A Life-long Obedience that Enables Believers to Go the Distance!

Pastor Stephen Cole was over the target when he wrote, “It is not difficult in our world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to be born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.

“The Christian life is not a hundred-yard dash; it’s a marathon, a “long obedience in the same direction.” Starting well is easy; finishing well is another matter. We all will encounter numerous hindrances. But, like John Bunyan’s Christian, those whose burden has been lifted at Calvary will persevere.”

As a society, we are obsessed with the immediate, the instant, but the time-tested, biblical prescription for discipleship remains the same - a long obedience in the same direction. And discipleship isn’t an optional, special category of followers of Christ. Jesus said, “… if any man does not take up his cross and follow me, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27).

Several years ago, Euguene Peterson wrote a great book titled, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society. Borrowing one of the quotes from the book, Peterson notes that, “There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness. Religion in our time has been captured by the tourist mindset. Religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site to be made when we have adequate leisure.”

As Paul concludes his first letter to Timothy, he charges him to “go the distance”, to “finish the race”, to not “make shipwreck of his faith” by not “holding faith and a good conscience” as had Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:18-20).

In his final charge, he tells Timothy in 6:13-14, live “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, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

There will be stumbles in the life of faith, momentary sidetracks and stops, temporary flashes of the flesh, but “the righteous falls seven times and rises again” (Proverbs 24:16). The righteous can be confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philps. 1:6). They can use that confidence to strengthen their resolve to never give up, to keep pressing forward, even though they may fall seven times.

Let’s unpack these final charges and instructions of Paul to his spiritual son, Timothy, in order to clearly see the way to live a life-long obedience that will enable us to “Go the Distance!”

1.The Godly Choices

FLEE Particular Things that Hinder Us from Going the Distance - 1 Tim. 6:11, "But as for you, O man of God, fless these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness."

“But you, O man of God,” is used here to contrast Timothy with the opponents. They are people who teach incorrect doctrine, promote unhealthy instruction, have a sickly craving for controversy, are corrupt in the mind, are greedy for gain, have abandoned the faith, and have inflicted their own wounds. But Timothy is a man of God akin to the prophets of old with the authority to fight the false teachers of Ephesus.

The word “flee” that Paul used here did not refer to literal running, but to Timothy’s separating himself from the sins of the false teachers.

Kenny Rogers famous “Gambler’s” song was not just good advice for card playing, but for life itself: “You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run!” Paul reminded Timothy that there are certain things that you don’t play around with. Temptation is not something the believer fights against but runs from!

1Cors. 6:18: Flee from sexual immorality. 1Cors. 10:14: Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 2 Tim. 2:22: So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

It’s been said that discretion is often the better part of valor; and quite frequently, the Christian's safety and wisdom is to run. “Flee these things ", says Paul. Flee what? Flee covetousness, the love of money and its results, which he has just spoken of in the previous verses 9-10. I think we can enlarge the counsel and urge that we should turn our backs and run away from anything that is calculated to slow, sidetrack, or hinder the Christian progress, or to lower the Christian standard, anything that will cause the careless believer to be content with anything less than God’s best. Flee - “yes, but to where? Proverbs 18:10 gives good directions: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”  Because the name of Yahweh represents His character in all its aspects, the believer can think about the aspects of God’s character and find a strong, safe refuge in them.

FOLLOW Postive Things that Helps Us to Finish Well -  The KJV translates 1 Tim. 6:11 as, "But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness."

In the Bible, the Christian life is never contemplated as a merely negative thing, i.e. don’t do this or do that, etc., but it is, in all respects, a basically positive thing. And so, Paul lays it down here in his advice to his young disciple and copartner in kingdom business, six things that he should take pains to pursue. Let’s think of them in terms of a six-fold relationship.

Paul charges Timothy to “follow” or better to “pursue” these things. The Greek word “dioko” means to follow zealously after or press hard after something; to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing. This verb conveys a picture of an intense, diligent, determined, earnest, eager effort in pursuit of something in order to obtain or acquire it, in the present case godly virtues. The word paints the picture of going on the track of something even as the fox hunting hounds would tirelessly pursue after the fleeing fox.

