Our Comfort: How the Gospel Triumphs Over Our Struggle to be Holy (Part 1 of 2)

The Struggle to Be Holy and the Triumph of the Gospel

Sanctification is hard. It's difficult, not an easy task. In addition to sin and temptation, we face discouragement, disappointment, and frustration in this struggle to be holy—the central reality behind salvation. "Be holy because I am holy," or as Hebrews 12:14 puts it, "pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." This is a huge topic with eternal significance.

The gospel triumphs over our struggle to be holy. This assumes two principles: the gospel is triumphant—successful, glorious, intentional, and accomplished by Jesus Christ on our behalf. And struggling with sin is a good sign of the Christian life. You want to be like Christ but are stuck in the flesh. It's an all-out war against temptation and hindrances.

The goal is to see the gospel's triumph first, not our struggle. What causes real, lasting change that pleases God and satisfies the soul? The answer is the triumph of the gospel.

Hebrews 12: The Cloud of Witnesses and the Race

A key passage details this struggle in connection with the gospel: Hebrews 12:1-4.

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, 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. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

The author starts with Hebrews 11, the "faith hall of fame," listing Old Testament saints who conquered kingdoms, received the dead back, and more—by faith. Women and men alike were propelled into extraordinary lives. Therefore, "since them, now us." We can endure because they did. Chapter 11 shows the group we belong to: the same faith as Noah, Moses, Abraham, and Abel.

Calvin comments: If those on whom the great light of grace had not yet shone showed such surpassing constancy, what effect ought the full glory of the gospel to have on us? A tiny spark led them to heaven; now that the Sun of righteousness shines on us, what excuse if we cling to earth? The gospel triumphs—proactively from the cross, retroactively to the cross, transcendently.

Christ: Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

The author turns to the gospel's specifics: Christ, the author (archegos) and perfecter (teleiotes) of our faith. He originates it, rules it, and brings it to completion. The whole book of Hebrews proclaims Christ's superiority—his work is perfect and accomplishes its goal.

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." (Hebrews 8:6-8)

The first covenant failed to produce a faultless, holy people—that was reserved for Christ. Hebrews 10:14: "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." Triumph means accomplishment. Christ accomplished salvation and holiness.

Hebrews 1:3: After making atonement, he sat down—visible proof of success and finality. The old system didn't produce holy people; the gospel does. Jerry Bridges said, "The only safe evidence that we are in Christ is a holy life." 1 John 3:3: Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself as he is pure. Romans 8:14: Those led by the Spirit are sons of God. If we know nothing of holiness, we do not have the Holy Spirit.

The Hebrews were stalled, needing endurance. Hebrews 5:11-14: They ought to be teachers but needed milk, unskilled in righteousness. Mature Christians discern good from evil through constant practice—like a hobby. The author laments their dullness, burnout in sanctification. They took their eyes off the gospel. He reminds them of its triumph to jumpstart them.

Lay Aside Weights and Sin

After 11 chapters of gospel triumph: "Lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely." Weights are ponderously excessive hindrances—like ankle weights in a race, exhausting endurance. Philip Edgcumbe Hughes: Like athletes stripping for action, Christians must shun every excess (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).

Don't become bitter or stagnant in sanctification. Identify what's holding you back. Continue activities where you can thank God freely. If your conscience is bothered—or another's—avoid it. Paul would abstain from meat or wine to not stumble others. Kevin DeYoung: "A tender conscience is a terrible thing to waste."

Sin doesn't just slow; it constricts like an anaconda, squeezing tighter. Even defeated by the gospel, if you hold on, it hinders. Strip it off—chop its head.

Looking to Jesus: The Means of Endurance

How? "Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." Beholding Christ removes weights and sin. Salvation began this way: John 6:40, everyone who looks on the Son and believes has eternal life. Galatians 3:1: Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified before their eyes.

Paul calls turning from Christ "bewitched"—supernatural deception, like a Jedi mind trick. Genesis 3:6, Eve saw the fruit as delightful. Matthew 14:30, Peter saw the wind and sank. Keep Christ before your eyes so temptation repulses like vomit compared to a crucified Savior.

He endured the cross, despising shame, for the joy set before him. The preposition "for" (anti) equates or replaces suffering with joy. Joy eclipsed the struggle. Gospel triumph empowers us with joy through the struggle.

Struggling to Be Holy Becomes Enjoyment

Struggling to be holy is now enjoyment. Not just any joy, but that same joy of Christ. Consider him. Think about him. Logically reason in your mind the connections between the gospel's triumph and your struggle. It all hinges upon that appropriate and proper understanding of joy. It's a fight for joy. It's a struggle where joy becomes the main emphasis. Not that the struggles go away. Not that the sufferings go away, but that there is a presence of Christ-like joy, knowing and understanding what the ultimate result actually is within a believer's life.

