Hebrews 12:1 question

[HeDied4U]

"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" (NASB)

The sin that "so easily entangles us," is that a specific sin or sin in general?

Would like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks.

 

[subllibrm]

I was taught from the git go that each person had their own besetting sin. I believe this is an incorrect interpretation and application.

While everyone has some particular sin that they wrestle with more than others, that is not what this is referring to. In the context, which includes the preceding chapter, it is talking about a lack of faith or better put, unbelief. When we set aside our belief and do not operate from a position of faith some sin will overtake us. But the unbelief is the sin that besets us to the symptomatic action of the overt sin.

So the besetting sin is the same for everyone (unbelief) and that is why it is written in the singular. How that unbelief manifests in a person's life will be different for everyone.

IMHO

 

[Bo]

"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" (NASB)

The sin that "so easily entangles us," is that a specific sin or sin in general?

Would like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks.

I would say sin in general but to each person the sin of un belief as subllibrm stated and to our personal sins we all struggle with....

I reckon in a sense Im saying that in my opinion it is referring to the general sin....the sin of unbelief...and the personal struggle by the individual all respectively.....if that makes any sense?

harder to word what I mean than to think it lol

 

[Walt]

"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" (NASB)

The sin that "so easily entangles us," is that a specific sin or sin in general?

Would like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks.

In my opinion, it is a description of we humans and sin... we are so easily entangled with sin.  So, I'd say it is true in the general sense... but why does it have to be one or the other?  Could not the Holy Spirit have had both in mind?  In the general sense, mankind is easily entangled with sin... and in the specific sense, we each have a sin that seems to snare us more easily than fellow believers.

My thoughts.

 

[ALAYMAN]

No way to be dogmatic about the answer, but most everybody has answered pretty well, so I won't add anything groundbreaking.  In the sense of general depravity (unbelief) that makes up our sinful disposition, our propensity towards one kind of weakness or other (differing sins/weakness for different folks) manifests itself in each person's own particular natural proclivity.

 

[Ransom]

The sin that "so easily entangles us," is that a specific sin or sin in general?

"The sin" is not speaking of a specific sin or kind of sin.  The author is speaking in generalities, saying to get rid of the things (whatever they are) that hold us back from running our race.

If the author of Hebrews wasn't Paul, he was Paul's long-lost brother. They both love sports analogies. Compare what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 9:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Paul compares the Christian life to athletic training because they both require discipline. The Olympic athlete is not competing for a participation trophy; he is there to win. He doesn't shadowbox; he prepares to trade body blows. He is self-controlled and gets rid of everything that hinders his peak performance. And all this for a mere laurel wreath, which is designed to be perishable. How much more should Christians discipline themselves to win an imperishable reward?

The sense of the Hebrews passage is pretty much the same.

 

[HeDied4U]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I appreciate the input.

 

[HeDied4U]

Something subllibrm said.....

In the context, which includes the preceding chapter

.....triggered a memory.

I can't remember where I heard it and who said it, but I remember a preacher saying, "When you see a 'therefore,' find out what it's there for."

With this in mind, going back and rereading chapter 11 really helps with the understanding of chapter 12, verse 1.

 

[Ransom]

Would that not be the sin of unbelief?
We all struggle with that. It keeps us from running well.

So would addiction, or an illicit sexual relationship. Why assume it's referring only to one thing?

 

[Ransom]

But use of the definite article (the sin) seems to indicate a particular sin.

No more than "The spotted owl is an endangered species" indicates a particular spotted owl.

The article "the" can also mark nouns that are being used generically. That is the case here.

 

[Tim]

But use of the definite article (the sin) seems to indicate a particular sin.

No more than "The spotted owl is an endangered species" indicates a particular spotted owl.

The article "the" can also mark nouns that are being used generically. That is the case here.

Sin in general has been paid for by the Blood of Christ Jesus. If this passage speaks of sin in general I suppose it is also saying that His substitution isn't adequate and sin still holds us back. Sin in general doesn't hold the believer back - but specific sins still allowed in the believers life hold him back.

I believe this passage indicates a particular sin - a sin mentioned in Hebrews elsewhere. Unbelief.

"Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways." Hebrews 3:10

 

[Ransom]

Sin in general has been paid for by the Blood of Christ Jesus.

But the author isn't talking about "sin in general"; he's talking about generic, or unspecified, sin. He doesn't necessarily know his readers personally or what their particular weaknesses or temptations are. He is assuming they have some sinful encumbrances in their lives, and whatever those are, exhorting them to cast them off.

I believe this passage indicates a particular sin - a sin mentioned in Hebrews elsewhere. Unbelief.

