The prize that the believers win for running the race is an incorruptible crown (1 Cor. 9:25), which is a reward as an incentive. This reward will be given to us according to our works at the Lord’s coming back (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 1 Cor. 4:5). It will be decided at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) and enjoyed in the coming kingdom (Matt. 25:21, 23). This prize is not salvation in a common sense (Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 3:15) but a reward in a special sense (Heb. 10:35; 1 Cor. 3:14). Eternal salvation is by faith, having nothing to do with our work (Eph. 2:8-9), whereas the reward is for our work after we are saved (1 Cor. 3:8, 14). As believers in Christ, we have all received His salvation through faith. This has been settled once for all. But whether we will be rewarded by the Lord depends on how we run the race.
In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul was running the race. In Philippians, one of his last Epistles, he was still running (3:14). It was not until the last moment of his running, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, that Paul had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the Lord at His coming. With this reward in view, Paul charges us to run the race so that we may obtain an incorruptible crown.
We should not run the race without a clear aim; rather, we must have a clear goal. This is according to Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 9:26: “I therefore run in this way, not as though without a clear aim.” If we run with a clear aim and in reality, our running of the racecourse will not be in vain (Gal. 2:2).
In order to run the course of the race, we need to put off every encumbrance and the entangling sin (Heb. 12:1). The Greek word translated “encumbrance” in Hebrews 12:1 may also be rendered “weight,” “burden,” or “impediment.” If we would run the Christian race, we need to put off every unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden, so that we would have no encumbrance or impediment in running the race. In addition, we also need to put off “the sin which so easily entangles us.” Here the sin refers mainly to the thing that entangles us, hindering us from running the race. The encumbrances are outward, but the sin is inward, both of which frustrate us in running the race. In order to run the course of the Christian life, we need to put off the encumbrances and the entangling sin.
There is much opposition to the Christian race; therefore, in order to run this race, the believers must suffer opposition with endurance and never grow weary or faint in our souls (vv. 1, 3).
The believers run the course of the race by “looking away unto Jesus” (v. 2). The Greek word translated as “looking away unto” means to look with undivided attention by turning away from every other object. The runners in a race should turn away from everything else and look at the goal with undivided attention. We need to turn away from everything other than Jesus and look to Him with undivided attention. The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor (2:9), is the greatest attraction in the universe. He is like an immense magnet, drawing all His seekers to Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him so that we may run with endurance the race which is set before us. This is the way we run the race.
The Lord Jesus is “the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2). In Hebrews Paul points us particularly to the Christ who is seated in heaven with so many aspects to care for us in every way. By His death and resurrection He accomplished everything that is needed for both God and us. Now in His ascension He is sitting in the heavens as the Son of God (1:5) and the Son of Man (2:6), that is, in the person of God (1:8) and of man (2:6), as the appointed Heir of all things (1:2), the anointed One of God (v. 9), the Author of our salvation (2:10), the Sanctifier (v. 11), the constant Succor (v. 16), the instant Helper (4:16), the Apostle from God (3:1), the High Priest (2:17; 4:14; 7:26), the Minister of the true tabernacle (8:2) with a more excellent ministry (v. 6), the surety and the Mediator of a better covenant (7:22; 8:6; 12:24), the Executor of the new testament (9:16-17), the Forerunner (6:20), the Author and Perfecter of faith (12:2), and the great Shepherd of the sheep (13:20). If we look unto Him as such a wonderful and all-inclusive One, He will transfuse and infuse us with all that He is by ministering heaven, life, and strength to us, to enable us to run the heavenly race and to live the heavenly life on earth. In this way, He will carry us through our lifelong pathway and lead and bring us into glory (2:10).