Fight the Good Fight of Faith

¹¹ But as for you, ^(A)O man of God, ^(B)flee these things. ^(C)Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ^12 (D)Fight the good fight of the faith. ^(E)Take hold of the eternal life ^(F)to which you were called and about which you made ^(G)the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

The Mystery of Godliness

¹⁴ I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, ¹⁵ if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

6 ^(A)Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants^[a] regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, ^(B)so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. ² Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are ^(C)brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

False Teachers and True Contentment

^(D)Teach and urge these things. ³ If anyone ^(E)teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with ^(F)the sound^[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching ^(G)that accords with godliness, ^4 (H)he is puffed up with conceit and ^(I)understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for ^(J)controversy and for ^(K)quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction among people ^(L)who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, ^(M)imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶ But ^(N)godliness ^(O)with contentment is great gain,

¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of ^(A)all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^(A)sin which clings so closely, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is ^(D)set before us,

¹⁶ since it is written, ^(A)“You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Warning Against False Teachers

^3 (A)As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not ^(B)to teach any different doctrine, ⁴ nor ^(C)to devote themselves to myths and endless ^(D)genealogies, which promote ^(E)speculations rather than the stewardship^[a] from God that is by faith. ⁵ The aim of our charge is love ^(F)that issues from a pure heart and ^(G)a good conscience and ^(H)a sincere faith.

²⁴ For ^(A)in this hope we were saved. Now ^(B)hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we ^(C)wait for it with patience.