Running the Race – Hebrews 12:1

by Dr. Gary Linton | Updated February 18th, 2023

Participants in a race encounter roadblocks, diversions and fatigue. The Christian life is no exception. We must run the race set before us with endurance and perseverance. The Bible is our guidebook and owner’s manual. In it we are told to conform to Christ’s likeness, bring glory to God, and fulfill His purpose for our life.

Hebrews 12:1 – “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with (surrounded by) 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 endurance the race that is set before us.”

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We are all in this race together as believers – The Christian race or life. All born again believers and followers of Christ are running this race together. God also has a specific race (purpose) for every follower of Christ. This is a race that is specific to you alone. This is your purpose and calling in life. You must run your race with endurance. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain – win” (1 Corinthians 9:24).

How to Finish the Race

Let me encourage you. You are going to finish the race set before you. It’s not all up to you. You’re not in this race alone. “We are labourers together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9). We are to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). You are working things out in conjunction with God Himself and He promises to bring you through to a successful conclusion.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 – “Faithful is He that calls you, Who also will do it.”

Philippians 1:6 – “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Jude 24 – “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

1. You’re Running a Marathon Verses a Sprint.

The race we are running as believers in general and your individual race that is specific to you is a marathon and not a sprint. A sprint is usually a short race which we run fast and hard and then it’s over. One is usually out of breath and worn out after a sprint and it is over quickly.

A marathon, on the other hand, is a long and drawn out race that continues for quite some time or many miles. It’s a race which requires a steady pace and endurance. If one begins running a marathon as a sprint they will never reach the finish line. They will wear out quickly and drop out of the race. “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1c).

Let’s finish the race God has set before us!

2. Endurance, Discipline, Commitment, and Perseverance is Required

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1c). The devil’s biggest job is to get us to give up. You will experience trials, temptations, failure, sin, reversals, discouragement, and disappointments. The devil will use these things attempting to make you give up in the middle of your race.

He will throw everything conceivable at you. The only way he will ever win or we will lose is if we give up. If we will refuse to give up, we will ultimately win and the devil will lose. The primary key to winning the race that is set before us is endurance. Perseverance is a must!

Runners are comitted and disciplined. They train incessantly before the race and during the race they put everything they have into it. They push themselves until they there’s nothing left in them and then they keep going and refuse to stop. Our son ran cross country when he was high school and we saw how hard they pushed themselves firsthand. By the end of the race, at the finish line, many of them would literally lose everything they had eaten, but they finished.

Paul said, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course – race with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

Near the end of his life, as he was sitting in prison waiting to be escorted out to the chopping block and have his head severed from his shoulders, he writes,

“I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course – race, 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: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Let’s finish the race God has set before us!

3. A Great Cloud of Witnesses Encouraging Us On

Hebrews 12:1a – “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.”

Those who have gone before us are either saved or lost. The lost go to hades awaiting the final judgment (Luke 16). The saved who have gone before us do not come back here to watch us and hang out with us as some spiritual being but rather are part of a great heavenly amphitheater, looking down on us. (The lost are another story). They are part of the cloud of witnesses sitting in that great heavenly amphitheater cheering us on in the race that is set before us. I can hear them shouting, “Come on, you can make it, don’t give up, keep running the race. I went through a similar situation and I made – You can make it too.”

This was written in the context of Hebrews 11 of the heroes of the faith such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Gedeon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae; David, Samuel, and of the prophets: “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:33-38).

These are a part of this great heavenly amphitheater. They’re sitting above looking on as we run the race that is set before us, cheering us on, encouraging us, rooting for us, encouraging us to keep on keeping on. I can just hear them shouting from the grandstands, don’t quit, you’ll make, don’t give up, I made it and you will too. You’ll overcome the insurmountable odds that are against victoriously. We did and you will too!

There are also those fathers of the faith of the previous generation such as Paul Paino, Chuck Smith, David Wilkerson, Lester Sumrall, Oral Roberts, etc. These were some, who while they were alive, cheered me on and encouraged me. When I was discouraged, had experienced failure, was beat down by life, the ministry, spiritual conflict, and felt like I could not go on, they were there as an encouraging voice and presence, letting me know that I too will make it as they had.

Now you have me – through Ministrymaker and here today, I’m doing my best to encourage you to keep on keeping on, not to quit or give up. I’ve been through a myriad of ups and downs, untold failures, discouragements, set backs, reversals in life, and victories. I’m here to encourage you, you will make it! Keep running the race He has set before you. Don’t quit or give up regardless of what might be coming against you. You’re going to make it – God will bring you through to a successful conclusion!

4. Weights, Sin, and Disputable Issues

Hebrews 12:1b – “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us.”

We are to lay aside all that hinders us. There are things that will hinder us, dog at our feet, in our Christian walk and the race that is set before us which we must cast aside. These things will drag us down, keeping us from being all we can be and from fulfilling our purpose and calling in Him. These things must be cast aside.

Our verse clearly distinguishes between weights and sins. All sin must be cast away and crucified (Romans 6:11-13). There are weights that can drag us down in the race that is set before us. Serious runners shed everything but what is absolutely necessary. The same must be done spiritually.

These weights may not be sin (right or wrong in and of themselves) but nonetheless they hinder us in our race. There are things that may not hinder someone else but they do us, as a result, we are to “lay aside” these weights from our lives. Likewise, another person may have things which hinder them that will not hinder us. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal this to us (Romans 14:5).

