Hebrews 12 follows on from the previous chapter, and serves as an example for you not to give up.

Documentation Published on Monday, 2 February 2026

How does Hebrews 12 speak to you?

How does Hebrews 12 speak to you?

Modern preachers no longer want to preach about sin because they are afraid it will scare people away. Clearly the writer of Hebrews was not afraid of people's opinions. Neither am I. Let's use Hebrews 11 to give meaning to Hebrews 12.

The Montana Park cell group's theme for 2026 is "Faith in Action". We started last year with a study on the letter to the Hebrews. For the first gathering of 2026, each member had to draw two cards, where each card is a verse from Hebrews 11, indicating the different heroes of faith. They will do their own presentations throughout the year. One of the members contacted me to give some feedback. She read about Abraham and how his faith was tested – having to offer his only son when God had told him that his decendants would be numerous. It took a lot of faith to decide to go through with this. However, God provided, and Isaac's life was spared. The Old Testament is rich in real-life accounts of people who had nothing else to depend on but their faith. This is what I want from my cell group members: to experience the Word for themselves.

For the second week, the cell group leader focused on this "cloud of witnesses" and how we can apply it practically.

  1. The cloud of witnesses is those in Hebrews 11:1-40. We have them as an example of what it means to demonstrate faith and persevere to the end, even when we don't always see the benefit of it. They did see the benefit of perseverance. We are admonished to:
    1. lay aside every burden;
    2. lay aside the sin; and
    3. run the race with perseverance.
  2. Our focus is on Jesus Christ.
    1. What did He do? He is the
      1. Author – the One who runs before, the Shepherd of Psalm 23;
      2. Finisher – our faith is only realised in Him; and
      3. Salvation of mankind.
    2. For this He:
      1. endured the cross;
      2. despised the shame; and
      3. sat down at the right hand of God on the throne where He prepares a place for us (John 14:2) and intercedes for us (Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25).
  3. We must note that He endured the contradiction (opposition) of sinners (not even the righteous, for all have sinned, Romans 3:23). The reason for this is so that we do not become spiritually weary.
  4. We take sin far too lightly. We don't take it seriously enough. We have not yet fought against it as if our lives depended on it. We often deceive ourselves about the consequences of sin. See 1 John 1:8. What we must do about this we read in 1 John 1:9. If we don't do this, we make the Truth (John 14:6) a liar.
  5. Our example is Proverbs 3:11. We must not
    1. despise (disregard) His chastening; and
    2. give up (faint) when we are rebuked. Why not?
  6. Because the Lord chastens those He loves. See Proverbs 3:12.
  7. If we endure the discipline, He treats us as His own children. (See Deuteronomy 8:5)
  8. If we don't want to be under His discipline, we are illegitimate, out-of-wedlock children and then we don't belong to Him.
  9. If we feared our own fathers (with respect), how much more should we not fear God?
  10. That He disciplines us is for our own benefit. Why? So that we may be holy as He is holy. See Psalm 119:75, 1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 11:44, 19:2 and 20:7. Holiness is a command!

This is what the continuous focus on sin is about: our sanctification and to be partakers of His holiness.

What now?

The question is this: What are you going to do about the sin in your life? Read 1 John 1:5-10 and apply verse 9. Look carefully at what the verse says. There is a condition (If) and a consequence (to).


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