He was glorified. He succeeded. He sat down in the glory at the right hand of the Majesty on high. There was joy that pushed him through to the end. That's the same concept within our lives and our struggle for joy.

Beholding Christ begs the question: how much time outside of services, conferences, Bible studies—those are all great, by the way—is spent beholding Christ? Pastor Scott showed us how to do that. Pastor John reiterated that. I don't know where else you're going to be able to do that if not in the very words and the preaching and exhortation of the Word of God. Don't give up. Don't stop. Don't be weighed down. Put aside those weights, put aside those sins because in doing that—by looking to Christ, by considering Christ, thinking about Christ as he actually is, not as how I would want him to be—there's a lot of people whose profession of faith is really a profession of faith in their own Christ and their own God. "My Jesus doesn't want me to worry about that. My Jesus accepts me this way." But to see and behold Christ as he was: a bloodied, crucified, dead Savior who, subsequent to his death, rose from the dead and reigns on high. That's the triumph of the gospel. Behold that. Think about that constantly. That's the ability to put aside the weights and the sins. That's the ability then to be able to endure with joy.

Notice what he says: "so that you don't grow weary or faint-hearted." Looking to Christ is the joy. Considering Christ is the lack of weariness or faint-heartedness.

You Have Not Yet Resisted to the Point of Shedding Your Blood

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. There are probably three ways to respond to this statement and to the context at large here. You haven't resisted to the point of your own bloodshed in your struggle with sin. Now that you've got joy, now you've got endurance, now you have the ability to endure—that's the case, that's the circumstance. Now begin to recognize this.

Gospel Triumph Creates Non-Quitters

The first thing gospel triumph will create is non-quitters in their struggle. In this verse, there's probably a conviction of having given in to sin too soon. Think about those moments when you dove right in. We're not talking about victory or defeat. That's probably the number one issue in the struggle with sin: success-oriented struggling with holiness. That's not the case at all. We've heard the success is there. The victory is won. Christ has achieved. Christ has triumphed. Christ has accomplished.

So really the subject matter at hand is not an issue of victory over sin or defeat over sin. That's what creates the most disappointment: "I did it again." We all do that—then we run back to Christ, so penitential and repentant, throwing out our promises: "Lord, I'm not going to do it again. Give me a second chance. Give me a 300 millionth chance now, Lord. I'm not going to do it again." And then the very next day it seems we gave in, we blew it—rinsed and repeat. "Lord, I'm so sorry." It's success-oriented. It's not the gospel. That's not the struggle.

It's obedience or disobedience. The main emphasis is a God-centered approach to the struggle with sin that recognizes: I'm not talking about my success or my defeat. I'm talking about something that offends God. He said, "Be holy." And his Son triumphed so that I could do that. And I gave in way too soon. Had more to give. Didn't shed any blood.

Just like Christ upon the cross, there came a point when he gave up his spirit—that's the end of it. He didn't give up sooner than that, didn't give up except at the right time when the blood was emptied and his life was over. Had more to give.

Incredible Encouragement

There's also incredible encouragement. Let the conviction soak in for a while, but then begin to recognize this: as we have not resisted to the point of shedding our blood, there's more to give. That means there's opportunity to not give in to sin. If there's more to give, there's the point, the degree of being able to shed our blood in our struggle against sin. Press on. Move forward.

By the way, in 1 Corinthians 10, he is faithful to provide a way of escape—not so that the temptation goes away, but so that you can endure, go through, come out on the other side with a favorable outcome.

Consolation of the Gospel Triumph

Those may be some good practical applications, but I think the biggest thing here is the consolation of the triumph of the gospel. You don't go to the cross for your sins—Jesus did. The consideration of what Christ endured and how he endured the cross brings the statement of reassurance, of our avoidance of what he endured on the cross. You're not resisting to that point in your struggle against sin. Christ went through it all for your struggle with sin, granting us the ability to endure our struggle against sin. He endured all the way to hell for us, through holiness to endure all the way to his heaven. That's the triumph of the gospel. That's what gives the motivation—because of the gospel triumph through granting us the endurance to continue and to do so specifically with joy.

Closing Quote from Jerry Bridges

Joy not only results from a holy life, but there is also a sense in which joy helps produce a holy life. Nehemiah said to the dispirited exiles who returned to Jerusalem, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). The Christian living in disobedience also lives devoid of joy and hope. But when he begins to understand that Christ has delivered him from the reign of sin, when he begins to see that he is united to him who has all power and authority and that it is possible to walk in obedience, he begins to have hope. And as he hopes in Christ, he begins to have joy. And as the strength of this joy he begins to overcome the sins that so easily entangle him. He then finds that the joy of the holy walk is infinitely more satisfying than the fleeting pleasures of sin.