Paul charges Timothy with the task of to faithfully keep the commands of this letter. This is a solemn charge made before two witnesses: the presence of God and Christ Jesus. Paul uses two metaphors for this pursuit of godliness: fight the good fight and take hold of eternal life.
This may be a sports metaphor since the verb translated “fight” (ἀγωνίζομαι) used for competing in a context ( Cor 9:25). But it can also be used in the context of warfare (John 18:36, 2 Macc 8:16). Paul uses the verb to describe his own ministry (Col 1:29), and Epaphras is described as “struggling in prayer” for the church at Colossae (Col 4:12, cf. 1 Tim4:10)). In 2 Tim 4:7 Paul uses a similar phrase when looking back over his ministry (he has fought the good fight).
“Taking hold” (ἐπιλαμβάνομαι) sometimes has a violent implication as well. It was used when the Romans pressed Simon of Cyrene into carrying the cross of Jesus and twice in Acts for someone being seized or arrested ( Acts 16:19; 18:17). The LXX uses this verb in Prov 4:13, the wise person takes hold of instruction. (There are violent connotations often in LXX Judges, 2 Sam 13:11 it is used for a rape). Taken along with “fight the good fight,” Paul is telling Timothy to compete in a way that will “win the prize.” The victory is not really won until the competitor takes the prize, an Olympic crown, for example.
Timothy is reminded his public confession of faith. What does Paul have in mind with this “confession”? There are three options (Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, 355-6). One possibility is Timothy was arrested at some point prior to this and he made a confession of faith before some civil tribunal. This would explain the reference to Jesus making ‘the good confession” before Pilate. The witnesses were those at the court who heard Timothy confess his faith in the face of persecution. The most significant problem with this view is there is not clear reference to Timothy’s arrest in any New Testament literature.
On the other hand, Paul may refer to Timothy’s commission to ministry. In this case, the witnesses are other elders and leaders of the church who heard Timothy make a public commitment to ministry. Paul has referred to Timothy’s commission (1:18-20) and his gift “given by prophecy” (4:14). If this is true, then Paul is saying to Timothy, do not be like Hymenaeus and Alexander, who shipwrecked their faith (1:20), follow through on your commission to ministry.
But Paul may be looking even further back than Timothy’s commission to ministry. Since the “prize” that awaits him for finishing the contest is eternal life, it is most likely that Paul has in mind Timothy’s initial confession of faith in Jesus. If this is the case, then the people in the church who witnessed this confession are the “many witnesses.”
Just as the letter began with a charge to Timothy to guard the faith which was entrusted to him, now Paul once again solemnly charges Timothy to remember what he has already committed to when he began his ministry. Timothy is to keep these commands are to be kept perfectly. Unstained (ἄσπιλος) is sometimes translated as “spotless” in the context of a sacrifice (Lev 4:3, for example). In 1 Peter 1:19 Jesus is described as the “pure spotless lamb.” A “blemish” (σπίλος) is used as a character fault in Hermas, Similitudes 9.4.4. The verb cognate of this word refers to a stain or defilement.
Free from reproach (ἀνεπίληπτος). Paul has already used this word in 1 Tim 3:2 (the overseer must be above reproach) and in 5:7 (widows have to be above reproach). The word has the sense of “above criticism” (Cf., Titus 2:8). L&N suggests the word here means that Timothy ought to keep the commands of this letter “in such a way that no one can criticize it.”
This is a very high goal set for Timothy, but if he is fulfill his commission from God, he cannot have anything when ruins his reputation. Everyone can think an example of someone who was an excellent preacher and servant of God, but they had some behavior or character flaw that changed the way people thought of them and hindered their ministry. Paul tells Timothy here that he has to live his life so perfectly that there is no stain or blemish on his character which drives people away from the gospel.
http://holdingforthhisword.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/what-kind-of-knowledge/
Paul is referring to the pursuit of godliness, where he states, “fight the good fight” and to “take hold of eternal life.” Being an athlete, the phrase “fight the good fight” comes up multiple times during a season in order to motivate the team to not give up and continue fighting through the season for the Lord. In the context of 1 Timothy, however, the fight is being fought against warfare. Spiritual warfare is a real thing that can only be by having God on your side fighting with you and for you. Spiritual warfare is such a broad topic because many people struggle with many different things and the enemy knows these struggles for us. Paul is encouraging Timothy to win the prize here, to take hold of what he knows and come out of the fight with a win. This seems intense, but Timothy was in the position where he had a fight to fight.
