Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
You have not yet fought sin to the point of shedding your blood in the struggle. The call is to run the race with endurance by laying aside every weight and clinging sin, looking to Jesus as Author and Finisher of faith and considering His endurance of the cross and opposition so you do not grow weary and give up but press on to victory. This striving takes place under God's loving discipline, where His reproof and chastening are a Father's love to save His children and must be endured in faith and obeyed as a call to repentance. Christ Himself did resist to blood, in Gethsemane agonizing with strong cries and tears until blood fell from Him, and most fully on the cross bearing the world's sin and punishment while tempted to turn aside yet holding fast by faith to divine power. Your resistance is a stern lifelong warfare against evil powers that may yet demand blood, requiring true conversion, constant dependence on Jesus, painful self-denial that cuts away every cherished sin, and endurance that will be more than repaid with eternal glory.
Meaning in Context
The verse declares that those addressed have not yet resisted sin to the point of shedding blood in their striving against sin. For those dealing with the duties and destinies of human life as teachers of truth this means they must reach a much higher standard, see eye to eye with Christ, and examine themselves closely whether they are in the faith. Their struggle against sin may bring suffering for Christ, but they are called to endure rather than grow weary or give up, remembering Christ's suffering for their salvation.
The statement belongs to the call to run the race with patience, laying aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of faith. Christ for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, and considering His endurance of opposition and suffering keeps believers from being wearied and faint in their minds so that they do not lose heart but endure and press to victory. This instruction is to be studied and obeyed by faith that works by love and purifies the soul and lifts into holy practice.
The statement also belongs to teaching about God's loving discipline, that His reproof, correction and chastening are acts of a Father's love to save His sons, not signs of hatred or rejection. The struggle against sin may require endurance and self-denial, but it is joined to Christ's endurance of opposition and to God's discipline of His children, calling for perseverance rather than weariness under trial. That discipline is to be endured in faith and obeyed as a call to repent.
Christ Himself did resist to that point, for in Gethsemane He faced the fear of moral failure as the fear of death with such agony that blood fell from His skin, praying with strong cries and tears. His real temptations and suffering matched His exalted, sinless character, and God strengthened Him and will strengthen those who humble themselves and entrust themselves wholly to God. His striving against sin reached its fullest extent on the cross, where bearing the sins of the world and the punishment for transgression He endured fierce temptation to turn from uprightness and to think God had forsaken Him. He knew that yielding was possible, yet He resisted through faith and holding firmly to divine power, thereby experiencing to the fullest what people face when fighting sin and revealing how terrible sin and its consequences are.
Striving to Overcome
Striving against sin is the Christian warfare and good fight of faith, a stern, lifelong and incessant conflict against principalities and powers that calls for endurance under suffering and persecution and may require resistance even to the point of shedding blood. The struggle exposes the need for true conversion in order to withstand temptation. That resistance is maintained by constant dependence on Jesus, keeping Him continually in thought, holding fast to God's Word, and relying on His strength in loving faith. Without His special help human strength is too weak to keep the truth, withstand temptation, win souls, and live to please Him who loved and died.
The conflict demands self-denial with wounds, grief, sorrow and sacrifice, putting away all sins and every cherished indulgence that hinders religious life, cutting off whatever causes offense as a right eye or right hand, renouncing own wisdom and self-righteousness, giving up chosen worldly associates and the approval of men, and letting the word of God cut to the soul even at great personal cost. Cherishing and excusing sin shows how little resistance is offered. Making religion easy comes from compromise with the powers of darkness, for the path to heaven is no smoother now than in the days of Christ and Satan's enmity against God has not abated, and religion has not changed.
