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Man of God - Pursue, Fight, Take Hold

(Midweek Devotion - 1 Timothy 6:11-16, 18 Oct 2023)

1 Timothy 6:11-16

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 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, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

In the parting words of Apostle Paul to Timothy, after so many pastoral instructions given to him, he gave a summary of his apostolic letter as a great reminder for the importance of them as genuine child of God and fellow worker in the Kingdom of Christ. If you are one of these categories, then pay attention to Paul in this summary.


MAN OF GOD

The man of God is a biblical term for anyone who is called by God to bring about His purpose and/or will. If the elects are people called by God for his redemptive plan, therefore, God’s elects are Men of God.

You and Me, who were called by God for His glory, are identified with the Triune God - The Father, the Son (our Lord Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. This is identity that every genuine believers must have. We must aim not to be mistaken from this identity by the outsiders, instead, they will easily and fully know that we are the same in what we profess (declaration) and what we possess (vocation).

If these two aspects of our faith are widely disconnected, there is a high chance of committing a sin of hypocrisy or we still remain as outsiders (unbelievers). But if these two (profession and possession of faith) are actively united, as Man of God, these summary of apostolic instructions by the Apostle Paul is completely applicable for you.

PURSUE

Paul calls for the gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit to be desired by His chosen people. The righteousness that is graciously bestowed yo us by the Holy Spirit as the primary product of His work of regeneration or being born again or quickening of our hearts; along with His sanctifying work of bearing fruits in the lives of all believers; we are instructed to pursue them.

Paul does not mean that these are not there yet, as a matter of fact it is there and available for those who seek it and abides in it. Matthew 6:33 said seek first the Kingdom of God and everything shall be added unto you. This only gave us assurance that one who pursues to find the Kingdom of God are one who actually seek it. Seeking does not stop after finding Christ, instead, it is the beginning of lifelong commitment to pursue God’s righteousness and fruit of the Holy Spirit.

FIGHT

Christ Jesus levelled the battle ground for us that even though we are humans, he gave us weapon to win the battle set before us with our enemies. and the last of it is death which 1 Corinthians 15:26 said. Yes, the devil is not our last enemy, he is one of our enemy, but not the last to be destroyed. The Bible said that it is death that is last to be destroyed by Christ.

You have put their faith in Christ Jesus, has this blessed hope of living with Him for all eternity, defeating eternal death destined only for corrupted men. To fight the good fight of faith is to fight the real enemy, which is sin and death. As Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 25:8, “death has been swallowed up in victory.”

Choose our battle, for our battle is to the Lord. Ephesians 6:12 said, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

TAKE HOLD

We believe because we are led by the Way, abide in the Truth, and promised with the Life (John 14:26). Eternal life is a promised to those who genuinely believed in our Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Therefore, Paul wants us to take hold of it. It is a promised of the Triune God whose oath was given through His own name, whose name is holy and blameless, who is impossible to lie or incapable to lie.

Take hold does not mean to grab it or grasp it by our hands from other, instead, we are called to receive them. Eternal life is our very blessed hope, where our trust lies in the finished works of Christ and the preserving power of the Holy Spirit that one day we will be presented before the Father as Holy and Blameless Bride of Christ.


Therefore, as true elect of God, let us walk in the newness of life. Never to return in wearing filthy clothes that we wear once. For our God, will cloth us with His glory, his transcending eternal glory.

Hebrew 10:19-25

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

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