I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

It is possible to hold the faith of Christ but not be a keeper of it. He who keeps the faith ensures he is an observer of its tenets and a preserver of its values. “…These things,” Apostle Paul says, “commit unto faithful men.”

We who believe are called upon to keep the faith like the Apostles of Christ. The beloved Apostle Paul tells us of the responsibility placed on him by Christ to keep the Faith:

According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. …for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. 1 Timothy 1:11-12

For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness: 1 Thessalonians 2:3-5

Recognizing he was put in trust with the gospel, Apostle Paul lived a life that did not hinder the flow of the gospel(1Cor 9:12), he accepted the responsibility to be a voice of the gospel- he must preach it (1Cor 9:16). He mustn’t keep quiet no matter what, just like the other Apostles (Act 4:20). He mustn’t corrupt or pervert it, not for anything in the world. So long Apostle Paul was committed to keeping the faith which was committed into his hand, God was committed to keeping his soul which he had committed into His hands (2Tim 1:12).
The Apostles of Jesus kept the faith intact and handed it down to our generation. We too must keep it intact, unadulterated, unmodified. The Apostles did not alter the gospel, not for their own selfish interests nor because of the wishful lusts of a mixed multitude church. Not in fear of the government, nor in love for worldly approval. As they received it from their Lord, so they handed it down. As they learnt from Christ, so they taught. They were faithful to their Lord and his ordinances — they dared not alter what they did not institute. Are we wiser than they were? No. We must be keepers of the faith not editors of it. We dare not Lord it over our Master’s will.
The above I think blessed Apostle Paul meant when he said, ” I have kept the faith…. ” The same is required of us today who are true disciples of the Master. We must keep the faith faithfully. We can’t emend Jesus for the Church, nor edit him for the world. We can’t make Jesus fit into the world, he has never fitted in. We can’t create a Jesus of our own fancy, or a twenty-first century Jesus. We must tread the old path of the crucified life and preach the old gospel of eternal salvation in the manner the Apostles did. It was Jesus as received, that the apostles handed down:
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; –Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:3)
And it is Jesus (i.e the gospel) as we received it from the Apostles that we are expected to practice and hand down to the next generation. The faith has been once and for all delivered (Jude 1:3); no new version. It must remain the New Covenant; no modern covenant.
As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:9)
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: (Colossians 2:6)

Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

The faith of Christ has been under great attacks over the years. What I feel is dealing greater blows on the faith is the manhandling of it by unfaithful and self-willed men who have occupied the front seats of church leadership. Leaders who feel they are in position to add or subtract from the doctrines of our Lord. Who fear not the greater damnation they are thereby opting for. Unfaithfulness has brought about the infusion of ideas from business, philosophy and the world into the faith. The faith of Christ does not need a refining touch from secular education or a constructive criticism from any political world view. It stands tall on its own pedestal– godliness is a mystery born of God. The teachings of our Lord, is not for all (Jn 10:45-46). It is for such as can receive it. The Lord has its own sheep separate from the world. No worldly ideology is qualified to handle or contribute any input whatsoever to the subject of eternal salvation. The subject is not within the reach of intellectuals. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit, says the Saviour. The path of eternal life must be followed as originally delivered, world view or popular acceptability not withstanding. God has never sought man’s suggestion to make his laws. Any act of seating over his laws by mortal man reflects nothing but man’s puffed up, rebellious finite heart towards his infinite sovereign creator. The faith of Christ is for such as care about the salvation of their souls. We must therefore keep it faithfully; no additions, no subtractions. We dare not create our own doctrines, they won’t save us. It must be the doctrine of Christ. It we must take heed to and be mindful to keep, as Paul wisely counselled Timothy.
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. 1 Timothy 4:16
There seems to be confusion today in the body of Christ. This is largely because some people in a bid to please themselves or to make the faith much user-friendly added their own beliefs and views: used their own interpretations to add to the practice of the faith what they like and subtract what they dislike. This do no good to the Church. Faithful Christians must keep the faith.
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2
We stand faithful to the keeping of the faith when it is not evil spoken of because of our conduct; when we do not compromise it, or shift grounds; and resolve, among other things, to maintain its simplicity as Christ designed it (2 Cor 2:17).