Perfecter of Faith
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, 2 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.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
This we week we return to the same passage as last week because it is so full. As we run the race set before us, we look to Christ Jesus. He is our focus and our best example – He followed the path set before Him through the cross, enduring the agony and shame, and through the resurrection and ascension, returning to His heavenly glory. He is also the founder and perfecter of our faith.
Please take a moment to ponder that. Paul explains that faith is a gift from God writing, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…. (Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)). Revealing the same thought, the author of Hebrews simply throws in a passing phrase saying Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith. After He bestows the gift of faith upon us, He continues working within us, growing, strengthening, and perfecting our faith. Faith is a gift from Christ Jesus, and as we move from infancy to maturity in faith, with His holy presence growing increasingly within us, our spirits and souls are continuously transformed, gradually made holier, moving toward sanctification. It is Christ Jesus, not us. It is His holy presence, His being, Him abiding within us, gradually transforming us into His holy image.
Oswald Chambers said, “Sanctification is not something our Lord does in me; sanctification is himself in me.”
So what are we to do? If faith is entirely a gift from God, must we merely sit back and wait on Him to bless us with faith? Preaching a sermon focusing on 2 Corinthians 7:1, Charles Spurgeon said, “Albeit sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit, yet it is equally true, and this we must ever bear in mind, that the Holy Spirit makes us active agents in our own sanctification.”
We have a small but vital role in the process – all we must do is look to Him and allow Him to abide in us and through His abiding, transform our hearts. We might fall into the trap of believing our faith and any progression along the path of sanctification we might enjoy is entirely the result our own doing, but it is Christ Jesus’ holy abiding presence transforming us. While our acts of piety, our prayer life, our attention to Bible study, our regular worship, our good works in Christ Jesus’ holy name, and other disciplines of faith help us keep our focus on Him, Jesus is the perfecter of our faith; we are not.
Blending notions of God’s holy grace freely bestowed upon us, grace we could never earn, along with our agency in the process, Jesus prayed to the Father as part of His High Priestly Prayer recorded as John 17 saying,
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. John 17:17-19 (ESV)
The Father is the sanctifier. Christ Jesus is the perfecter of our faith. The Holy Spirit’s presence within us results in sanctification, even if only ever so gradually. God, the three persons of the Holy Trinity, is intimately involved, yet we too must participate in the process by looking to Christ Jesus. He is the Word. He is the Truth. And Jesus prays asking the Father to sanctify us in the truth, explaining further that God’s holy word is truth. So how do we look to Jesus? We look to Him through His holy word. We look to Him through prayer. We look to Him through regular worship, individual and corporate. We look to Him by serving our brothers and sisters in need in His holy name.
During the Last Supper, Jesus expanded on this teaching saying,
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that that your joy may be full. John 15:7-11 (ESV)
Abiding in Christ Jesus is related to His holy words abiding in us. And love is a component of His holy essence, so when He abides in us His presence transforms us and His love flows through us, and we are able to bear fruit as His disciples, and we are able to keep His commandments. We could not do any of that without His holy presence abiding within us.
Isn’t glorious that Christ Jesus continuously works with us and within us? If we merely look to Him and respond to His prodding, He acts within us allowing us to enjoy our best possible life here on earth.
May you set aside the weight of sin in your life and run the race set before you, focusing on Christ Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith. Amen.