What does it mean to "run the race set before us" (Hebrews 12:1)?

For we are exhorted to lay aside every weight and sin which doth so easily beset, and to run with endurance the race set before us. A weight is not then something necessarily sinful, being distinguished from it. It would be anything that impedes in running on to the goal, only discovered perhaps in the energy that presses on. With uncompromising decision it is to be put off, as also sin — all sin; for it is not here that individually we may have some special form of besetment, however true that is. But we are warned against sin generally, as lying all around so as easily to entangle the feet, which is the force of this expression. We have to lay it aside, for the epistle contemplates nothing short of the true liberty of grace for the Christian, and indicates at once whence power is found to carry out what would be impossible in any natural way; "looking unto Jesus" — free for this simple blessed exercise of faith in occupation with Him instead of with ourselves; and this not that there might be an occasional spurt now and again, but to run with endurance the race that is set before us, on and on through the day and every day whatever the opposing circumstances.

The word for "looking" is found only here in the Greek Scriptures, having the force of turning the eyes away from other things and fixing them on one. Much blessed encouragement for faith may be found in the testimonies of Hebrews 11, but none of the witnesses could be an object for the eye of faith to rest on. There is but One who could take that place, and He must have it exclusively; "Jesus, the leader and completer of faith" — "Jesus the same yesterday, today, and for ever." And it is His, not only in the divine glory of His person (compare Heb. 1:12 and Heb. 13:8), but as having become Man and run the race before we were called into it — our Forerunner indeed — and having reached the glorious goal at the right hand of God. Nothing could bring Him more wonderfully before our hearts in His tested path as man than the thought that He was sustained in it by the joy set before Him. In John 14:28 He gave us an intimation of what that joy was: it was when His work was done He was going to the Father, which would not exclude that He would have His own with Himself there. Only that it must be something personal to Himself first, and He would have those who love Him enter into this, His joy.

The writer was adopting the language of the athletic contest. The athlete carries no weight beyond what is absolutely necessary, and so we are exhorted to lay aside every weight and sin which so easily besets us, as though it were some kind of obstacle on the ground, and let us run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. The word "look" here means looking off every other object and looking exclusively at Him. He is the One who has traversed the path of faith in its perfection, always doing the things which please the Father, always living in the light of the Father's presence, traversing the whole way of faith from the start to the martyr's crown. He was much more than a martyr, as it goes on to say — by inference, at least — He resisted to blood striving against sin. All round Him were the powers of evil and of Satan, but He went right through to the finish — death. Ah, fix the gaze of your soul on Jesus, by faith keep Jesus as the living object of your soul! He is seated now at the right hand of God in heaven, and as you keep Him before your soul you will find there is power even today for you to run the Christian race.

Let us beware of the weights and of sin. There are many things which you could not exactly label as "sin," but may become weights, viz., those things which impede our progress. We often hear the question: "Is there any harm in it?" but that is not the question at all. "Is there any good in it?" It is not "Is there any harm in this pursuit, or in that book?" but "Is there anything that will help me on in view of Christ and His glory and kingdom?" God helping us, let us lay aside the weights and be warned against the sin that besets us, and looking to Jesus, let us keep Him before us and run the race which is, I believe, now not long. The day of His coming is near. My dear Christian, let us not at the last give up; we are in sight of the goal, let us run the race of faith to the glory of God.

Hence the saints are urged, laying aside as a settled thing every weight and the sin that so besets and entangles them, to run with endurance the race lying before them, looking with full view on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. To be sanctified through the offering of His body is a divine act of grace with an abiding effect (Heb. 10:10). Reconciliation to God and justification, as in the Epistle to the Romans and elsewhere, are not a gradual process, like growth or practical holiness. But even in practice we are called on, not to be getting rid of every weight that encumbers and the sin that besets in continuous detail, but to have done with such and all as a fixed principle and an accomplished act. There are habits and superfluities that hinder the Christian, anxious thoughts and cares that oppress and distract the spirit. To run well in such circumstances is as impracticable as if the sin broke out which demands self-judgment and humiliation. Parley is fatal, delay dangerous. Both weights and sin therefore are to be put off absolutely. It is in vain to trust our moral power. We must look away, from every one and every thing without or within, to Him who is as mighty to deliver as He graciously waits on our need. Power is not in the first man but in the Second; and even here, surely we may say, that God is thereby as in all things glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the might for the ages of the ages, Amen.

But it is not without importance to understand that our Lord is here presented, not as the objective channel of the grace we ever need, but as the unrivalled leader and completer of faith in the whole extent of its course. "Our" faith misleads, especially with "author and finisher," as if the Holy Spirit were here setting Him forth as beginning faith in our souls and carrying it on to the end, its source and sustainer. Not so: He is viewed as leader and perfecter in the race of faith in its entirety. In that race let us run. It cannot be without endurance any more than faith right through. But "through" or "by means of" endurance is here inadequate. The apostle uses the preposition also to express condition, as in Rom. 2:27. "With" in this case is right. In a world departed from God the believer's course lies through persecution, detraction, and hatred; and thus he must make his way with endurance or patience.