There are weights and sins that hinder us, weigh us down, cling to us, ensnare us, entangle us, and dog at our feet as we’re running the race the Holy Spirit has set before us. There’s a difference between weights and sin. A weight is something that is indigenous to us alone. What may weigh me down may not weigh you down and vice versa. Paul referred to them as disputable issues, “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations” (Romans 14:1).

We are not to argue over disputable things that are not clear cut in scripture. What I may have conviction concerning you may not, and what I may have liberty in, you may not. “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5). Personal conviction! These are what are referred to as weights in our passage. Let me be clear, I have plenty of weights weighing me down in my race, and I’m sure you have plenty of weights weighing you down in your race.

Please don’t take offense, but I really don’t need you laying your weights on me, I have enough of my own I’m carrying around. Keep your weights to yourself, and I’ll keep mine to myself. I’m sure you don’t need me loading you down with my weights either. There’s too much of this going on in the church and it needs to stop.

Let’s respect both the convictions of one another and our individual liberties as well and stop placing burdens on others that we can hardly bear. Peter put it this way, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear” (Acts 15:10)? We must lay aside all that might potentially hinder us in the race that is set before and at the same time not lay our burdens or weights on others.

5. Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

Hebrews 12:2-3 – “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our 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. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

Athletes, in all their training, and when they’re in the middle of the competition keep their eyes on the prize that is set before them. This helps them to persevere and discipline themselves to finish the race and obtain the prize (Philippians 3:12-14 and 1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

“Looking unto” is aphorao. It comes from apo meaning from or away from and horao meaning to stare at, to discern clearly, to attend to, behold, perceive. We are to look away from, looking away from all else that may vie for our attention and fix our eyes on Jesus. Like blinders on a horse in a race, we must shut out all else and look intently unto Jesus.

After a glance at “the cloud of witnesses,” Jesus is the goal. He is the one supreme witness that we must look to and is cheering us on in the race that is set before us. He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrew 4:15). We must look away from all else and fix our gaze upon Him. He alone gives us the courage and strength to keep pressing forward.

We must consider all He went through at the hands of sinful men, and realize that He made it through to victory, and is “set down at right hand of the throne of God.” We too will make it through the battles and hardships of life, and one day be seated with Him in glory. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and the prize that is set before us at the end of our race.

6. Jesus Will See You Through to the Finish Line

He’s “the author and finisher of our faith.” If you take an author of a book, before the book was authored, the concept was merely in the mind of the author, but the book itself did not exist. “The author…of our faith,” before He apprehended us, our faith was non-existent. We had absolutely no inclination toward the things of God at all. Our faith was authored by Him and we had nothing to do with it. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11).

We were “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Jesus said, “you have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:16). “Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth” (James 1:18). “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).

Jesus sought after us, not us after Him. It was only by the exercise of His own will that we were brought forth, born of Him, and are living for Him today. He sought after and chose us and not the other way around. He pursued us until He had apprehended us. Much like Paul described Jesus’ apprehension of himself saying, “I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12).

When the painting of Jesus standing at the door of our heart knocking was finished, a group of preachers and theologians were standing around admiring it. Many were commenting on what a great work of art and masterpiece it was. While they were looking on it in awe, Karl Barth, that great theologian, spoke up in what could only be described as frustration and anger.

He cried out, “Nein! Nein! Nein! My Jesus did not stand at the door of my heart gently knocking, hoping I would allow Him in, as I, big and strong, held the door of my heart shut. Nein! He picked up His heavy cross, took the big bloody end of it and began pounding on the door of my heart over and over as I tried, with all my strength, to hold the door closed. Finally, when I could hold the door closed no longer, I fell away, the door of my heart flew open, and He came in and took up residence in the citadel of my heart.” Thus, the Master apprehends us!

He’s also the “finisher of our faith.” What He began He will finish. It matters not how much you’ve struggled, fallen short, or what you’ve done. He will finish what He started! It’s not all up to you. He is working in conjunction with you on the project that is your faith (Philippians 2:12-13). You can’t lose, because Jesus never loses. He will bring you through to a successful conclusion!

Romans 8:29 – “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

Philippians 1:6 – “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 5:24 – “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.”

Jude 24 – “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

7. The Chastening of the Lord Will Ensure You Finish

Those running a race have a coach who challenges, corrects, trains, and even disciplines them to ensure they finish their race. We, likewise, have a great heavenly coach that’s determined we win the race He’s set before us. He will do whatever it takes to make sure we pass the finish line victoriously. A good coach will often kick his team in the proverbial backside to get them where they need to go.

Hebrews 12:4-6 – “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”

There are things we must forget and place behind us. Paul said, “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13). However, we must never forget the chastening of the Lord. The chastening of the Lord proves we’re His children and always brings with it deliverance, righteousness, peace, and joy, putting us back on the straight and narrow. Our Lord will do whatever it takes to ensure we finish the race that’s set before you.

Hebrews 12:7-10 – “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.”

Jonah is a prime example of this. He was commissioned by the Lord to preach against Nineveh. He rebelled and ran from his calling. Jonah fled to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord on a ship for which he paid passage. The Lord sent a great storm that was so fierce that those on the ship feared for their very lives. When they discovered Jonah was the cause they threw him overboard and a great fish swallowed him up. And he was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish (Jonah 1).

As result of the Lord’s discipline, Jonah remembered the Lord, cried out to Him, repented of his rebellion, “And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land” (Jonah 2:10). He then arose, heeded the command of the Lord, preached to Nineveh, they repented and the city was spared (Jonah 3). God will get you where you need to go at all cost even if He has to kick you in the backside to get you there.