RUN YOUR OWN RACE, PART II: HEBREWS 12:2-3

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)

The first two directives of Hebrews 12:1-3 were examined in Part I: 1) to lay aside every encumbrance and the sin of unbelief and 2) to run with endurance the race set before us. We will now analyze the third and fourth directive in this passage.

Third Directive

We are to be fixing our eyes on Jesus. The phrase “fixing our eyes” is one word in the Greek meaning “to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something.”1 The author is adamant that our focus should be upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Lenski states that this directive “adds the supreme motive for running with unfaltering perseverance, supreme because it involves the certainty of attaining the goal."2 The goal being that our run of faith will successfully glorify Christ so that we become effective witnesses of the gospel and examples to other believers.

While our eyes are fixed upon Jesus, our peripheral vision is mindful of the obstacles (trials, testing, misfortunes, etc.) which impede our spiritual momentum. It is essential that we avoid human viewpoint advice in the midst of troubles, such as: face it head-on; pull yourself up by the bootstraps; rise above the situation; knuckle down harder; try to ignore or not think about the situation.

That is not where our counsel should come from. It must come from Our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the author of faith. The word “author” means “the chief leader, one that takes the lead in anything and thus furnishes the example.”3  W.E. Vine states that this word “suggests a combination of the meaning of leader with that of the source from whence a thing proceeds.”4

He is also the perfecter of faith. The essential idea of the word “perfecter” is a finisher or “the one who completes,”5 meaning that by His death and resurrection, He has done everything necessary to secure salvation for all.

Some translations render the Greek article as the personal pronoun our in the phrase “perfecter of faith.” While this it is true that Jesus is the perfecter of our faith, the context may actually be referring to what has just been discussed in chapter 11—the course of life that is dictated by faith.6 This is the run of faith outlined in verse 1 which depicts a vibrant and active faith as exhibited by those mentioned in chapter 11, from Adam to Christ. It is this type of faith which we are to emulate while we rely upon Christ to see us to the finish line of our race.

The translation of the next phrase, “for the joy that was set before Him”, wrongly implies a reason He endured the humiliation of the cross. Note that the word for is the Greek word anti, the preposition of substitution meaning in place of or instead of.7 What this means is that at the time of His Incarnation, Jesus chose to endure the humiliation of the cross instead of experiencing the joy that was set before Him. Before explaining what this joy refers to, note that just as the Lord Jesus had a joy set before Him, we have a race set before us. This phrase set before is one word in the Greek meaning to set before someone a goal or destination.8 Our race set before us has a goal to serve God; Jesus had a destination set before Him. His destination is known theologically as His eternal session—His rightful place in eternity of sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. This is the joy that Our Lord temporarily postponed so that He could instead provide our eternal life.

The writer of Hebrews now declares that Christ endured the death of the cross. The gospel accounts relate all that He had to undergo: the betrayal (Matthew 26:47-56); the humiliating and unjust trials (Matthew 26:57-27:14); the scourging (Matthew 27:26; John 19:1); the ridicule of the Roman garrison and the Jews (Matthew 27:27-30); the bearing of His cross to Calvary (Matthew 27:31-34); the horrendous death of crucifixion (John 19:16-37). There is a false assumption that Jesus fell 3 times on His way to Calvary, but this is merely a tradition that has no Scriptural evidence. He never fell—he carried on completing His destiny.

He also despised the shame. This word “despise” doesn’t mean exactly how we use the word, referring to something that we hate or dislike intensely. Here the Greek word means to care nothing for, disregard, be unafraid of.9 Jesus disregarded the shame and humiliation of the suffering—He never demonstrated bitterness or animosity. We see that He was indifferent to it because He never complained or cursed those who persecuted Him. Peter confirms this:

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. (1 Peter 2:21–23)

Why? Because He knew and accepted the Father’s will for Him. And as a result, He finished His work and is now sitting down forever, at the right hand throne of God.

However, we are not to sit down during our present run of faith. Our reward will come after we depart from this earthly home to be at home with our Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:6-9). So in the meantime we are to continue to fix our eyes on Jesus, our example of endurance and determination for our run of faith.

Fourth Directive

The fourth command follows the idea of fixing our eyes on Jesus, considering Him and what He had to endure. The word “consider” means to do so by way of comparison. We need to recognize that Christs’ sufferings were far greater than anything we may encounter. And in spite of His tremendous suffering and ultimate death on the cross He never contemplated giving up and conceding defeat. This would have been disobedience to the plan of God for His life.

By His example of endurance, the believer should be encouraged to carry on the run of faith and not to become fatigued and exhausted—recognizing that our vitally needed strength comes from the power of His Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9). This is what the apostle Paul prayed:

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith... (Ephesians 3:16–17a)

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[1] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 10. 214.