Encouraged by so great a cloud of witnesses, every weight laid aside, and the sin which does so easily beset us, "let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Leader and Perfecter of faith." Patience will needed, for the goal can never be reached on earth. Patriarchs, prophets, and others had patience; so must we, and that whilst looking at the Example set before us. Of His Sonship we have been taught (1). Of the excellency and greatness of His person we have been reminded (1, 2). Of His official position as Apostle and High Priest we have read (3, 4). Of His death too we have learnt (9, 10). Now we are again called to remember His life on earth in humiliation. Why He can sympathise with His people in their trials the Apostle wrote of in v. 7-8. What sustained Him in the endurance of His sufferings we here read: "Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (12:2). Suffering, shame, reproach, all this He bore, and that for the joy set before Him, who is now seated so high in glory. Suffering, shame, reproach for Him His people may be called to bear, but with a bright prospect in the future. Such experiences are not to surprise them, nor lead any to doubt if their path can be the right one. In what circumstances was He once who has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God? This question answered should encourage His followers in their faith here. What must the world be when the Son of God had to meet with shame, sufferings, and the cross? It is wonderful to think that He should have endured them. It is strengthening to faith to remember it. The end of the walk of faith, we learn in His history, is in the glory on high.

In the Epistle to the Hebrews we have the hortatory words of the great apostle, "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking off unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." What a divine object is here presented to our souls' vision, and what a powerful magnet to attract our hearts from all earth's fading scenes! Our great "Forerunner" has trodden the pathway first, and faith delights to follow in His holy footprints, who has not only shown us how to run, but also the way He trod. He who while here below as the dependent Man ever found His resources in God, having run the race, from first to last, to the glory of God, has taken His seat in triumph on God's throne, and in His own person has become the divine object to attract our hearts heavenward. Just as our eyes undistractedly gaze on that heavenly Overcomer, where He now is, so shall we gather both patience and strength for the homeward race. It is the attractive power, grace and glory of Christ's person that lends strength to our girded loins. Thus it was with Paul, who could say, he did "not run uncertainly." His eyes, like Stephen's, gazed stedfastly upward to the Man in the glory of God, and his words may well find a place in our hearts today, "This one thing I do; forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded; and, if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."

Verses 1, 2. A cloud of witnesses bear witness to the success of faith; and it is for us an encouragement to run the race. But, far above all these witnesses there is One who has shewn faith in its perfection, it is Jesus; and the word directs our eyes towards Him. "The race that is set before us." Allusion is made to the games of the Greeks; these games were contests in which there were different exercises, such as wrestlings, racings, etc. Responsibility attaches to the race of the Christian, and the Lord will deal in judgment with our race. "Jesus the author and finisher of faith." In all that touches faith, Jesus has had the pre-eminence, having passed through all difficulties and having overcome them all.

(1) The first of which urges concentration of energy in following One who is, whatever may be the encouragement from that of others, the unique Example, the Leader and Perfecter of faith. In the histories that remain of all these witnesses, still encompassing us, we have what is the principle of the path; and he urges, therefore, to lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and run with patience the race set before us. For a runner in a race, to drop all unnecessary weights is imperative. The weight and the sin are quite different things, although so closely connected, as undoubtedly they are. A weight is something I take up when I need not; not a duty, for what is really a duty is never a weight. People may, of course, take up a weight and miscall it duty, and its misnomer will not hinder their finding it what it really is. But it would be impossible for God to impose upon us as duty what would be in itself necessarily hurtful. On the other hand, the artificial life lived at the present day and the supposed responsibility of living up to one's position among men, such like things do indeed often burden the back and make running well-nigh impossible. A racer's heart is at the end of the road, and his motto is: "Forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching on to that which is before." Just in proportion as he has the spirit of a racer will he measure things by his one desire to make progress in the race.

How rightly now Chapter 12 admonishes the saints of God to act by faith; for where faith is in godly exer­cise, every honorable and true responsibility will be willingly assumed, with the confidence of Divine help to enable its faithful discharge. "Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of wit­nesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." This "great cloud of witnesses" are those of whom we have read in Ch. 11. Our advantage is how much greater than theirs; for they were not provided with such a host of examples of faith as we are. But faith in Christ has put us on the racecourse, where endurance is so necessary an asset. Indeed, are the features of the race not seen beautifully in Ch. 11, a host pressing on toward brighter things than the entire world could offer? A racer must lay aside every weight, not because weights are contrary to the rules of the race, but because by these he will hinder his own progress. Hence weights are not sins, but the cares of this world, occupation with things merely ma­terial, which so engage the time that the exercise of faith is hindered. But if weights are assumed, sin will more easily beset us, for the energy of faith is not present to outdistance sin's temptations. Some Christians may be content to take a very slow pace Heavenward, weighted down by present desire for some earthly advantage or comfort; and like Peter "following afar off" find themselves suddenly caught in sin's cunning trap. F. W. Grant points out that if we thought of sin as a pack of wolves at our heels, we should certainly not choose to carry heavy weights with us.

