1 Timothy 6:11–16

¹¹But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and about which you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made a good confession as a witness before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴that you keep this command without spot and without fault, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which he will make known at the proper time—the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶who alone has immortality, who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or is able to see. To him be honor and power forever! Amen.   (EHV)

 “Love God and Love People” is a very popular church tagline nowadays. It is a good summary of the Law, one of the two main doctrines of the Bible. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’(Matthew 22:37–39). Personally though, as an Evangelical Lutheran I’d rather that a church I serve have a mission statement that isn’t all law. I’d want some Gospel there, you know, about Jesus, about forgiveness, about eternal life, maybe something like “Saved by Grace alone.”

I think “Love God and Love People” is a popular church slogan because it sounds so friendly. Love is a great thing, right? And don’t get me wrong. I’m 100% in favor of love and of God’s Commandments, which Jesus Himself summed up with the word “Love.” Our readings today make it clear that keeping the commandments starts with loving God first and foremost, and then loving people. The first three commandments are about loving God. “You shall have no other gods. You shall not misuse the Name of the Lord Your God. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Then finally, honor your mother and father. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal, etc.

In effect, that was what Jesus was highlighting in our Gospel Lesson this morning: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me,” (Matthew 10:37). “Love God, then Love People,” in that order!

Sometimes there’s a very tough choice involved—even between Jesus and the relatives. That’s why Paul’s encouragement to Timothy involved “fighting’ words.” Fight the Good Fight of the Faith, Paul tells Him.

Fight the Good Fight of the Faith

Moses fought the good fight of the faith. We see that in today’s Old Testament Lesson. Moses loved God and God loved Moses. God invited Moses up Mount Sinai where He would personally experience the presence of God as God carved out in stone for Him the 10 Commandments about “Loving God and Loving People.” What a wonderful spiritual experience that was for Moses. Little did he know what was going on at the foot of the mountain at the same time. But he would soon find out. When he got down the mountain, he found the people partying wickedly around a golden calf that his own brother Aaron, the High Priest, had fashioned out of their melted gold earrings and nose rings that they’d plundered from the Egyptians.

It was time for some serious law preaching by Moses! And he loudly called them to repentance. ²⁵When Moses saw that the people were out of control (for Aaron had let them get so out of control that they were disgraced among their enemies), ²⁶Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me!” (Exodus 32:25–26) One might have hoped they all would have gathered back around Moses—the man who had led them out of slavery in Egypt, the one who had divided the Red Sea as they were being chased by the Egyptian army, the one who had been at the front of them all as they were guarded and led by the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. It couldn’t have been more clear that Moses was the man of God sent to take them to the promised land.

But they didn’t all gather around him. Only some did. What was Moses to do? God had established the Israelites as His chosen people for the purpose of preserving the promise of the Savior from sin—the only hope of the world in the face of sin and death. Was he to lead a divided group, at war with each other over religion, to the promised land? This wasn’t some ordinary people! This was a people God had called to be the spiritual leaders of the world! God had once told Moses to assure them, “You will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).

It is for that reason that the gruesome scene we heard about earlier happened. Moses told those who were faithful to the Lord to cut down their own relatives and neighbors that refused to repent. People could not serve as God’s holy nation while at the same time rejecting God! They could not be His kingdom of priests while rejecting God’s prophet and worshiping a golden calf.

Jesus told His disciples that there would be times they too would have to choose between loyalty to God and loyalty to relatives. As we were reminded last week by Jesus, the Gospel sometimes creates enemies. And in His follow-up words today, Jesus says, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”

Some years later, as Paul carried the Gospel to new lands, he trained and ordained pastors to carry on the work of the ministry. One of them was Pastor Timothy, and Paul warns him also that sometimes being a faithful Christian involves fights. But as Paul says elsewhere, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil…” (Ephesians 6:12). So today, he tells Timothy to be prepared to Fight the Good Fight of the Faith.