[2] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 10.426.

[3] Wuest, 10.215.

[4] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.45.

[5] Vine, W. E. (1996). Collected Writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Hebrews 12:2.

[6] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G5051.

[7] Zodhiates, G473.

[8] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1979). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 420.

[9] Arndt, et.al., p.707.

 

© 2022 David M. Rossi

RUN YOUR OWN RACE, PART I: HEBREWS 12:1

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. 

Having just concluded chapter 11 with a list of Biblical heroes, the writer1 describes them as a “great cloud of witnesses” surrounding us. They are surrounding us figuratively, meaning that their testimony “speaks to us from all sides and in countless ways.”2 We would do well to recognize the important witness which they provide us: the example of the strength and genuineness of their faith—testifying to the efficacy of the faith way of salvation and victory.3 The writer proceeds with a series of directives which are timeless and have great application for us today.

First Directive

We are once and for all time to “lay aside every encumbrance”. Note that ‘every’ implies that there may be many impediments or obstructions which are possibly distracting us in our walk of faith. The writer is using the imagery of a runner who needs to shed extra weight in order to run effectively. For believers to emulate the faithful lives of the past heroes of the faith, our lives need to be continuously evaluated to identify that which impedes us from centering our lives on Christ (cf. Romans 12:2). It is usually the details of life (i.e. work, family, entertainment, etc.) which are the main distractions that will hinder a consistent walk of faith.

Also, we are to lay aside “the sin which so easily entangles us.” The word sin in the original Greek is not accompanied by an article, which means it is referring to one individual sin rather than various sins.4 Some interpreters view this sin as a particular personal sin. But the Greek is clear, along with the context, that the sin specifically refers to the lack of faith in critical circumstances, in contrast to the faith exhibited by the witnesses in chapter 11. The writer of Hebrews maintains that “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”5 Thus, the lack of faith is tantamount to a failure to trust in God. Dr. Chafer identifies this lack of faith as unbelief:

Unbelief appears as the one and only “besetting [entangling] sin,” which sin is universal. Men do not have individual and varied besetting sins. Each person is characterized by his failure to believe God (note Hebrews 12:1-2, where the one reference to “the sin which doth so easily beset us” is set over against that faith of which Jesus is the Author and Finisher).6

The phrase “which so easily entangles us” is one word in the Greek. It means encompassing, “easily ensnaring, constricting, obstructing.”7 The Latin translation of the Bible (The Vulgate) renders this phrase: the sin standing around us. The Greek grammarian A.T. Robertson observes:

Probably this is the true idea here, “the easily encompassing (or surrounding) sin”...reminds one of the ring of wild beasts in the jungle that encircle the camp-fire at night each ready to pounce upon a careless victim.8

Therefore, this sin of unbelief is like an impenetrable enclosure—corralling in and preventing the believer from an effective walk of faith.

Second Directive

“Let us run with endurance” is a command to action. One may be corralled in by sin and still be standing, maybe even still reading the Bible. But this produces a false sense of accomplishment. For there is a time for standing and seeing the acts of God:

But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today” (Exodus 14:13a)

And there is a time for action, for doing, for after salvation is secured it is time to actively develop our walk of faith. And even then, the writer states that it should be, as it were, a run of faith!

Our run should be characterized by endurance. The meaning of this word is steadfastness. What it means to be steadfast is to have firm resolve and be unwavering in purpose, loyalty, or tenacity. MacArthur adds that:

Endurance is the steady determination to keep going, regardless of the temptation to slow down or give up.9

Olympic runners gain their endurance by healthy nutrition, hydration and consistent training. We believers likewise have need of essential fuels for spiritual endurance to run our own race. Believers have two sources: First, the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul’s encouragement to Timothy has great application for us today. Paul instructed him to continue in what he had learned from God’s Word because it contains the wisdom leading to salvation. Paul concluded why this source is essential for running our race:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

It becomes imperative that the believer securely absorb the principle doctrines of His Word into their mentality (cf. Romans 12:2) so that objective analysis and decisions can be made in every moment of life.

The second power source: the indwelling Holy Spirit. Each believer has a particular spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28; cf. Romans 12:6ff; Ephesians 4:11ff). Scripture emphatically states that the “Spirit works all these” gifts, meaning that He accomplishes this through us. He utilizes our knowledge of doctrine to enable us to fulfill the objective God has for our own run of faith.  