Steven Cole was right when he said, "you won’t accidentally attain these qualities by hanging around church buildings long enough. You’ve got to go after them deliberately over the long haul." These virtues will elude us if we do not make the necessary Holy Spirit and grace enabled effort to chase after them!

Righteousness – This involves relations to others. Righteousness means observable "uprightness," a life in accordance with God's values. Righteousness has to do with what is right - both toward God and others.

Godliness - This involves relation to GOD. The word is closely related to righteousness. It has the nuance of reverence or awe in God’s presence. A godly person lives with an awareness of God’s holy presence, and so he fears God and flees from sin.

Guy King asks some heart-piercing questions related to godliness: Is God’s Word our constant study; His Will our earnest endeavor; His Work our happy employment; His Worth our daily theme?

Faith – This involves relation to duty. Some commentators understand it to mean “faithfulness,” that dependability which is a fruit of the Spirit and should be present in every believer (Gal. 5:22). But it also can refer to the trust in God that consciously relies on Him in every situation of life. But keep in mind the context, faith must be pursued. You don’t wake up some morning with vigorous faith any more than a guy with bulging muscles went to bed one night as a 98-pound weakling and woke up looking like Mr. America! How do you pursue faith? By trusting God in the frustrations, irritations, and trials that He sends your way. You deliberately humble yourself under God’s sovereign hand and cast all your anxieties on Him through prayer, knowing that in spite of how it may seem, He does care for you (1 Pet. 5:6-7).

Love – This involves relation to all persons. Romans 13:8 tells us that we are to “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” We often have the mistaken notion that love just flows effortlessly or is a feeling that I suddenly get. If we must work at it, it must not be love. But why would the Bible so often command us to love one another if it didn’t require diligent effort?

Steadfastness - This involves relation to circumstances. Steadfastness or perseverance is the quality of holding on, staying under the pressure, whatever transpires.

Eugene Peterson insightfully notes that “perseverance is not resignation, putting up with things the way they are, staying in the same old rut year after year, or being a doormat for people to wipe their feet on. Endurance is not a desperate hanging on but a traveling from strength to strength.”

In its New Testament use the Greek word “hupomonē” means endurance, staying in the race, refusing to quit on God - even if it means torture and martyrdom. A tradition, recorded by Eusebius, says that Timothy was beaten to death by a mob in Ephesus because of his arraignment of the idolatrous immorality of the worship of Diana.

Gentleness – This involves relation to self. The word doesn’t mean meekness in the sense of weakness. Rather, it means strength under control. The root word was used concerning Alexander the Great’s horse, a mighty and powerful animal, but completely broken, responsive to its master’s commands.

I love this paraphrase of 1 Timothy 6:11 – “But in contrast to the man who loves money, you O man of God continually make choices (enabled by the Spirit) to run and flee things mentioned (especially the love of money), continually pursuing hard (enabled by the Spirit of Grace), after right (righteous first before God and then before men) thoughts, words and deeds, the things that God loves and that please Him, genuine faith that readily obeys, sacrificial love that dies daily to self and a meek spirit like a gentle but powerful horse.”

FIGHT Perversion of the Truth that Hides the Necessity of Going the Distance - 1Tim 6:12:

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…”

The Greek word for fight gives us the English word agonize, and was used in both military and athletic endeavors to describe the concentration, discipline, and extreme effort needed to win.

John Piper asserts that there are two ways to understand Paul’s command to fight the good fight of faith:

One would be this: since our faith is often threatened by doubt and unbelief we must fight to maintain faith. So, the phrase "fight of faith" would mean: the struggle to keep on believing God, the fight to keep on trusting his promises.

The other way to understand the phrase "fight of faith" would be this: we must fight the fight of faith in the sense that faith is used as the weapon to attain some other victory beyond faith itself. The idea is not merely that we are fighting to maintain our faith, but that we are maintaining faith in order to attain some victory by means of faith. I think both of these are in Paul's mind and that the two always go together.