He's writing to a church, not unbelievers. While the theme of the book is a warning against the danger of falling away from the faith, he also tells them, "yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things?things that belong to salvation" (Heb. 6:9), and encourages them to persevere in the faith that they already have. When he speaks of Christ as the great High Priest, he says, "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" (6:19); it is their shared experience.  It's clear he does not believe they are unbelievers, so it makes no sense for him to be telling them to rid themselves of a sin that in the main they do not possess.

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

It's a specific sin.  It's the one that so easily entangles us.  You know.  That one.

 

[prophet]

Sin in general has been paid for by the Blood of Christ Jesus.

But the author isn't talking about "sin in general"; he's talking about generic, or unspecified, sin. He doesn't necessarily know his readers personally or what their particular weaknesses or temptations are. He is assuming they have some sinful encumbrances in their lives, and whatever those are, exhorting them to cast them off.

I believe this passage indicates a particular sin - a sin mentioned in Hebrews elsewhere. Unbelief.

He's writing to a church, not unbelievers. While the theme of the book is a warning against the danger of falling away from the faith, he also tells them, "yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things?things that belong to salvation" (Heb. 6:9), and encourages them to persevere in the faith that they already have. When he speaks of Christ as the great High Priest, he says, "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" (6:19); it is their shared experience.  It's clear he does not believe they are unbelievers, so it makes no sense for him to be telling them to rid themselves of a sin that in the main they do not possess.

I believe that this epistle was written to a Nationality, a people, not a church.

With that said, I agree with the rest of your assessment.

Earnestly Contend

 

[Tim]

Sin in general has been paid for by the Blood of Christ Jesus.

But the author isn't talking about "sin in general"; he's talking about generic, or unspecified, sin. He doesn't necessarily know his readers personally or what their particular weaknesses or temptations are. He is assuming they have some sinful encumbrances in their lives, and whatever those are, exhorting them to cast them off.

I believe this passage indicates a particular sin - a sin mentioned in Hebrews elsewhere. Unbelief.

He's writing to a church, not unbelievers. While the theme of the book is a warning against the danger of falling away from the faith, he also tells them, "yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things?things that belong to salvation" (Heb. 6:9), and encourages them to persevere in the faith that they already have. When he speaks of Christ as the great High Priest, he says, "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" (6:19); it is their shared experience.  It's clear he does not believe they are unbelievers, so it makes no sense for him to be telling them to rid themselves of a sin that in the main they do not possess.

So your faith, your amen to God's truth, is 100%? We all struggle with believing God on some level. I wasn't referencing to the saving faith - but the faith we have day to day.

 

[PappaBear]

The sin that "so easily entangles us," is that a specific sin or sin in general?

"The sin" is not speaking of a specific sin or kind of sin.  The author is speaking in generalities, saying to get rid of the things (whatever they are) that hold us back from running our race.

If the author of Hebrews wasn't Paul, he was Paul's long-lost brother. They both love sports analogies. Compare what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 9:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Paul compares the Christian life to athletic training because they both require discipline. The Olympic athlete is not competing for a participation trophy; he is there to win. He doesn't shadowbox; he prepares to trade body blows. He is self-controlled and gets rid of everything that hinders his peak performance. And all this for a mere laurel wreath, which is designed to be perishable. How much more should Christians discipline themselves to win an imperishable reward?

The sense of the Hebrews passage is pretty much the same.

Excellent!  To the point, fits well with the overall context, and agrees with cross references.  I whole-heartedly concur. 

 

[Walt]

The sin that "so easily entangles us," is that a specific sin or sin in general?

"The sin" is not speaking of a specific sin or kind of sin.  The author is speaking in generalities, saying to get rid of the things (whatever they are) that hold us back from running our race.

If the author of Hebrews wasn't Paul, he was Paul's long-lost brother. They both love sports analogies. Compare what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 9:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Paul compares the Christian life to athletic training because they both require discipline. The Olympic athlete is not competing for a participation trophy; he is there to win. He doesn't shadowbox; he prepares to trade body blows. He is self-controlled and gets rid of everything that hinders his peak performance. And all this for a mere laurel wreath, which is designed to be perishable. How much more should Christians discipline themselves to win an imperishable reward?

The sense of the Hebrews passage is pretty much the same.

Excellent!  To the point, fits well with the overall context, and agrees with cross references.  I whole-heartedly concur.

The big difference is that we are not competing against other Christians.

 

[Ransom]

The big difference is that we are not competing against other Christians.

Uh . . . who said we were?

 

[Walt]

The big difference is that we are not competing against other Christians.

Uh . . . who said we were?

People comparing it to the Olympics, where only the winner goes the crown... the winner in a race must beat all the other participants to win.

 

[Ransom]

People comparing it to the Olympics, where only the winner goes the crown...

Ah. Sorry, I didn't realize you were meaning St. Paul (1 Cor. 9:24).