Rev. Don Campbell

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018: I HAVE DONE THAT

After reading yesterday’s post, you may be thinking, “All is well. I have believed. I have trusted. See you in heaven.” We need to look at “trust” a little deeper. Trust doesn’t—or should not—end when we are saved. We are urged to look to Jesus as the “founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 11:2). Paul quotes, the prophet Habakkuk: “The righteous shall live by faith” (Rom 1:17). Living by faith is trusting Jesus from the beginning as the founder or author of our faith and to the end as the perfecter of our faith. We are born again by faith, we live by faith, and we die in faith (Heb 11:13).

Now let’s see what living and dying in faith means: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2). What are the weights that hinder and the sin which clings?

As to the weights, I simply quote Coffman on this passage:
“There is the vacation cottage, the fraternal lodge, the club, the political party, the yacht, the alumni organization, the board of directors, the governing committee, the bridge club, the country club, the volunteer group, the P.T.A., the board of elections, the chamber of commerce, and a list of associations for almost any conceivable purpose, many of them no doubt worthy – but whatever one’s views about any or all such things, one fact is certain, no man can do all that and be a good Christian too! Far too many children of the King allow their time, talent, and money to be preempted by secondary things, things that must be recognized as “weights,” when understood in the light of their effect on dedication to Christ and his cause on earth.”

As to the besetting sin, I believe the author is referring to the sin of unbelief. It is not the unbelief of those who have never professed Christ, but the unbelief which causes one to draw back before his race is over. Based on Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice for sins, the author begins a discussion of faith in 10:19.

Note these terms: 1) full assurance of faith (v.22), 2) hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (v.23), 3) do not throw away your confidence (v.35), 4) you have need of endurance. Before he begins calling out the names of those on the “honor roll of faith” he says, “For ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls (Heb 10:32-39). The KJV and NKJV have “believe to the saving of the soul.”