Keeping the faith

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.  2 Timothy 4: 7-8

In Paul's second letter to his student minister, Timothy, the conclusion of Paul's life is drawing closer.  Wanting to give young Timothy some words of encouragement for his continuation in the ministry, Paul mentions fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith. He mentions his crown of righteousness that will be awarded to him in that day, and no only to him but also to everyone that longs for the Lord's return. 

These verses from Paul offer strengthening promises to those who are fighting, running, and keeping the faith. As often as we read these words, do we ever pause for a consideration of what it means to keep the faith?  Perhaps the list of things we should do to keep the faith would include things like Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, participation in the Lord's Supper, and basically being an all-around good person.  Hold that thought for a moment while we look at another verse about faith.

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.  2 Peter 1:5-7

This familiar passage shows us about faith being a foundation in our Christian experience upon which is built  goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. I remember hearing a sermon where each of these attributes were illustrated as a step as we climb the stairs toward maturity.  Perhaps there is an element of truth in looking at faith as the bottom step and the other attributes as being built on faith, but there is another picture that comes from using an illustration like that. 

The tendency we have, with faith as a foundation, built up as goodness and knowledge and all the others are added as subsequent steps higher. Then we get somewhere close to the top of the stairs and often think we have outgrown the need for foundational faith.  We miss the whole point of being people of faith if we take the steps above it with the notion that we have outgrown the lower steps.  Also, if we reach the step of self-control and keep climbing to reach love at the top of the stairs, it doesn't imply that we no longer need self-control since it is several steps back down the stairs.  So faith, being the foundation is easy to understand, but keeping faith is always going to be the foundation as we strive for Christian maturity. 

 Keeping the faith might include all those things we mentioned above, but when Paul says "I have kept the faith," I see the larger picture of Paul letting us know that faith is more than a foundation to our lives, faith IS our way of life. When faith becomes priority and is manifest in our words and our deeds, that is faith worth keeping to the very end.

<ronbwriting@yahoo.com>