.
We should be encouraged in the life of God and not be discouraged or disappointed by the situation because we all can lay hold on the eternal life.
We can enjoy and live by the eternal, incorruptible life of God today.
The eternal life according to which we were called is incorruptible and unchanging.
This life dwells in us and nothing prevails against this life.
The processed Triune God has come into us to be our very life.
In this life mentioned in 2 Tim. 1:1 includes the basic elements of the inoculation.
In the eternal life we have a pure conscience, unfeigned faith, the divine gift, a strong spirit, eternal grace, the element of incorruption, the healthy word, and the indwelling Spirit.
When we enjoy and live by the eternal life of God in our spirit, we are both inoculated against the decline of the church and we prevail over the enemy, building up the church as the Body of Christ.
Praise the Lord, the eternal life of God has been given to all the believers in Christ (1 Tim. 1:16) and it is the main element of the divine grace given to us (Rom. 5:17, 21).
This life has conquered death (Acts 2:24) and will swallow up death (2 Cor. 5:4).
Nothing can defeat this life, for this life is God Himself becoming our life after passing through the processes of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension.
As we preach the gospel, we minister this eternal life to others, and this life and incorruption are brought to light and made visible to others through the gospel.
When others receive the divine life, incorruption comes in.
Life and incorruption are able to counter the death and corruption brought by the decline among the churches.
Praise the Lord, we know whom we have believed, for the One into who we have believed is a living person, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, and He is the embodiment of the divine grace and eternal life!
![But you, continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from which ones you have learned [them] And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:14-17](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/But-you-continue-in-the-things-which-you-have-learned-and-have-been-assured-of-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "But you, continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from which ones you have learned [them] And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:14-17")
We have received the eternal life and now we are laying hold on the eternal life to enjoy and live by this life in our daily living.
In Him this life was very powerful, causing Him to overcome all things, including death.
In us, this life is very powerful, strengthening us to bear all things and encouraging us to suffer for His sake.
Praise the Lord. At the same time, we abide in the divine truth in God’s word, the Holy Scriptures, for the divine life is concealed in God’s word.
On one hand, we enjoy Christ as life and live by this life.
On the other hand, we remain in the truth in God’s word, being constituted with the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy and receiving the word of God as the breath of God (2 Tim. 3:14-17).
In this way, any death in us is swallowed and the life supply is given to us. The divine truth replaces any vanity of corruption with the reality of all the divine riches of Christ.
The Holy Scriptures dispel any confusion and furnish us with divine light and revelation. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us as the eternal life so that You may be our life. We want to enjoy and live by the eternal life in our spirit. We do not trust in our natural life; we deny the self, lose our soul-life, and lay hold of that which is really life. Amen, Lord Jesus, be our life today. Live in us today. We want to live one spirit with You so that Your divine life may be expressed through us. Save us from any corruption and vanity. Swallow up any death in our being. Oh Lord, we want to be in You and for You to be in us so that we may have one life with one living today! May Your divine life be expressed through us! We come to You, dear Lord, in Your word. Shine on us. Enlighten us. Dispel the confusion in our being and furnish divine light and revelation. May Your light shine on us through Your word. Expose the decline and degradation and bring us on with You for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!
Read this article in the Romanian language – citiți acest articol și în limba română la următorul link, Să apucăm viața eternă și a fi în adevărul divin pentru a birui degradarea.
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 2 Timothy (msgs. 1-2, 6-7) by Witness Lee (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 (2023 ICSC), week 1, Fighting the Good Fight.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– What Is Spiritual Growth? Read via, Bibles for America blog.
– Three Foundational Truths and Why They Matter, via, Shepherding Words.
– Laying hold on eternal life, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 12.
– Eternal Life and New Jerusalem (3), via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Eternal life in the Gospel of John, article by John Pester in, Affirmation and Critique.
– My Personal Testimony – Pursuing Christ, Living the Church Life, and Enjoying the Ministry, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– Eternal Life, a portion from, Spiritual Man, The (3 volume set), Chapter 19, by Watchman Nee.
– 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, a new song via, Hymnal.net.
