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The Good Fight of Faith

11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made[a] the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.(A) 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you(B) 14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,(C) 15 which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.(D) 16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 6.12 Gk confessed

11 But you, as a person dedicated to God,[a] keep away from all that.[b] Instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Compete well[c] for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession[d] for[e] in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you[f] before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession[g] before Pontius Pilate, 14 to obey[h] this command[i] without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ 15 —whose appearing[j] the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time. 16 He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Timothy 6:11 tn Grk “O man of God.”
  2. 1 Timothy 6:11 tn Grk “flee these things.”
  3. 1 Timothy 6:12 tn This phrase literally means “compete in the good competition of the faith,” using words that may refer to a race or to a boxing or wrestling match: “run the good race” or “fight the good fight.” The similar phrase in 1 Tim 1:18 uses a military picture and is more literally “war the good warfare.”
  4. 1 Timothy 6:12 sn At some point in Timothy’s life, he publicly acknowledged Jesus as the resurrected Lord, perhaps either at his baptism or his ordination as a minister of the gospel. With this reminder of the historical moment of his good confession, Timothy is encouraged to remain steadfast in his faith and to finish his life as a minister in the same way it began (see G. W. Knight, Pastoral Epistles [NIGTC], 264-65).
  5. 1 Timothy 6:12 tn Grk “confessed the good confession.”
  6. 1 Timothy 6:13 tc ‡ Most witnesses, some of them significant (א2 A D H 1175 1505 1881 M al lat sy bo), have σοι (soi, “you”) after παραγγέλλω (parangellō, “I charge [you]”), a predictable variant because the personal pronoun is demanded by the sense of the passage (and was added in the translation because of English requirements). Hence, the omission is the harder reading, and the addition of σοι is one of clarification. Further, the shorter reading is found in several significant witnesses, such as א* F G Ψ 6 33 1739. Although the external evidence is evenly balanced, internally the shorter reading is preferred. NA 28 places σοι in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.tn Grk “I charge.”
  7. 1 Timothy 6:13 tn Grk “testified the good confession.”sn Jesus’ good confession was his affirmative answer to Pilate’s question “Are you the king of the Jews?” (see Matt 27:11, Mark 15:2, Luke 23:3, John 18:33-37).
  8. 1 Timothy 6:14 tn The Greek word τηρέω (tēreō, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.
  9. 1 Timothy 6:14 tn Grk “the command.”sn The command refers to the duties laid upon Timothy for his ministry in Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3-20; 6:2c-5).
  10. 1 Timothy 6:15 tn Grk “which.” All of 1 Tim 6:15 is a relative clause which refers back to “appearing” in v.14. The phrase “whose appearing” was supplied to clarify this connection.