In addition to the fight all of us Christians carry out daily against the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh, pastors like Timothy need to do the thankless task of warning the people entrusted to their oversight of the dangers of false teaching—hence the texts appointed for our readings these past few weeks. As we go through the Gospel according to Matthew, we can’t just skip over chapters 9 and 10 and pretend Jesus didn’t really tell us these difficult truths. Spoiler alert, though! Next week you’ll get to hear the sweet words of Jesus from Matthew 11, “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” But Jesus spoke all these words, the tough ones, and the soothing ones. Paul and pastor Timothy, like Moses and like every other faithful minister still today needs to preach “the whole counsel of God,” both the bad news and the good news, both Law and Gospel. Why? Because it is a fight, the Good Fight of the Faith—the fight with our own sinful nature, the fight with the devil, the fight to finish the race a winner with Jesus.

Flee Worldliness & Pursue Virtue

Paul began his exhortation to Timothy with these words: But you, O man of God, flee from these things…. What things? Paul names them in the verses before our text: If anyone teaches different doctrines and does not devote himself to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, ⁴he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. Instead, he has a morbid craving for controversies and battles over words, things that produce envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, ⁵and constant frictions among people whose minds are depraved, who have lost hold of the truth, imagining that their godliness is a means of financial gain. Separate yourselves from such people (1 Timothy 6:3–5).

Just as Moses couldn’t take those who rejected God’s clear Word along on the journey to the promised land, neither can the church of God in the New Testament. The New Testament church is not an ethnic group of relatives like the Israelites. The church of Jesus Christ is made up of people “from every nation, tribe, people and language” who believe in Jesus and follow Him in faith. All these diverse people from around the world have One Thing that completely unites them: The love of Jesus and the Gospel of forgiveness which lead to willing submission and obedience to God’s Word. That unity cannot coexist with—as Paul says it— “Constant frictions among people whose minds are depraved, who have lost hold of the truth.”

What can and must exist among Christians united in Fighting the Good Fight of the Faith? Paul said it: “O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

Righteousness is the gift of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, God wipes us clean of sin with the blood of Jesus. Forgiven and renewed we then pursue Godliness. We strive to live for God each day. We work to “Love God and Love People.” We pursue Faith by not neglecting our Bible reading and daily prayers. It’s God’s Word that builds up our faith and makes it stronger and more childlike. Don’t you feel the difference in your day when you take the time to read your Meditations in the morning? Don’t you know in your heart how your faith is stronger after hearing the Word in church and partaking of the sacrament on Sunday? And then we pursue Love. We love God first and then people. Sometimes true love means helping lead someone away from sin and to Jesus. It is not loving to leave someone dying in their sins! Tough love is tough on us too! So Paul adds Perseverance. Stick with it! And do it all with the Gentleness that comes from God’s peace in Christ Jesus.

That was Paul’s inspired advice to Pastor Timothy. But these words are not just for pastors, but for every Christian. Why do it? Why Fight the Fight of the Faith? Why pursue all these godly goals? In order to Take Hold of Eternal Life, Paul says.

Take Hold of Eternal Life

Take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and about which you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Every Christian confesses their faith with the mouth. Timothy made a confession in front of witnesses when he was confirmed. As a child he sat on the laps of his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. They taught him the Word of God growing up and Paul completed his instruction. Paul also trained him to be a theologian and pastor, after which Timothy made an even more public confession of faith before those gathered in the church for his ordination vows as he became a pastor. We communicant members have all taken confirmation vows too. We’ve promised to remain in the one true faith until death, even if captured or threatened with death. If we remain faithful to those vows, we too will Take Hold of Eternal Life. Some make a confession, but then fall away. If you were confirmed many years ago with others, you know how many of them no longer walk through the doors of a church on Sunday morning. But those who remain faithful grow in their faith their whole life! They make their “calling and election sure.” Inspired by daily doses of Gospel forgiveness, they then Love God and Love People. Be one of those and take hold of eternal life! Amen.