Jonathan Dodson

Fight Clubs Series: Click | View Series Get the eBook here. Our spiritual war is a war against the flesh, that lingering vestige of our pre-Christian lives that must be beaten to death so that we can live in the fullness of life given to us in Jesus. The apostle Paul says, "Fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim 6:12). We are to beat the flesh in the power of the Spirit: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom 8:13). These texts call us to "fight" and "put to death" the deeds of the body, our sinful patterns of anxiety, self-pity, anger, fear of man, vanity, pride, lust, greed, and so on. Upon becoming a Christian, we are inducted into a Fight Club—the Fight Club of faith.

The Three Rules of Fight Club

Fight Clubs are small, simple groups of 2-3 who meet regularly to help one another beat the flesh and believe in the promises of God. Men meet with men, and women meet with women, in order to effectively address general and gender-specific issues head-on. We have three rules:

1) Know Your Sin.

The first rule of Fight Club is "Know your sin." If we don't know our opponent, how will we beat him? We must become well-acquainted with the areas in our lives where the flesh gets the best of us, where we are prone to sin.

2) Fight Your Sin.

The second rule of Fight Club is "Fight your sin." Once we know our sin, we know where to strike. The challenge then is to actually strike, to beat up our flesh.

3) Trust Your Savior.

The third rule of Fight Club is "Trust Your Savior." How do we fight? We fight, not in our own strength but with the strength of the Spirit. One day the fight will be over. Faith will become sight. Our image will be perfectly aligned with Christ's image. We will no longer know our sin, fight our sin, or struggle to trust our Savior. But until then, may God grant us his sovereign grace to fight the good fight of faith, for our joy and his eternal glory. (Adapted from Fight Clubs, Chapter 5: A Spiritual War)