Verse 2 speaks of Jesus as "the Leader and Completer of faith" as it may be translated. Such is the blessed Object or Goal of the saint, - "looking unto Jesus." Many others have been witnesses: He is the one Leader, the perfect exemplification of faith in all His path on earth; the Completer, He Who Himself will culminate every path of faith in blessed fulfilment of all the promises of God. In Him faith will have its complete answer and reward. Indeed, this wonderful conclusion of God's coun­sels in infinite blessing, with its future joy unspeakable, was a wonderful incentive to the Lord Jesus Himself, to endure the cross, the awful judgment of God for our sins; "despising the shame," that is, thinking lightly of the contempt and persecution of men, considering it nothing in comparison to the glory that would later be revealed. How blessed an Object for our own faith! And now He sits at God's right hand, His own sufferings over, but waiting yet the fulfilment of the fruits of His great work. Is it a great thing therefore for us to patiently en­dure? The end in view is no less certain for us, with its indescribable joy.

In consequence of such encouragement then "Let us lay aside every weight." We must distinguish between "weight" and "sin." A matter which may be quite proper in our ordinary life may be well calculated to prove a hindrance to our making efficient progress in the Christian pathway. Just as a successful runner must divest himself of clothing and undue weight of body, the Christian may have to discard social status, cultural associations, life of ease, esteem of friends, wealth, etc., that he may be able to run to the glory of God. "And the sin which does so easily beset us." That has no reference to the specific defect, commonly spoken of as a "besetting sin." The expression "which does so easily beset" is the translation of one unique Greek word euperistatos which does not occur anywhere else, and it means "well surrounded" or "standing round about," i.e., like bystanders hindering progress in running, e.g., if in a town we wish to get to a railway station in order to catch a train, with little time on hand, and we have the option, we shall not run down the main street in preference to a by-lane because the bystanders in the former will hinder our progress. So the reference is to the negative quality of sin as a hindrance rather than as to its positive defect. Thus sin is viewed as an entanglement rather than an antagonist. "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us." That is the character sustained by the one who runs. The process may mean a good deal of affliction, and is thus akin to faith, which is the present dynamic agency operating so that hope is developed. The Apostle wished for the Roman Christians that the God of hope might fill them with all joy and peace in believing (faith in its dynamic aspect) that they might overflow in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Rom. 15:13).

But the Christian does not run merely under the stimulus of the achievements of the Old Testament worthies, he is encouraged by the present view looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of faith. Literally it is "looking away" from the present circumstances to contemplate Jesus. In the 1611 version of the New Testament, the translators spoiled the sense of the passage by inserting a word thus of "our" faith. The word "our" is not in the original, the sentence cannot therefore mean that as Author He originated faith in us and as Finisher sustains it and brings to a perfect issue, true as that may be. But He was the only one who began a pathway of faith and perfectly exemplified the principle, finishing the whole Marathon race without defect or halt. Each of the Old Testament worthies cited did his little bit of straight running amidst much which might be tortuous in his life. But in Hebrews 11, God concentrates attention only on what will form links in the chain of faith. "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." The idea of Author and Finisher is expanded in this passage. What controlled Him in His path on earth and the patient endurance of the Cross was the reward, i.e., the joy which is now His at the right hand of God. He sees of the travail of His soul and derives infinite satisfaction therefrom.

Some teach that the Old Testament saints are spectators of us and that they look upon us now from heaven. Dean Alford also states that they are lookers on and adds "Whosoever denies such reference, misses, it seems to me, the very point of the sense." Others have gone so far as to say that they not only look on but help the believer in his conflict on earth. But this view is unscriptural. We know that angels are spectators (1 Cor. 4:9; 11:10); angels are ministering spirits to minister unto the heirs of salvation, but the disembodied spirits of the righteous are neither spectators nor do they minister to the saints on earth. The preceding chapter contains "the cloud of witness"; they witness to us by their lives and the victory of their faith and this is the encouragement for us. The Christian's life is a race; the glory at His coming is the goal. The runner of the race does not burden himself with weights, unnecessary things. Everything that impedes spiritual progress must be laid aside, as well as the sin that so easily besets us, which is the sin of unbelief. Against this sin they had been emphatically warned. "It is a sin that easily besets us, because it is but the mind of nature acting, according to its instincts, against the will of God." And the runner's eyes are to be on the goal (Phil. 3). The believer runs the race with steadfastness and divests himself of every weight and the sin that easily besets, if he looks away from everything and looks away "unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith (Leader and Perfecter), who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, having despised the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." He is the great exemplar of faith. He is to be constantly before us, and His people are to follow Him in the path of faith and trust. What light these words shed on His blessed life and especially His death on the cross! He endured the cross and despised the shame, connected with it, for the joy that was set before Him. See Isaiah 53:10-12. The joy set before us is to be with Him forever. Oh, for the daily vision of that goal.