Bible Strands
2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy from a Roman prison, with his execution imminent (v. 6).
The words — Teteleka (τετέλεκα) is a perfect tense from teleō, "to bring to completion," marking a finished act whose results remain. Agōna (ἀγῶνα) refers to an athletic contest, not a military battle.
The thread — The same athletic language runs through 1 Timothy 6:12 ("fight the good fight of the faith") and the race imagery in 1 Corinthians 9:24 and Hebrews 12:1.
Why it lands — Paul claims completion, not perfection; the verse asks the reader to measure their life by whether they finished what they were called to do, not by whether they were flawless.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.
- Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.
- Acts 20:24 But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
- Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
- John 4:34 Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
- Revelation 3:8 I know your deeds. Behold, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.
- Luke 8:15 But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.
- Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
- Luke 11:28 But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”