📖 Biblical Definition
"I have kept the faith" is the third of Paul’s confessions in 2 Timothy 4:7 about his completed ministry, written from a Roman prison shortly before his martyrdom: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day." The Greek tērein ("to keep, guard, preserve") implies stewardship of a deposit — Paul did not lose, alter, or compromise the gospel committed to him. He also commands Timothy: "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust" (1 Timothy 6:20; cf. 2 Timothy 1:14). Every Christian elder receives the same deposit. Guard it.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
2 Tim 4:7's third confession: stewarded the gospel-deposit faithfully.
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Paul's third confession in 2 Timothy 4:7 about his completed ministry: "I have fought a good fight (combat), I have finished my course (athletic), I have kept the faith (stewardship)." Greek tērein means to keep, guard, preserve — the verb of trust-fund management or treasure-protection. Earlier in the same letter Paul charges Timothy: "That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost" (2 Tim 1:14). Paul has now done with his life what he commands of Timothy: stewarded the gospel-deposit faithfully across decades, against pressures to compromise, in persecution and prosperity, in success and apparent failure. The triple confession is a model death-bed report card.
📖 Key Scripture
2 Timothy 4:7 — "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
2 Timothy 1:14 — "That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us."
Jude 1:3 — "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
"My faith" privatized to personal-only; Paul's "the faith" is also the deposit of doctrine to be guarded against compromise.
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Modern "keep the faith" often means "keep believing personally" — sustaining your own faith. Paul's keep-the-faith is wider: stewarding the gospel-deposit, the body of doctrine, the once-for-all delivered faith (Jude 3). The personal and corporate are inseparable: I keep my faith partly by keeping the faith.
Recover the both: keep your faith AND keep the faith. The deposit is given; you are guardian over it. At the end, Paul could say: I kept it.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek tēn pistin tetērēka.
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['Greek', 'G5083', 'tēreō', 'to keep, guard']
['Greek', 'G4102', 'pistis', 'faith']
Usage
"I have kept the faith."
"Steward the gospel-deposit."
"My faith AND the faith both."