– The charge to a man of God, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee.
– The Error of Making Creeds, Not the Bible, the Rule Of Faith, via, Contending for the Faith. - Hymns on this topic:
– Oh, what a life! Oh, what a peace! / The Christ who’s all within me lives. / With Him I have been crucified; / This glorious fact to me He gives. / Now it’s no longer I that live, / But Christ the Lord within me lives. (Hymns #499 stanza 1)
– By this the very Triune God is now / The living Spirit mingling deep within. / Our spirit joins in oneness; this is how / We are one spirit evermore with Him. / ’Tis by this Spirit that we walk and act, / We have our being, think, and see all things; / We’re now within this Spirit! What a fact! / This Spirit to us all God’s fullness brings! (Hymns #1195 stanzas 7-8)
– Christ is the way and Christ the light of life, / In Him we walk and by Him we are led; / Christ is the living water and the food; / Of Him we drink and we with Him are fed. / Christ is the truth, ’tis Him we testify, / Christ is the life, ’tis Him we minister; / Christ is the Lord, ’tis Him we magnify, / Christ is the Head, and we exalt Him here. (Hymns #863 stanzas 2-3)
About aGodMan
![In My Father's house are many abodes; if [it were] not [so,] I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/In-My-Fathers-house-are-many-abodes-if-it-were-not-so-I-would-have-told-you.jpg?fit=178%2C100&ssl=1)
Life-study of 2 Timothy, second edition, pp. 48-49, by Witness Lee
The Spiritual Man, Chapter 19, by Watchman Nee
The first stanza of a new song 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 via hymnal.net here
https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/1031
The eternal life of God has been given to us for us to enjoy this life and live by this life.
Though there is corruption in the world and degradation in the church, we need to lay hold on the eternal life in our daily living and be in the healthy teaching of God’s New Testament economy for us to be inoculated and strengthened to grow in life for the building up of the church.
Amen, brother.
In today’s morning revival, I enjoyed two things:
1) principle of life,
> the changing of death into life through the process of the triune God to mingle with and live in our spirit. This helps us to be strong in any conditions or situations of our environment,
2) Principle of building His healthy house to live in.
> the body can be affected by a kind of disease like false teachings based on doctrine, religion, culture & philosophy, Therefore we as healthy church need to consider the eight basic elements of the inoculation to keep His body from the infection of some spiritual disease.
Praise the Lord for His all provision to keep His body healthy! We are the people with His eternal purpose!
Amen for this uncreated, incorruptible and never changing eternal life
Ameen!!! Amaaaazing!!!
I, too, enjoyed brother that to confront the death, corruption, and confusion in the church’s decline, the eternal life, the divine truth, and the Holy Scripture are all needed.
The eternal life not only swallows up death but also renders the life supply; the divine truth replaces the vanity of corruption with the reality of all the divine riches; and the Holy Scripture not only dispels the confusion but also furnishes divine light and revelation.
We should be like Paul who was not discouraged or disappointed. He had something within him that never changed—the eternal, uncreated, incorruptible life of God.
This life is actually the processed Triune God Himself.
Because Paul was indwelt by this life, not even the whole Roman Empire was able to prevail over him in its dealings with him.
Now this life is given to all believers in Christ and is the main element of the divine grace given to us which includes all the eight basic elements of the inoculation; imparted into our spirit Incorruption is the consequence of life’s saturating of our body.
This life has conquered death and will swallow up death.
Praise the Lord!!!
Yes brother, amen.
No matter how our environment changes He remains that same, we just need to take hold and enjoy Him as our life
Amen!!!!
This eternal life is actually the processed Triune God being life to us.
Not only heretical teachings but even fundamental teachings may be used by the enemy to keep us from enjoying the eternal life.
Life is the divine element, even God Himself, imparted into our spirit. Incorruption is the consequence of life’s saturating of our body (Rom. 8:11).
This life and incorruption are able to counter the death and corruption brought in by the decline among the churches.
Hallelujah, brother. Christ is eternal life to us, and this life includes 8 basic elements of inoculation against the death, corruption & confusion in the church’s decline.
