How to fight the good fight?
G.K.Beale EXACTLY WHAT FIGHT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? The expression “fight the good fight” is often used in Christian circles and Western culture. Indeed, while perusing Amazon.com I found at least thirty-one books with the title “The Good Fight” and at least ten books with the fuller title “Fighting the Good Fight,” some of which were overtly Christian but many of which were not. The origin of the phrase is 1 Timothy 1:18 (and perhaps in 1 Tim. 6:12 and 2 Tim. 4:7). In 1 Timothy 1:18 and 6:12, Timothy is exhorted to “fight the good fight”; in 2 Timothy 4:7, Paul says that he “has fought the good fight.” I am writing a commentary on 1 Timothy (for the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series). When I came to 1 Timothy 1:18, I noticed that the phrase “fight the good fight” is composed of a verb (strateuō) and a noun (strateia) that is a cognate word with the verb. The use of the noun “fight” after the verb “to fight” in this phrase is a figure of speech whereby there “is a repetition o...