Jesus: The Author and Finisher of Our Faith

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“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” –Hebrews 12:1-3, NKJV

Faithfulness is God’s idea. Jesus Himself is the author and the finisher of our faith. He invented our faith. He sustains our faith. He finishes our faith. Our faith has its being and its completion in Jesus.

Our relationship with Jesus, our faith in Him, as well as our lives, can be complex and challenging. God calls us to live our lives, to run the race, with endurance. We are to live our faith looking to Jesus. He alone will enable us to live out our faith.

It is Jesus who is the author of our faith. He has initiated a relationship with us. As it says in 1 John 4:19, “We love, because He first loved us.” God has invented our faith, He invites us into it, He has crafted it, spoke it into being poetically, written it out creatively, scripted it and brought it to life through His dramatization of it.

It is Jesus who will finish our faith. He will bring our faith to completion. God finishes what God starts. God is working in us and will complete His work of faith in us. As Paul said, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV).

Prayer: Jesus, you are the ‘author and perfecter of our faith’. Lord Jesus, it was fitting for you, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, to bring your children to glory, as the captain of our salvation, perfectly through your own sufferings and sacrifice on our behalf. Help us to run this race of faith and life with your endurance, trusting in you alone to be the finisher of our faith. Amen.  

(Prayer adapted from Hebrews 12:1-3, NASB, and Hebrews 2:10, NKJV).

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Encouragement

You Can Do It, photo by stevendepolo from Flickr

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” –Hebrews 10:23-25

When was the last time you stopped and considered how to move someone towards love and good deeds? When was the last time you encouraged someone? What was this experience like? Was it easy to encourage? Did it come natural or was it complicated? How did it make you feel to see the other person succeed or move forward?

Often times we shy away from encouragement, because it may seem pushy or it may seem “salesperson” like. Encouragement can feel like provocation, and maybe it is. We tend to view the word provocation as a negative term. But if the subject of the provocation is toward love and good deeds, then the provocation is actually positive and is an act of love and encouragement.

The author of Hebrews uses the word spur when asking the Hebrews to consider how they may “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” This word can come across as negative as well. Like provocation, spur is aggressive and it indicates an element of force or heavy persuasion.

The New King James version of scripture says, “Stir up love and good works.”

The Message translation of scripture says, “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out.” It then goes on to say, “spurring each other on.”

The point is this: we should be creative in encouraging one another, provocative even. We should be persistent and we should not give up on one another. We should try and bring out the best in others through meeting with them and encouraging them, whatever the cost.

Let us “spur one another on toward love and good deeds!”

A Review of Charts on the Book of Hebrews

Cover photo of Charts on the Book of Hebrews 
from Kregel Publications

Kregel Publications’ has just put out Charts on the Book of Hebrews, by Herbert W. Bateman IV, as part of their series of Charts of the Bible and Theology. If you have not used chart books before, they are very helpful in seeing main theological ideas and in getting an overall sense of a book of the Bible. Chart books are perfect for the visual learner and help systematize concepts in a clear and tangible way.

As a High School Bible teacher, distilling complex ideas into simple visuals is very important. Communicating overall themes, authorship theories and theological concepts, in easy to read and understandable charts, helps Bible readers to be able to better decipher the scriptures and to see the structure of a book more clearly as they study it.

Hebrews is an excellent book, which connects the Old Testament with the New Testament, and this book of scripture is a great tool to study the Pentateuch and the tabernacle. Charts on the Book of Hebrews has detailed charts, which map out the tabernacle and connects the book Hebrews’ passages with the Pentateuch. Charts on the Book of Hebrews is an excellent resource for teaching and for understanding the book of Hebrews.

Charts on the Book of Hebrews is very detailed and comprehensive and offers a scholarly, yet simple and accessible, approach to studying the book of Hebrews. As a teacher and as a student of the scriptures, I highly recommend this book.

For more information on Charts on the Book of Hebrews, or to purchase a copy of this book, please visit Kregel Publications’ website here. This book is also available on Amazon.com here.

Kregel Publications’ website also offers the following description of Charts on the Book of Hebrews:

The book of Hebrews presents interpretive challenges and theological comparisons unrivaled in the New Testament. Charts on the Book of Hebrews puts this demanding yet rewarding information in an accessible and useful format. The charts fall into four categories:

1. Introductory matters (e.g., authorship of Hebrews)
2. Influences in Hebrews (e.g. Second Temple messianic figures)
3. Theological issues (e.g. words of exhortation)
4. Exegetical concerns (e.g. figures of speech)

Students will find this an invaluable companion to classes on Hebrews. Pastors and teachers will benefit from these insightful charts to quickly clarify difficult concepts while teaching. And all visual learners will find that these charts make Hebrews more comprehensible.

In exchange for this unbiased review, I received a free copy of Charts on the Book of Hebrews, by Herbert W. Bateman IV, from Kregel Publications.