In Hebrews 12:1, the besetting sin spoken of here according to the context of Hebrews is the sin of unbelief (Hebrews 3:12,19; Hebrews 4:6,11; Hebrews 10:35-39). It is the sin from which all other sins in a measure proceed, and by means of which they are ever more or less cherished and supported. In this article, let us consider some of the following aspects of the Christian race:

1) Unbelief will keep us from our salvation which is in Christ (Gal. 3:27-28) – It will also keep us from obeying God’s eternal word (Hebrews 11:6). The sin of unbelief is like the long, loose robe that was commonly worn in the first century. To a runner, it would entangle his feet, encumber him, and hinder him from the “victory crown” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).

2) Not only must one believe in the One who can equip him to win – God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), he must also believe he, himself, can win – If we don’t really believe we can run the race and “win”, there is not much reason to enter into the race. As Christians running the Christian race, we can never display an “I can’t” or defeatist attitude. We must display the same type of winning attitude that the Apostle Paul displayed in (Philippians 4:13).

3) In order to successfully run the Christian race, the Hebrew writer admonishes us to “lay aside every weight” (Hebrews 12:1) – Christians are to “put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:8-9). Paul enumerates other “weights” that Christians are to “put off” (Ephesians 4:25-31).

4) The entire book of Hebrews gives us reasons for keeping and maintaining the Christian’s race – There is no reason for the Christian to be “beset” with the sin of unbelief, for the Christian has a “better hope” (Hebrews 7:19) and a “better testament” (Hebrews 7:22). With the “better covenant” comes “better promises” (Hebrews 8:6) and “better sacrifices” (Hebrews 9:23). Furthermore, “ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance” (Hebrews 10:34). To acquire these things, however, we must be “in the race,” and to be “in the race” means to faithfully live a Christian life according to God’s salvation plan.