1 Timothy 6:12, Fight the good fight of Faith, lay hold on Eternal Life, whereunto you are also Called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.
Apostle Paul told Timothy in this verse that he must fight the Good Fight of Faith. The only question which comes to mind is, what faith. In other words what was he to have faith in which would evidently be a fight?
I think the only obvious answer is: The Fight to maintain his Faith in Christ and what He accomplished on the Cross. Surely Paul wasn’t talking about just any faith which he might have in some ambiguous whatever. Paul said he preached Christ and Him Crucified, and it is obvious to anyone who studies the Bible at all as to what faith he is telling Timothy to fight for, ie, what was accomplished by Christ on the Cross.
WHY
And why would the Apostle feel it important to tell Timothy (who obviously at this point in his life had proved he had a significant trust in Christ), that it was so important to fight this good fight?
Simply because there was something which the Apostle Paul knew would be continuously engaging Timothy in an effort to move his faith onto something else.
What else, someone might ask? What else, would principalities, powers, and demons of Satan want to cause Timothy to have faith in.
Simply put: Anything. Anything which would get Timothy or anyone else to trust in or have faith in, which is other than Jesus Christ, for the providing of Redemption, Righteousness, Justification, Liberty, and Sanctification. That is why the fight is a continuing struggle (and really the only struggle which the Christian is told to engage in).
It doesn’t too much matter what we are having faith in, as far as the devil is concerned, as long as it is moved away from what Christ accomplished on the Cross (it is undoubtedly important at this time to point out that anything which we receive from God, we receive because of our Faith in Christ. In other words, anything which we ask God for will only be brought about and honored by God according to our Faith in Christ. Without Christ, one can not possibly have proper faith that God will bring about anything for their cause, regardless of the individual who might be confessing all day long to have faith in whatever). Anything, and let me repeat, ANYTHING, which the powers of darkness can persuade us to trust in other than Christ; is just fine with him.
JUST FINE WITH SATAN
The reason that it makes little difference to the devil as to what you are trusting in, as long as it isn’t Christ and what He accomplished on the Cross is that we only receive Liberty, Redemption, Righteousness, Justification, and Sanctification according to our Faith in Christ. This is the way of the New Covenant. If we leave that Faith in Christ (and I mean trusting in ANYTHING else), we leave the New Covenant. By this New Covenant we live under Grace. But by exhibiting faith in anything else, we are in essence leaving the New Covenant, which leaves us living in the Old Covenant.
Now that the devil has an individual back living in the Old Covenant, he knows that he has them, for there is no redemption in the Old Covenant (Especially not now because Christ has come and fulfilled the Law).
However, by trusting in something to bring us Righteousness in the sight of God, other than Christ Crucified, we are placing ourselves back under Law. By this I mean any law which we construe as bringing us into favor with God.
TROUBLE
The trouble is that as soon as an individual is brought back under Law, he will sin (Rom. 7:5, the motions of sins, which were by the Law).
Romans 7:9 says, “For I was alive without the Law once [as soon as the individual is saved, he is alive without the Law]: but when the Commandment came [the Law which was again given place], sin revived, and I died.
