Fighting the Noble War (1:18-19a)
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This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience,(1:18-19a)
Our Lord Jesus Christ has called His followers to an abundant life of love, peace, joy, and communion with Him. Gospel presentations and tracts stress those truths in their appeal to unbelievers. There is another side to the Christian life, however, one that doesn’t often find its way into our evangelism. The Christian life is also a warfare, as believers enter a lifelong fight against the evil world system, Satan, and their own sinful human flesh.
Sadly, much of the contemporary church seems to have missed that reality. Many have heard only the gospel of easy believism and cheap grace. They have an inadequate concept of the spiritual struggle involved in loving the Lord Jesus Christ. Such people often magnify the petty temporal annoyances of everyday life until they seem like trials of epic proportions. Frankly, that is as absurd as a soldier in the midst of a raging firefight complaining about the dirt on his uniform.
Paul was very much aware of the reality of spiritual warfare. Not only did he battle his flesh (as he shows in Rom. 7:14-25), but he also had to continually engage the world in conflict (cf. Gal. 6:14). And he was relentlessly assaulted by Satan, as his mention of the “messenger of Satan” sent to beat him (2 Cor. 12:7) indicates. Satanic opposition also kept him from visiting the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 2:17-18). As he summarizes the introduction to this letter in 1:18-19, he calls Timothy to fight the good or noble fight against Satan. Like all those in the ministry, Timothy was called to an unceasing spiritual warfare. That fight demands equipped, trained, and devoted soldiers. Paul wrote this letter to help Timothy gear up for the current battles.
Paul had left him in Ephesus to oppose the enemies encroaching on the Ephesian church. False leaders in positions of power and authority were teaching heresy about the Person and work of Jesus Christ (cf. 1:4-7; 4:1-3). These false teachers were also living impure lives (cf. 1:4-5, 19-20; 5:19-20). Timothy was set in the forefront of the battle, and Paul wanted him to acquit himself well.
To understand the full scope of Timothy’s battle, we need to step back and look at the big picture. Spiritual conflict is, at its highest level, a war between God and Satan. It is fought also on the angelic level, between Satan’s wicked demons and God’s elect holy angels. On the human level, it is a battle between godly and ungodly men.
Originally, there was no such war. The Bible knows of no eternal dualism between good and evil, as in Zoroastrianism (the religion of ancient Persia). Genesis 1:31 records that at the end of the sixth day, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” Everything in God’s creation submitted to His sovereign rule; there was no conflict or rebellion. There was no Satan, no adversary, no rebel, no deceiver. Then came a disastrous event that ignited the cosmic war. Ezekiel describes it:
Again the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God, “You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; it has consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the eyes of all who see you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have become terrified, and you will be no more.’” (Ezek. 28:11-19)
Beginning in chapter 26, Ezekiel has been giving prophecies against the city of Tyre. In Ezekiel 28:1-19, he indicts the human ruler of Tyre. He then goes beyond him to speak of the supernatural power behind the human ruler. Verses 1-10 focus on the human leader of Tyre, but verses 11-19 contain descriptions that could not apply to any human. The leader of Tyre did not have “the seal of perfection” (v. 12), nor was he in “Eden, the garden of God” (v. 13). No mere human could be called “the anointed cherub who covers” (v. 14), and of no man except Adam could it be said, “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you” (v. 15). Verses 11-19, then, describe Lucifer.
Before his fall, which obviously took place after the creation of the Garden of Eden, Satan was the “anointed cherub who covers” (v. 14). He was the highest ranking angelic being, concerned particularly with the glory of God. He was “on the holy mountain of God,” and “walked in the midst of the stones of fire.” That speaks of his dwelling in the immediate presence of God. How such a being, blameless since his creation, existing in a perfectly holy environment, could sin remains a mystery. That he did sin is a fact, however. All Ezekiel says of him is that “unrighteousness was found in you” (v. 15). He was then cast from his station among the holy ones in God’s presence (v. 16), although he is still allowed access to that presence (Job 1:6; Rev. 12:10). It was then that he became Satan, the adversary; Apollyon, the destroyer; Devil, the slanderer.
As already noted, it is difficult for our finite minds to understand how a perfect being in a perfect environment could fall into sin. Ezekiel describes Lucifer’s motivation in verse 17: “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.” Satan somehow became enamored with his beauty and splendor, and his response was the sin of pride, which led to rebellion.