Furthermore, the eternal life of Christ not only swallows up death but also renders to us a life supply: the divine truth is able to replace the vanity of corruption with the reality of the divine riches, and the Holy Scripture not only dispels confusion but also furnishes divine light & revelation.
We must lay hold on that which is really life if we desire to keep the faith.
Praise the Lord! 😃🙌🙋🏼🙏
Today for the carrying out of God’s economy, to confront the downward trend of the decline of the church and to maintain order in the church we need to lay hold of the eternal life.
This life is a person – Christ Jesus who nullified death and brought life to be imparted into us as grace to live Him.
We should not be disappointed or discouraged by the situation in the church because we have eternal life, the divine truth and the Holy scriptures to confront such a decline.
06/20/24 Fighting the Good Fight (Week 1, Day 4)
In 1 Timothy 6:12b, Paul says, “Lay hold on the eternal life to which you were called.” The eternal life here is the divine life, the uncreated life of God, which is eternal. Eternal denotes the nature more than the time element of the divine life. To fight the good fight of the faith in the Christian life, especially in the Christian ministry, we need to lay hold on this divine life and not trust in our human life.
Because Paul knew that he had the eternal life within him, which never changed, being eternal, uncreated, and incorruptible, he was never discouraged nor disappointed when the churches, in his tome, were declining. Hence, in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, the eternal life is stressed again and again (1Tim 1:16; 6:19; 2Tim 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7). For Paul, eternal life is a prerequisite:
a.) to bring forth God’s dispensation concerning the church, according to 1 Timothy,
b.) to confront the process of the church’s decline, according to 2 Timothy, and
c.) to maintain good order in the church life, according to Titus.
In 1 Timothy 6:13, Paul goes on to say, “I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and Christ Jesus, who witnessed before Pontius Pilate the good confession.” Here Paul describes God as the One who gives life to all things. This indicates that we must focus our attention on life. Every aspect of our Christian walk must be something to which God can give life.
Paul’s concept in 1 Timothy 6:13 is that God gives life and that when Christ was on earth, He lived the eternal life. He lived by the very God who gives life to all things. Then at the end of His journey on earth, He stood before Pontius Pilate and made a good confession. The Lord’s confession before Pilate was related to His living by the divine life.
When we have the eternal life, we have all that God is, that all that He has, and all that He has and will accomplish. In our human life, we are weak, changeable, and unstable, but the eternal life of God is strong, unchanging, and stable, even till eternity. We must rely, not on our human life, but on the eternal life, which is of God. Now we can understand why Paul charges Timothy to lay hold of the eternal life in order for him to fight the good fight of the faith.
According to 2 Timothy 1:1, Paul became an apostle because of the eternal life he received from God. This eternal life is, not only incorruptible and unchanging, but it also includes all the eight basic items of the inoculation:
Having received the eternal life, which is actually the processed Triune God, we spontaneously shall have the above eight provisions of the divine inoculation.
Life is the divine element, even God Himself, imparted into our spirit. Incorruption is the consequence of life saturating our body (Rom 8:11). This life and incorruption are able to counter the death and corruption of the decline among the churches.
In order for us to confront the death, corruption, and confusion in the decline of the church, we need:
a.) divine life (2 Tim. 1:1, 10) ~ not only swallow up death, but also gives us life supply
b.) divine truth (2 Tim. 2:15, 18, 25) ~ replaces the vanity of corruption with the reality of all the divine riches
c.) Holy Scripture (2 Tim. 3:14-17) ~ not only dispels the confusion, but also furnishes divine light and provision.
With such a rich provision in the eternal life, we therefore must lay hold of it in order for us to fight the good warfare, even in the decline of the church.
2 Tim. 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus,
–
2 Tim. 1:10
But now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who nullified death and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel,
—
HWMRW1D4
“𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵”
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Footnote 3 on “life” in 2 Tim. 1:10, Recovery Version Bible
This life can overcome all kinds of death and struggles. We have access to this wonderful life!
Amen! No matter how the environment may change, this eternal life remains the same!