In this message we come to the Author and Perfecter of faith (12:2). The saints of the old covenant were only witnesses of faith. None of them was the author, source, perfecter, or finisher of faith. In verse 1 of this chapter the witnesses of faith are considered as “a cloud of witnesses surrounding us.” The Lord was in the cloud to be with His people (Exo. 13:21-22). The children of Israel followed the Lord according to the move of the cloud. Where the cloud was, there the Lord was also. Furthermore, the cloud is for leading people in following the Lord. If you have a heart to seek out the Lord and you read Hebrews 11, you may immediately have the sense that by the people of faith you can have the Lord’s presence and His leading. If you have the cloud, you will have the Lord. But if you miss the cloud, you will also miss the Lord. All the people of faith, the church people, are the cloud. The best way to seek the Lord’s presence is to come to the church. If anyone is seeking the Lord’s leading, he must follow the cloud, the church. The Lord is in the cloud, meaning that He is with the people of faith. Since we are the people of faith, we are today’s cloud, and people can follow the Lord by following us. Those who seek Him can find His presence with us. The Lord is where we are, and where we are is the direction in which the Lord is moving in these days.
Only Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of faith. As we have seen, the saints of the old covenant were only the witnesses of faith, but Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of faith. The Greek word translated “Author” may also be rendered “Originator,” “Inaugurator,” “Leader,” “Pioneer,” “Forerunner.” It is the same word in Greek that is used for Captain in 2:10. Jesus is the Author of faith; He is the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith. The Author is the Originator and the Inaugurator; then He is the source and the cause. Since the Author is the Originator, He is also the Pioneer and Forerunner. Therefore, He is also the Leader and the Captain. If we put all these titles together, we have an adequate definition of Jesus as the Author of faith.
We need Jesus as the Author of faith because, according to our natural man, we do not have any believing ability. We do not have faith by ourselves. The faith we have through which we are saved is “not of ourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). We have “obtained” this “precious faith” by God’s gift (2 Pet. 1:1). When we look unto Jesus, He, as “the life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45 ASV), transfuses us with Himself, with His believing element. Then, spontaneously, the believing ability arises in our being, and we have the faith to believe in Him. It is not of ourselves, but of Him who imparts Himself into us as the believing element to believe for us. Hence, it is He Himself who is our faith. We live by Him as our faith, by His faith (Gal. 2:20), not by our own faith.
Jesus is the Author and the Originator of faith mainly in His life and in His path on earth. The Lord Jesus originated faith when He was here on earth. The life He lived was a life of faith, and the path He walked was a path of faith. In His life and path He originated faith. Hence, He is the Author of faith.
Jesus, being the Pioneer and the Forerunner, has cut the way of faith. If you read the four Gospels again, you will see that His life was a cutting life, a life that cut the way of faith. Wherever He went, it seems that there was a mountain or a river frustrating Him. But step after step, He cut the way of faith. If we have this view in reading the Gospels, we shall see that the very Jesus who is the Originator of faith was always cutting the way of faith, closing the gaps and removing the mountains like the builder of a highway. Since He has cut the way of faith, He is also the Pioneer and Forerunner on the pathway of faith.
As the Pioneer and the Forerunner of faith, Jesus is also the Leader and Captain of faith. He has cut the way of faith and, as the Forerunner, has taken the lead to pioneer it. Hence, He, as the Captain, can carry us through the pathway of faith in His footsteps. As we look unto Him as the Originator of faith in His life and in His path on earth, and as the Perfecter of faith in His glory and on His throne in heaven, He transfuses and even infuses us with the faith which He has originated and perfected.
Jesus is also the Perfecter of faith. The Greek word translated “Perfecter” may also be rendered “Finisher” or “Completer.” Jesus is also the Finisher, the Completer, of faith. By looking unto Him continually, we shall have Him finish and complete the faith which we need for running the heavenly race.
Jesus is the Perfecter of faith mainly in His glory and on His throne in heaven. He is sitting on the throne in glory to complete the faith which He originated while He was on earth. Being the Finisher and the Completer of faith, He will finish and complete what He has originated and inaugurated.