“To war a good warfare.”

“Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:” In (1 Tim. 1: 18) The Apostle Paul also instructed Timothy, “To war a good warfare.”  Paul wanted Timothy to understand that the Christian life is a battle. After we’re saved we go to war with Sin, with Satan, and with Self, which by the way is our most dangerous adversary. If we can learn how to control the flesh, Satan cannot harm us. Satan doesn’t bother Christians who are undisciplined in the Word, he knows that their lack of self-control and disobedience will destroy them sooner or later. Therefore we must learn two important things. 1) Faith.  Faith demands that we hold God’s Word up like a shield. It’s not enough to just believe it, we must learn to stand upon it and hide behind it.  When our flesh operates independent of God’s Word there is no protection, but when in submission to it, there is. 2) Good Conscience. When the conscience is tender toward the things of God, that’s good, but when it’s not, that’s bad. An undisciplined Christian doesn’t feel guilty when in disobedience, but a disciplined Christian does.  So discipline your flesh, obey the Word, and develop a good conscience !