To Those Who Fight the Good Fight

To those who fight…

Your effort, discipline, and training are truly admirable.
But the highest realm one can reach by human strength is still only purity.
The priests, Pharisees, scribes, and teachers of the law—yes,

they were the righteous ones who kept devout commandments.
Yet even Apostle Paul, who called himself a Pharisee of Pharisees,

said he was blameless under the law.

But why did he abandon all those titles and walk the path of suffering?
It was for one reason: to gain Christ—because he had encountered Him.
Was it Paul’s own effort that led him to meet Christ? No.
It was while he was still a sinner that Jesus Christ came to him.
And when he realized that in all his zeal he had actually been persecuting God,
and that he was saved from that very sin,
imagine the awe that must have filled his soul.

Only then did he begin to realize how vast, how incomprehensible,

the God he thought he knew truly is.
We all see in part, and yet we often speak as if we know the whole.

 

It was Christ, who came as light, who gave Paul his mission and

caused him to be born again.
In the days when Paul kept all the commandments and worked fervently for God,
he never could have understood love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control.
But the Holy Spirit taught him.
And He began to uncover all the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,

and the pride of life—
things Paul had buried deep in order to live righteously.
Then he had to confront his shame and helplessness.
He thought if he locked it all away, no one would ever know.
He thought his zeal would please God.
But didn't Paul himself say: “I am the chief of sinners”?

O fighters, are you truly fighting the good fight?
If so, then your methods and your fruit must also be good.
Are you fighting according to the rules?
Paul said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Is the fruit of your battle good?

Read Romans 12:9-20.
Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
Serve the Lord fervently.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.
Bless those who persecute you.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn.
Live in harmony, do not be proud, but be willing to associate with the lowly.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
If possible, live at peace with everyone.
Do not take revenge, but leave room for God's wrath.
Feed your enemy if they are hungry. Give them drink if thirsty.
In doing so, you heap burning coals on their heads.

When you look at this list—don’t you see who Paul's teacher was?

In every battle, we are to be found in Christ.

Fighters, the Lord is not calling us to mere purity, but to holiness.

“Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16)

Holiness cannot come from man. It is only possible when the Holy One Himself becomes our Lord.

Yes, holiness involves separation, but this expression alone falls short—
For our holy Lord did not separate Himself from lepers,
nor did He distance Himself from sinners.
He even died with them on the cross.

He touched the leper, saying, “I am willing. Be clean.”
He held the hand of a dead girl—unclean by the law—and she lived.

Fighters, do you not see?
In wrestling with monsters, you may have become monsters yourselves.
You scream, rage, and curse daily—yet the flesh continues to rule.
Paul warned about this clearly in Colossians 2:20-23.

If your battle were righteous, our Lord would have shown it in His life.
But before His death, He prayed not to take His disciples out of the world,
but to keep them from the evil one.

“Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:15-17)

He didn't ask for separation.
He asked for preservation—in the very midst of evil.

Thus the only way to live in the world yet not belong to it
is to be made holy through the truth—the Word of God.

Holiness is not just separation or distinction.
When Jesus was weakest in His flesh,
He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.
Even then, He defeated the devil not with power but with the Word.

True holiness is standing firm in the place of evil, holding on to the truth without wavering—
A living stone unmoved by accusation, judgment, or curses.

And what are we called to?

"Come to Him, a living stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him—
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,
offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:4-5)

 

O fighters,
Our Lord Jesus Christ is God from before the creation of the world.
He created all things by His Word. In Him was life—eternal life.

Yet ironically, this One who is Life came to taste death.

Not out of curiosity. Not because He had to.
But because He loves you.

So now, read this passage from Hebrews slowly and meditate on it:

“But we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while,
now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death,
so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone...
He too shared in their humanity so that by His death
He might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil...
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
(Hebrews 2:9–18, abridged)

 

If you have gained Christ, the battle is already won.
Amen.