The believer should firmly resolve that nothing stand in the way of advancing in the Christian life. This race which is being portrayed by the writer of Hebrews is not a race competing against another believer. For the Greek word for race is agon from which we get our English word agony. This race entails conflict, strife and contention. It is a race featuring both a race with a finish line and many individual races—comprising the sequence of the events of life. And during this run of faith there will be the potential for much strife and struggle. But Paul warns us:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

But what must not be ignored is that the believer is also susceptible to “the inward conflict of the soul”10, becoming entangled by sin. Paul instructs believers to “Run in such a way that you may win” (1 Corinthians 9:24). And he provides us with the “how-to” in order to win the race:

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:26–27)

This race is the believer’s run of faith which has been set before us. It is the same race for all believers: to live the Spirit controlled life of faith which enables us to hurdle all of the obstacles and struggles with the worldly forces and the inward conflicts of life. And the end results of the witness of our faith will be to glorify Our Lord and the advancement of the gospel to influence others to accept Christ as Savior.

Let us be of the same winning mentality as the Apostle Paul:

Holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. (Philippians 2:16)

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[1] There is no definite identification of who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews.

[2] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 10.424.

[3] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English Reader. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 10.213.

[4] “A qualitative noun often has in view one individual rather than the class as a whole.” Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, p. 244.

[5] Hebrews 11:6

[6] Chafer, L.S. (1976). Systematic Theology. Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 2.268.

[7] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1979). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,  p. 324.

[8] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, Hebrews 12:1.

[9] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, Hebrews 12:1.

[10] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.121.

 

© 2022 David M. Rossi

 

SWEARING TO GOD: JAMES 5:12

Verse 12: But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

I’m certain that we all understand that when James uses the word “swear” he isn’t referring to vulgar language, but instead to the taking of an oath. The point James is making is that there is no reason for the believer to swear to the genuineness of what they are bearing witness to. Jesus stated likewise:

 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.” (Matthew 5:34–35)

In the past, it was a practice for witnesses in the United States courts of law to attest to their truthfulness by swearing on the Bible in this manner: “I solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” But now it is no longer politically correct to use a Bible or to swear by God as your witness of the truth in our culture. Back then, many believers took James’ command to heart and simply stated they affirm that what they state is the whole truth, instead of swearing by God as their witness.

Note that the Greek construction of do not swear expresses “the cessation of some act that is already in progress.”1 Therefore, what James is saying is that we should stop claiming the holiness of heaven, the God Who created earth or anything else as witnesses to our truth-telling. Just say “yes” to mean yes and “no” to mean no, without any ambiguity or half-truths. This is consistent with Our Lord’s teaching:

“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.” (Matthew 5:37)

Our Lord concluded that anything beyond these statements “is of evil.” For there is a tendency of some to swear to an untruth and by pretense to claim God as their witness—this is evil. So, whether our answer is either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ it is to be the absolute truth. Anything else is considered a lie—“a statement of what is known to be false with intent to deceive.”2

In addition to Our Lord’s instruction, the Scriptures have much to say about falsehoods, deception and lying.

Lying is emphatically condemned in the Bible (Exodus 20:16; Ephesians 4:25). It is wrong because it is contrary to the nature of God (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18) and because it shows that a person is not in touch with reality (Romans 1:25; 1 John 1:6).3

The Origin of the Lie

The first recorded instance of a lie is in Genesis 3:4-5 where the serpent (the devil, Satan) lied to Eve in tempting her to disobey God, telling her that she would not die, as God had warned, if she ate the forbidden fruit. Satan argued that God just didn’t want her eyes opened so she would “be like God, knowing good and evil.”

During Our Lord’s earthly ministry, He characterized Satan as the father of lies in His debate with the scribes and Pharisees:

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

This should cause every believer to stop and consider this: Since Jesus Christ stated that there is no truth in Satan and that Jesus is the essence and personification of truth (John 14:6)—how then can we even contemplate as His representatives ever speaking anything but the truth? We must think this through thoroughly—it can and does have a great affect upon our witness of the gospel and among fellow believers. We need to follow the Apostle Paul’s directive:

And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:24–25)

Summary

James has provided us here with another example of the error of the tongue to add to those which he has previously warned: boasting (3:5ff); slander (4:11); complaining (5:9); and now false testimony. James encourages honest testimony by his cautionary note that there are consequences: “so that you may not fall under judgment.” This is a restatement of Our Lord’s condemnation of untruthfulness—for He hears all and believers who are dishonest in what they say will be judged—divinely disciplined. James emphasized this in 2:12: So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

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[1] Dana, H.E. and Mantey Julius R., (1957). A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament. Toronto, Ontario: The Macmillan Company, p.302.

[2] Flavelle, A. (1996). Lie, Lying. In New Bible Dictionary (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, p. 687.

[3] Youngblood, R. F. (1995). Lie. In Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Bruce, F. F., & Harrison, R. K., Thomas Nelson Publishers, eds.)  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

 

© 2023 David M. Rossi