Hebrews 12:12-13 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.The image of the race comes back into view in vv. 12-13, and the author urges believers to persevere when fatigued. Marathoners say the first thing that tends to tire are the arms tha...  Read More

Hebrews 12:9-11 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have be...  Read More

Hebrews 12:6 …those whom the Lord loves He disciplines. Throughout Scripture there are examples of people suffering and of God’s people being disciplined—in the case of His faithful people, discipline being a mark of His love, not His wrath. Notably in Hebrews 12:5-6, the author quotes King Solomon who wrote, “My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe His reproof, for whom the Lor...  Read More

Hebrews 12:5-8 Have you forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons?  “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not di...  Read More

Hebrews 12:3-4 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. The author of Hebrews is admonishing his audience to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (12:1)—the “race” (Gr. agon) being the Christian life itself, at ti...  Read More

Ephesians 4:20b-24 …just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.           Having heard the gospel ...  Read More

Romans 13:11-12 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.            In view of the Christian’s command to love his neighbor as the fruit of his salvation (not the root o...  Read More

Hebrews 12:3-4 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;.           The author exhorts all in v. 3 to “consider” (Gr. analogizomai)—analyze, a Greek term that means “to think about with effort and precision.” In this case, we are...  Read More

Hebrews 12:1b-2 …run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.            Just one bad shoe on a sprinter can cause him or her to lose their race to one who has indeed laid aside his or her encumbrances. ...  Read More

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…            The “therefore” in v. 1 calls attention back to the previous context in chapter 11 regarding the long list of faithful men and women from the OT who, though impe...  Read More

Hebrews 11:39-40 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.From Abel to Abraham to David to the others, “all of these…gained approval” by God by their faith. The “all” omits none of them, for God would never forget a single one of His faithfu...  Read More

Hebrews 11:35b-38 …and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others experienced mocking and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (m...  Read More