Paul is telling Timothy that he needs to be without blemish when guarding his ministry, which is a high standard set for Timothy. Paul is telling Timothy this though because he does not want people to be driven away from the Gospel due to Timothy being untrue to the character that he is supposed to be. I cannot imagine if the standards were that high in today’s world, we would have no pastors! It is very true though that a character flaw in a pastor of a church can be the thing that pushes someone away from the Lord. This is a sad reality.
1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” Paul is telling Timothy to try his best to seek and pursue God in the best possible way that he can. We will never to perfect in following God, and we will always fall short of His glory. Paul understands that while speaking to Timothy. It is important that we try our best to follow God and His word. When we read our Bibles and pray and we will gain a deeper relationship with God. It is important that we strive to honor God with our actions so that unbelievers will see Jesus in our lives. Even when we make mistakes, God can redeem us and our lives. Sin leads to death so as a Christian it is important to stick close to God and follow His grace. “Everyone can think an example of someone who was an excellent preacher and servant of God, but they had some behavior or character flaw that changed the way people thought of them and hindered their ministry,” (Long, 2019). Paul is telling Timothy not to hindered those from coming to Christ, it is important to Paul that we live for Christ without stopping others from coming too. As a believer we should be living for Jesus, we should be loving others, helping, and having humility. Being an example of Christ is important because God died on the cross for our sin.
The idea of fighting the “Good Fight” is a phrase that really reflects what we consider to be an important ideology when it comes to athletics and sports. This phrase specifically reminds me personally of the movie, “Remember the Titans.” Remember the Titans, for those who haven’t seen it, is a movie about a football team seeking perfection on and off the field while dealing with constant racism among themselves and with others around them. The reason why this movie really reminds me of Paul’s challenge to Timothy is because Paul also challenges Timothy to be perfect. According to Phil Long in his blog post, Just as the letter began with a charge to Timothy to guard the faith which was entrusted to him, now Paul once again solemnly charges Timothy to remember what he has already committed to when he began his ministry. Timothy is to keep these commands perfectly. Obviously, the end goal for us as Christians is to endlessly pursue the example of Jesus’ perfection – even though we all know that this goal is not exactly achievable. However, this is what the good fight is all about. It is about fighting consistently for perfection in ourselves and helping others find the Truth about God and his purpose for us on the Earth. Timothy was challenged by Paul to keep the commands of his letter as we are also challenged to keep our faith in Jesus’ and set an example for those around us. The team from “Remember the Titan’s” was a great example of consistently pursuing the end goal of equality in the eyes of God and this is a great example to follow.
Paul explains in his letter of putting Timothy in charge with a task. Paul had two metaphors in the pursuit of godliness: fight the good fight and take hold of eternal life (Long, 2019). When I read 1 Timothy 6:12-16 and this article it did seem like this verse is for sports which it can be but there is a meaning behind it. It is a spiritual warfare. Paul explains by breaking what this verse means. The word “fight” that is used in context is warfare. He uses the verb about his own ministry, and Epaphras is struggling to pray. Paul had fought the good fight for his ministry of the struggles which was worth it. Paul tells Timothy to compete to win telling him there will be a prize at the end. We all know the person has to be victorious until the person wins for competing. God will always be on our sides when it comes to battling spiritual warfare and He battles for us. There are people who are struggling that may not know what they are dealing with in life or spiritually. Paul is telling Timothy to protect his ministry and set high standards. Paul does not want people to walk away from the Gospel because of Timothy’s untrue character that he is supposed to be. I cannot imagine if we did not have a pastor to teach us the Gospel, share our testimonies and have worship. When I read about this, I thought about the movie trailer of War Room when the song came on Good Fight by the band Unspoken.