Hold On to Your Faith

1 Timothy 1:18-19

I am entrusting this instruction to you, Timothy, my child, according to the prophecies about you, which were made earlier, so that by them you may fight the good fight, 19 with faith and a good conscience. By rejecting these, some people have suffered shipwreck with regard to their faith...

There is a false Bible teaching that goes something like this: "Once saved, Always saved."  If that little saying were true, then why would Paul encourage Timothy to continue to "fight the good fight"?  If that saying were true, then once Timothy was baptized he should be good for the rest of his life.  He would be free to live however he wanted, and do whatever he wanted.  It wouldn't matter because "once he was saved, he would always be saved", no matter what.

That is why this, and all, false teaching is so dangerous.  False teachings destroy faith, and our reliance on Jesus.  Paul warns that to refuse to fight the good fight is to "shipwreck our faith".  I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like a reassurance that "Once saved, Always saved".  It sounds like a warning to be diligent, because we can lose our faith.  Satan is constantly trying to lead us astray and kill our faith.

I encourage you to be like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-15) and search Scripture every day.  When you hear these quaint little catch-phrases, check them against what Scripture says.  Fight the good fight, be diligent about studying and knowing God's Word so that you can protect your faith and not allow it to be shipwrecked.

God bless
Jason Fredrick