Isaiah 14:12-14 confirms that it was indeed pride that caused Satan’s downfall:
How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
As Ezekiel described Satan as the greater power behind the ruler of Tyre, so Isaiah shows him to be the power behind the king of Babylon. He calls him “star of the morning,” emphasizing the glory Satan possessed before his fall (cf. Rev. 22:16 where a similar phrase is used to describe Christ). Isaiah’s exclamation “How you have fallen from heaven” is reminiscent of our Lord’s words in Luke 10:18, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”
Satan’s pride is revealed in the five statements in verses 13 and 14 that begin, “I will.” He was not content with being the highest-ranking created being, dwelling constantly in God’s presence. He became jealous of God, and sought equality with Him. That sin, a projection of his pride, was the same one he soon tempted Eve to commit (Gen. 3:5). When Satan, in his pride, tried to “ascend above the heights of the clouds,” and make himself “like the Most High,” the long war with God began.
Satan was not alone in his rebellion. Revelation 12:3-4 reveals that hosts of other angels joined him:
And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
The dragon is none other than Satan, and the stars of heaven symbolize the angels (cf. Job 38:7). When Satan fell, he took one third of the angels with him. These fallen angels, or demons, aid Satan in his warfare against God. While some God has permanently bound (Jude 6), and others He has temporarily bound until the Tribulation (cf. Rev. 9:3ff.), the others move through the world to do Satan’s bidding and their own evil.
The specific target of Satan and his demonic hosts is Christ and His redemptive work and final glory. In Revelation 12:5, we read of the woman, symbolizing Israel, giving birth to the Messiah, who was to rule the nations with a rod of iron. In verse 4, we see Satan attempting to destroy the child. Throughout history, that has been the special focus of his attack. In Genesis 6, we learn of his attempt to produce a race of half-breed demon-men that would be unredeemable. He often tried to corrupt Israel with sin or mixed marriages so there would be no possibility of a godly seed. He even tried to accomplish the genocide of the Jews, but God used Mordecai to save them (see Esther). He tried to kill Jesus through Herod’s slaughter of the infants, and by having Him thrown off a cliff at Nazareth (Luke 4:29). He tried to get Him to fall to his temptations. Finally, he had Him crucified, only to have his own head crushed and his power forever shattered by Christ’s resurrection.
Satan and his angels, in battling God and His purposes, also wage war against God’s elect angels, led by Michael. That warfare has a past (Jude 9; Dan. 9), present, and future (Rev. 12:7) aspect. Although hidden from our view, their battle is no less real (cf. Dan. 10:12-13).
Satan also attacks the people of God. In Revelation 12:17, we read of his future attack on Israel in the Tribulation. Right now he attacks the church, both personally, and through fallen angels and evil men (cf. Eph. 6:12). He has limited interest in individual believers; even his attacks on them are ultimately attacks on God and attempts to thwart His plans. How we fare in the battle, then, reflects on God. If we are defeated, Satan has in that sense been effective. When we are victorious, his attack against God is beaten off. In light of that, Paul urged Timothy to “suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:3).
If we would be victorious, we must understand how Satan attacks the church today. Then, like Paul, we will not be “ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11). First, Satan attacks the church by blinding the minds of unbelievers to the gospel (2 Cor. 4:3-4), thereby keeping them away from the truth and the church. He accomplishes that through ignorance, false religion, pride, lust, and the wickedness that results from his control over the world system.
Second, Satan attempts to devastate those who are already believers to cripple them and destroy the credibility of their witness. Jesus warned Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). Satan wanted to destroy Peter’s faith, to shake him and make what was genuine in him blow away in the wind. If he had succeeded, Peter would have been useless to God. Peter remembered our Lord’s warning, and in 1 Peter 5:8 exhorted us to “be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Satan attacks believers, trying to destroy their faith and trust in God, thereby rendering them ineffective for the battle.
Third, Satan attacks the church by attacking marriage and the family. Paul commanded husbands and wives not to deprive each other of sexual relations so Satan would have no opportunity to tempt them (1 Cor. 7:5). Strong marriages and families are a prerequisite to a healthy church and witness. By attacking those institutions, Satan weakens the church. The recent upsurge in divorce and other family problems among Christians indicates he is having success in that area.
Fourth, Satan attacks the church through her leaders. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 3 that leaders must be well qualified for their positions. Otherwise, they may “fall into reproach and the snare of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:7). There is no one in the church Satan would rather destroy than leaders. This, too, is an area where Satan has had much success in recent years. Leader after leader has been devastated by Satan’s attacks, whether through sexual sin, pride, materialism, or authoritarianism. The results for the church are tragic. When the shepherds are destroyed, the flock will scatter.
Finally, Satan attacks the church through false religious systems. Liberal Christianity, the cults, world religions, and humanism are a constant menace. The leaders of those movements, like their evil master, can transform themselves into angels of light (2 Cor. 11:14-15). The things taught in the name of biblical truth are sometimes frightening (cf. Acts 20:28-32; 1 Tim. 4:1-7; Titus 1:10-11; 2 Peter 2:1-3, etc.). The church faces a constant barrage of error, all of it ultimately spawned by Satan—“doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).
