I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
What does 2 Timothy 4:7 mean?
The blood of the martyrs, though not a sacrifice of atonement, yet was a sacrifice of acknowledgment to the grace of God and his truth.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside 2 Timothy 4:6-8 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: I have fought a good fight - The Christian life is often represented as a conflict, or warfare; see the notes on 1 Timothy 6:12 . That noble conflict with sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil, Paul now says he had been able to maintain. I have finished my course - The Christian life, too, is often represented as a "race" to be run; compare the notes at 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 . I have kept the faith - I have steadfastly maintained the faith of the gospel; or, have lived a life of fidelity to my Master.
Context in 2 Timothy 4
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2 Timothy 4 belongs to the closing movement of the book, especially the section often described as farewell and personal notes. Second Timothy is a final appeal to courage, endurance, sound teaching, and fidelity to Scripture under suffering. Read this chapter with the wider themes of endurance, scripture, and courage in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
Related topics
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Short, memorable passages commonly engraved on headstones, grave markers, and memorial plaques — verses on rest, eternal life, and remembrance.
Passages on trusting God, receiving Christ, persevering without sight, and the relation between faith and lived obedience.
Bible verses about suffering and trials
Key passages on grief, endurance, lament, divine mystery, and the Christian claim that suffering is neither final nor meaningless.
Key passages on God's unmerited favour, the grace of Christ, salvation by grace through faith, and how grace transforms the way believers live.
Passages on the nature of truth, honesty, deception, the word of God as truth, and Jesus' claim to be the truth.
Who quoted 2 Timothy 4:7?
Find out who used 2 Timothy 4:7 in their speeches and writings. Which famous people quoted 2 Timothy 4:7?
Franklin D. Roosevelt used 2 Timothy 4:7 in Address at a Memorial to William Jennings Bryan..
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. used 2 Timothy 4:7 in Pool Reports of January 8, 2022.
Quotes found on Wikiquote (match for «I have fought a good fight»):