12:2 What does it mean exactly that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith?
12:2 What does it mean exactly that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith?
Jesus is the originator of faith, as distinct from simply being the cause.
Of the "cloud of witnesses" whose lives testify to the reward of the life of faith in Chapter 11, Jesus stands as the chief witness, for He is the one who in the pre-eminence of His faith, far surpasses the faith of everyone else.
Jesus in His own person raised faith to its perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith.
That is what "He is the author and finisher of our faith" means. Jesus is also the originator of life (CP Ac 3:15); and the originator, or beginning of God's creation (CP Rev 3:14).