Dear believer, did it ever occur to you that there is a race that is before you? In that race, you are the runner!
I Have Finished The Race is one of Brother Paul’s statements in 2 Timothy 4:7, and it is a familiar clause worth considering.
One would wonder what Paul did to have warranted the statement, and another would ask what Paul meant by saying, I have finished the race. Hold on.
There is something called the Christian race. It is a term used to describe the kind of life those who believe in Christ are to follow. Could there be a connection? We will see that in a bit.
I Have Finished The Race Verse
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV.
In our previous message, we looked at where Paul said, I have fought the good fight. In the same manner, he said, I have finished the race, then, the third part of which we will consider in the other message.
Bible translations such as KJV, WEB, and NASB present the second part as I have finished the course. And that got me looking up the Racecourse. Guess what I found; it was a curriculum!
Well, that was just one of them. The Racecourse is actually an organized way put in place for runners to race. It is still synonymous with the academic idea of curriculum for studies, but the sports aspect of the term fits in here as we deal with gymnasia.
What Does “I Have Finished The Race” Mean?
A study of Ancient Greek Gymnasia reveals that the idea of athleticism and the sports exercises in those days was not far from what we have today. What we have today is but an upgraded version of the original.
Paul was both a Jew and a Roman, so he must have seen (or participated as a youth) in the exercises that took place in his time. So he used terms like Dromon (δρόμον), translated as Race, where he said he had finished it. Interestingly, the same Greek word stands for Racecourse, which could be the roadway.
However, Paul was not literally talking about running on a track there. He was figuratively communicating a way of life. When he said, I have finished the race, he was referring to the fact that he followed the path set for him till the end (or perhaps a journey he completed). Can we say he was talking about the path of righteousness or the way of truth? How about the work of ministry?
Take, for instance, Galatians 5:7 WEB, where he said, “You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth?” Note the highlights I made there.
Paul also used that idea to communicate with the church at Corinth. Concerning his ministerial modus operandi, he said:
“What then is my reward? That, when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News.
For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;
to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law.
To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.
Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.
Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.
I therefore run like that, as not uncertainly. I fight like that, as not beating the air,
but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.” 1 Corinthians 9:18–27 WEB.
Notice that Paul, while writing about his operation, gave his portfolio and made it known that there was a reward (an incorruptible crown) for how he worked for the sake of the Gospel.
He then brought the idea of the Racecourse. He spoke about everyone running in a race, pointing out that first position always goes to one person. Therefore, he (Paul) ran like that one person to win the prize.
How did he run to win the prize? He did so in submission to Christ by fighting temptation. That is by beating his flesh and putting his desires under control. In essence, he ran to win by exercising self-control (or self-discipline) to avoid disqualification.
In the next chapter (1 Corinthians 10:1–5), he took the people back to the history of Israel in the wilderness, from when they passed through the Red Sea. Paul gave the spiritual implications of what they experienced and how they displeased God by following their own ways.
In 1 Corinthians 10:6–12 WEB, he said:
“Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Neither be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’
Neither let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell.
Neither let us test the Lord, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents.
Neither grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer.
Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall.”
As much as these sayings are striking and instructive, Paul admonished the people to abstain from sinful living and submit to God and His ways (not boasting in their self-righteousness).
The body of knowledge there was about righteous living, not literal running. But Paul used running as an example to communicate those things with his audience. That would mean they were conversant with sports exercises and the point that to finish the race, you must focus on the prize and not allow any other thing to distract you in the way.
When Paul knew his departure from his earthly body was near, he told Timothy that he had finished the race. In other words, he had lived a life worthy of imitation in the light of the Gospel he preached.
Therefore, in speaking, he fought a good fight. In living, he finished the race. In doing both, he kept the faith. We will see that in another message.
How To Run and Finish The Race
In the book of Hebrews 11, the writer gave a list of Hall of Famers in the family of Faith. Those were people who through faith did exploit, and though they received the testimony of God and justification by faith, they needed us to be complete (not before us in the fulfillment of the promise).
In Hebrews 12:1–2, the writer said:
“Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Three things to take out from there are:
- The great cloud of witnesses are the Heroes and Heroines of faith.
- The sin that easily entangles us are parasitic sins or those desires we struggle with.
- The race that is set before us is a pathway that we must follow.
To follow that pathway, the writer instructed that we look away from other things, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. So Jesus is the model for our living.
We are to learn of Him, how He spoke, the way He lived, and imitate Him. And the only way to live like Christ is to walk and work in love as The Believers Today.
We must persevere in doing good to one another because we were saved by grace through faith in Christ to walk in good works, not in evil doings.
“So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
Do all things without murmurings and disputes,
that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,
holding up the word of life; that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.” Philippians 2:12–16 WEB.
As believers, we have a common goal of bringing people to the knowledge of Christ, and our lives must show suit. God works good in us and we are to express His goodness to others because there is a reward for good works. Paul called it the crown of righteousness.
May we live a life that when we are about to leave this body like Paul, we can confidently say by God’s grace that we lived well.