How can the church defend itself against such assaults of the wicked one? Paul gives the answer in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5:
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Ephesians 6:13-18 lays out the necessary armor:
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.
Our weapons for fighting the spiritual battle are God’s Word and prayer “at all times.” Apart from that, all our intellect, ability, skill, and ingenuity are useless. As Martin Luther wrote in the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,”
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing.
We successfully fight the noble war by living in obedience to Scripture. Then we can sing in triumph,
And tho this world, with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo, his doom is sure;
One little word shall fell him.
(Martin Luther,
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”)
To take up the Scripture and fight the spiritual war effectively, Timothy needed to understand his responsibility beyond himself and within himself.
THE RESPONSIBILITY BEYOND HIMSELF
This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight,(1:18)
Timothy was not in the battle alone. He was commissioned by Paul, and his call to the ministry was confirmed by revelation from God concerning him. His service as a soldier for Christ was thus set in the context of the authority and affirmation of the church. He was responsible and accountable to the church and the Head of the church for his role in the battle.
To carry out his responsibility to the Lord and the church, Timothy had first a command to obey. Parangelian (command) is used for a military order. As such it is not a suggestion, and is not open for discussion. It is a mandate to be carried out obediently. In 5:21 Paul charged Timothy and made him accountable to God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the elect angels. In 6:13-14 he again made Timothy accountable to God for his actions. That staggering accountability led Paul to “solemnly charge” Timothy “in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:1-2). He will answer to God and to Christ for his ministry (cf. Heb. 13:17; James 3:1). Timothy had a duty to God in the church, something our self-indulgent culture knows little about. We talk much of freedom, success, joy, and peace, but little of duty. Yet we are duty-bound to obey the Commander (2 Tim. 2:4) and fulfill our ministries (2 Tim. 4:5). Those things are not optional.
Our Lord stressed the importance of duty in Luke 17:7-10:
But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come immediately and sit down to eat”? But will he not say to him, “Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk; and afterward you will eat and drink”? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, “We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.”
Paul understood clearly the concept of duty. Giving his testimony before King Agrippa he said, “I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). To the Corinthians he wrote, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me” (1 Cor. 9:16-17). Paul recognized that he was under a divine obligation to use his gifts and fulfill his calling. In Acts 20:24 he told the Ephesian elders, “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”
Every servant of the Lord is duty-bound to carry out his ministry. Moses (Ex. 4:10-16), Isaiah (Isa. 6:8-11), Jeremiah (Jer. 20:9), Ezekiel (Ezek. 2:7-8), and Jonah (Jonah 1:1-2) all were given a charge to fulfill. In 2 Timothy 4:1-2 Paul commanded Timothy to preach the Word “in season and out of season.” In our society, with its emphasis on entertainment, anti-authoritarian attitude, critic mentality, and psychological orientation, our message will often be rejected. That, however, does not excuse us from our duty (cf. Jer. 7:27; Ezek. 2:4-5; 3:7; 33:30-32).
Second, Timothy was entrusted with a commission to fulfill. Paratith ēmi (entrust) refers to committing something of value to another. It is used, for example, to speak of putting a deposit in a bank. Paul had given Timothy a valuable deposit, God’s truth (cf. 2 Tim. 2:2), which was the “treasure” he was to guard diligently (6:20; 2 Tim. 1:14). Paul himself had been entrusted with that deposit (cf. 1:11), and that same deposit of truth has been handed down through the centuries to us. We must preserve it and hand it down intact to the next generation.
Third, Timothy had a confirmation to live up to. Timothy’s calling had been confirmed through prophecies. Prophets in the New Testament era spoke the revelation of God’s will to the early church. Prophecy is the gift of proclaiming God’s Word. In one sense, anyone who preaches or teaches God’s Word is a prophet. Unlike present-day teachers and preachers, however, New Testament prophets occasionally received direct revelation from God. While doctrine was the province of the apostles (cf. Acts 2:42), prophets seem to be the instruments God used to speak of practical issues (cf. Acts 21:10-11). (For a thorough discussion of the gift of prophecy, see my books Charismatic Chaos [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992], 54-84 [especially pp. 69-70]; and Reckless Faith [Wheaton, III.: Crossway, 1994], 177ff.)
Proag ō (previously made) literally means “leading the way to.” It implies that a series of prophecies had been made concerning Timothy in connection with him having received his spiritual gift (4:14). The prophecies, then, were those that specifically and supernaturally called Timothy into the ministry. Paul’s command to Timothy was not his own, but was confirmed by God through the ministry of some prophets.