Pastor Stephen Cole adds a third possibility to what Paul meant by the command to fight the good fight of the faith as he notes: “The Greek reads, “the faith,” meaning the Christian faith as revealed in the truth of God’s Word. As we’ve seen, sound doctrine is essential for sound Christian living. So Satan attacks sound doctrine, often with subtle errors and truth out of balance. So the Christian must, in the words of Jude 3, “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”

Verse 6:12b charges us to, “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” This refers to the process of laying hold of that for which we were laid hold of by Christ Jesus (Philps. 3:12). God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3), but we must take hold of those blessings, first by discovering them in God’s Word, and then by implementing them in daily life through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul says at the very end of his life, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Fighting the fight of faith, finishing the race, and keeping faith all mean the same thing.

2. THE GOOD CONFESSION – 6:12b-13,

“and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you 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, 

Pastor David Platt writes, “As believers, we should also live in view of Christ's faithfulness. Paul said that Christ "gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate" (v. 13). When the life of the Son of God was on the line before Pontius Pilate, He made the good confession. Jesus confessed His kingship, and it cost Him His life. He is the Savior who died for you, and He stands beside you in battle. So what do you have to fear? Moreover, He is the King who is coming for you. Verse 14 says we are to walk in obedience "until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." We fight with our eyes on the sky, looking and longing for the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pursue godliness because we know Christ is returning. He is coming back for the faithful, not the faithless.

“And when you feel overwhelmed, live in awe of God's greatness. In verses 6:15-16, Paul erupted into one of the most majestic and glorious hymns of praise to God in all of Scripture. Consider what Paul tells us about God here:

• His rule is universal: God is sovereign over everything.
• His reign is invincible: He is the King of kings. No one can match Him.
• He is immortal: He is beyond time, from everlasting to everlasting.
• He is unapproachable: God lives in an atmosphere of blinding holiness.
• He is inconceivable: No one can fathom His greatness. He is utterly transcendent.
• He possesses all power: Eternal, omnipotent might is His.
• He deserves all praise: To God belongs honor and glory.

 3. THE GREAT COMMISSION – 6:20-21

“O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.” 

Hear the pathos of Paul’s heart for his young Timothy – “O Timothy”. He wants Timothy to have the best, do the best, be the best, for GOD. So now, as he dictates his last words for the moment, it is to lay upon him afresh the Great Commission.

Timothy is charged to “guard the deposit entrusted to you.” A great deal has been written by way of attempting to decide what was the character of that deposit entrusted to Timothy. I believe that it’s meaning is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:4, "but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel…”

The word “entrust” may also be translated, “deposit” because it was a banking term.  In Paul’s’ two letters to Timothy, we find four types of deposits that we need to be making if we are going to be successful multipliers.

Turning to 2 Timothy 2:2, we read, “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 is Paul’s version of the Great Commission that Jesus commanded all available believers to obey. In the Matthew 20:19-20 version of the Great Commission, Jesus gave only one command and it isn’t “GO”, but “MAKE DISCIPLES.”

In Paul’s two letters to Timothy, we find four types of Holy Spirit made deposits: 

Salvation Deposit – 2 Tim 1:12 - First, Paul had deposited his soul and life into Christ’s care for time and eternity.

Stewardship Deposit -1Tim 1:11; 1 Thess 2:4 - Paul was put in touch with the gospel when God’s hand of grace met his hand of faith. Then he was put in tune with it as his life began to adjust more and more to Jesus and His truth. And finally he was put in trust with it, to be sure that it had an expansive and productive future.

Strategy Deposit – 1 Tim 1:18; 6:20; 2 Tim 1:14 - After Paul had deposited his soul into Christ’s care (the salvation deposit), and God had deposited the Gospel treasure into Paul’s care (the stewardship deposit), Paul then deposited the Gospel which had been put into his care into the care and the charge of his disciple, Timothy.

Succession Deposit – 2 Tim 2:2 (there is no success without a successor) - The process is not ended when a Christian makes a disciple as Christ commanded.

Faithful stewardship of the Gospel treasure that God has deposited into our care involves Protecting it from error and Propagating the gospel truth and treasure so that it has a continuing and ceaseless history of blessing the lives of men in all future history.

God has made an incredible, eternal deposit in our lives. What kind of interest is He getting from His deposit?