6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.”
1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
18 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.
30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness; not health, but healing; not being but becoming; not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. The process is not yet finished, but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.” Martin Luther
“The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun, the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing, the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete....He is most holy who has most of Christ within, and joys most fully in the finished work. It is defective faith which clogs the feet and causes many a fall.” Hudson Taylor
“I became a Christian once for all upon the basis of the finished work of Christ through faith; that is justification. The Christian life, sanctification, operates on the same basis, but moment by moment. There is the same base (Christ’s work) and the same instrument (faith); the only difference is that one is once for all and the other is moment by moment...If we try to live the Christian life in our own strength we will have sorrow, but if we live in this way, we will not only serve the Lord, but in place of sorrow, He will be our song. That is the difference. The ‘how’ of the Christian life is the power of the crucified and risen Lord, through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by faith moment by moment.” Francis Schaeffer
“There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing to the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.” Francis Drake
“My hope is not in a cure today. My hope is not the absence of suffering and comfort returned. My hope is in the presence of the One who promises never to leave or forsake, the One who declares nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God.” (Romans 8:39). Nothing. Your story is a good story. In the grief, pain and hard, the Author has a plan. It may feel like a desperate breaking of your very heart, but suffering is not the absence of God or good.” Kara Tippetts
“Kara Tippetts finished well because she lived well. She joins that great cloud of Faithful witnesses that encourages us to run our own race well; to fix our eyes on Jesus; to throw off anything that hinders or the sin which so easily entangles, and to finish faithfully. Kara's question ‘What will you do in these days of mundane faithfulness?’ is one we all must answer. May each of us respond as those faithful who have gone before us.” Donna Evans
“We are not called to be perfectly awesome. We are called to be imperfectly faithful, because we have been perfectly loved, liberated, and highly esteemed by the Most High. It is said that Buddha’s dying words were, ‘Strive without ceasing.’ Jesus’ dying words were, ‘It is finished.’ Give me Jesus. Our souls are glory-vacuums, fearfully and wonderfully made for an Esteem greater than self. And He esteems us much. The One who made the galaxies with His breath has said so.” Scott Sauls