Pastors and elders are no longer called to the ministry in such a dramatic fashion. As we will see in 3:1, the call to ministry rises from inside through desire, rather than outside from revelation. That desire is then to be confirmed by the church. The church, by observing a man’s life and service, can confirm whether he gives evidence of being called by God to the ministry. That confirmation by the church should keep us going when the battle is fierce. Having been commissioned by God through divine revelation, or, as now, by the confirmation of God’s people, a leader can’t quit. The call of God in his life should encourage Timothy and all other preachers to fight the good fight. Good is from kalos, meaning intrinsically good—noble, excellent, or virtuous. There is the duty to God and the church of Jesus Christ to motivate the embattled preacher—and the knowledge that it is the noblest warfare in all the universe. What better thing to live and die for than the great war between God and Satan—a war for the souls of men and women and the glory of God and our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ?
William Barclay relates the dramatic story of the great Scottish Reformer John Knox’s call to the ministry:
[John Knox] had been teaching in St. Andrews. His teaching was supposed to be private but many came to it, for he was obviously a man with a message. So the people urged him “that he would take the preaching place upon him. But he utterly refused, alleging that he would not run where God had not called him…Whereupon they privily among themselves advising, having with them in council Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, they concluded that they would give a charge to the said John, and that publicly by the mouth of their preacher.”
So Sunday came and Knox was in Church and John Rough was preaching. “The said John Rough, preacher, directed his words to the said John Knox, saying: ‘Brother, ye shall not be offended, albeit that I speak unto you that which I have in charge, even from all those that are here present, which is this: In the name of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, and in the name of these that presently call you by my mouth, I charge you that you refuse not this holy vocation, but … that you take upon you the public office and charge of preaching, even as you look to avoid God’s displeasure, and desire that he shall multiply his graces with you.’ And in the end he said to those that were present: ‘Was not this your charge to me? And do ye not approve this vocation?’ They answered: ‘It was: and we approve it.’ Whereat the said John, abashed, burst forth in most abundant tears, and withdrew himself to his chamber. His countenance and behaviour, from that day till the day that he was compelled to present himself to the public place of preaching, did sufficiently declare the grief and trouble of his heart; for no man saw any sign of mirth in him, neither yet had he pleasure to accompany any man, many days together.”
John Knox was chosen; he did not want to answer the call; but he had to, for the choice had been made by God. Years afterwards, the Regent Morton uttered his famous epitaph by Knox’s graveside: “In respect that he bore God’s message, to whom he must make account for the same, he (albeit he was weak and an unworthy creature, and a fearful man) feared not the faces of men.” The consciousness of being chosen gave him courage. (The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975], 49-50)
Like Timothy and John Knox, those called by God must accept the duty to fulfill their ministries.
THE RESPONSIBILITY WITHIN HIMSELF
keeping faith and a good conscience (1:19a)
Paul links faith and a good conscience repeatedly in this letter (cf. 1:5; 3:9). The faith is a reference to the Christian faith, the gospel, the Word of God. Keeping the faith means holding fast to that revealed truth. Timothy’s first responsibility to the Lord was to remain loyal to the objective body of revealed Scripture. Unlike those who turned away from the faith (1:6; 6:10, 21), Timothy was to remain unwaveringly devoted to the Word of God. In fact, he was to guard it (6:20), nourish himself on it (4:6), and preach it (4:13; 2 Tim. 4:2).
A good conscience is the result of a pure life. Like Paul (cf. Acts 24:16), Timothy was to maintain a blameless conscience. Conscience is a God-given device in every human mind that reacts to that person’s behavior. It either accuses or excuses (Rom. 2:14-15). It produces feelings of well-being, peace, contentment, and calm when behavior is good. When behavior is evil, it activates guilt, shame, remorse, fear, doubt, insecurity, and despair. Its purpose is to warn the person of the fact that he is sinning. What a blessing to have such a warning device. It is to the soul what pain is to the body. Pain warns that something threatens the body’s well-being. Guilt warns that something threatens the well-being of the soul. Paul was always anxious to have a clean, clear, pure, good conscience (cf. 2 Cor. 1:12) and desired the same for Timothy. He calls for holiness in this charge to Timothy.
Doctrinal purity must be accompanied by purity of life. There is an inseparable link between truth and morality, between right belief and right behavior. Consequently, theological error has its roots in moral rather than intellectual soil (cf. Matt. 7:15-20). People often teach wrong doctrine to accommodate their sin. That truth is borne out by the immorality that so often characterizes false teachers (cf. 2 Peter 2). It is not surprising, then, that Paul also emphasizes godliness in 1 Timothy (cf. 2:10; 4:7-8; 6:6). Sound doctrine and godly living are the twin towers guarding the purity of the church: “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things; for as you do this you will insure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (4:16).
By remembering his responsibility beyond himself to the Lord and to the church to keep himself pure, Timothy would be able to fight the spiritual battle he faced. He would serve valiantly as a “good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:3).