Faithful striving is more than compensated by eternal glory, for the eternal weight of glory at the end of the conflict is worthy of all labor and every wound and sorrow, with every sacrifice bringing priceless returns in the ever-greater promises granted to the overcomer in the letters to the seven churches, while shunning self-denial proves cowardice and forfeits that glorious reward for shame and contempt hereafter. Believers must keep pressing the battle to the gates as overcomers by keeping the mind on God at their side, looking to Jesus, and leaning more firmly on the Lord's arm until victory is obtained and a new song is put in the mouth, with all heaven longing to cooperate to make them more than conquerors and crown them with immortal glory. The blood left on the narrow, difficult pathway represents the hardship and pain endured by those who traveled it before until blood was pressed from aching feet, and seeing it assures later travelers that others have suffered and continued, telling them that what others could endure they can endure so they do not faint with discouragement when their own feet bleed but press on to the end.
For ministers the verse shows they have suffered and resisted very little, thinking they endure much when they bear but little, and growing weary and faint in mind through forgetfulness of Jesus who endured the cross, despised the shame, and endured contradiction of sinners. It calls them to look unto Jesus and accept reproach, suffering, self-denial and self-sacrifice, giving up ease, worldly gain and every earthly inducement, and choosing wearing labor, anguish of spirit under opposition, and chastening of soul before God. It requires thorough conversion, constant guarding of the naturally sinful and slothful heart, striking vigorous blows against besetting sins, and coming up to God's pure and elevated measurement and standard rather than raising a self-made one, becoming a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men, with the promise that God will work for them if they let Him and that faithful endurance ends in acquittal free from the blood of souls and entrance into the joy of the Lord with souls saved. For those dealing with the duties and destinies of human life as teachers of truth the verse means they have not yet resisted unto blood and must reach a much higher standard, see eye to eye with Christ, lay aside every weight and the easily besetting sin, run with patience looking to Jesus, and examine themselves closely whether they are in the faith. For workers in hard missionary fields the verse means to hold the work with the grasp of death and go to battle like a soldier with armor on in hope, courage and faith, not letting the hand slip when labor is difficult, not waiting idle, not talking of financial embarrassments or great past sacrifices, not bringing discouragement to fellow workers, but cheerfully sharing burdens, speaking courage, looking up instead of down, and trusting God to bless and strengthen the work to its accomplishment.
You have not yet fought sin to the point of shedding your blood in the struggle. The call is to run the race with endurance by laying aside every weight and clinging sin, looking to Jesus as Author and Finisher of faith and considering His endurance of the cross and opposition so you do not grow weary and give up but press on to victory. This striving takes place under God's loving discipline, where His reproof and chastening are a Father's love to save His children and must be endured in faith and obeyed as a call to repentance. Christ Himself did resist to blood, in Gethsemane agonizing with strong cries and tears until blood fell from Him, and most fully on the cross bearing the world's sin and punishment while tempted to turn aside yet holding fast by faith to divine power. Your resistance is a stern lifelong warfare against evil powers that may yet demand blood, requiring true conversion, constant dependence on Jesus, painful self-denial that cuts away every cherished sin, and endurance that will be more than repaid with eternal glory.
Meaning in Context
The verse declares that those addressed have not yet resisted sin to the point of shedding blood in their striving against sin. For those dealing with the duties and destinies of human life as teachers of truth this means they must reach a much higher standard, see eye to eye with Christ, and examine themselves closely whether they are in the faith. Their struggle against sin may bring suffering for Christ, but they are called to endure rather than grow weary or give up, remembering Christ's suffering for their salvation.
The statement belongs to the call to run the race with patience, laying aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of faith. Christ for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, and considering His endurance of opposition and suffering keeps believers from being wearied and faint in their minds so that they do not lose heart but endure and press to victory. This instruction is to be studied and obeyed by faith that works by love and purifies the soul and lifts into holy practice.
The statement also belongs to teaching about God's loving discipline, that His reproof, correction and chastening are acts of a Father's love to save His sons, not signs of hatred or rejection. The struggle against sin may require endurance and self-denial, but it is joined to Christ's endurance of opposition and to God's discipline of His children, calling for perseverance rather than weariness under trial. That discipline is to be endured in faith and obeyed as a call to repent.
Christ Himself did resist to that point, for in Gethsemane He faced the fear of moral failure as the fear of death with such agony that blood fell from His skin, praying with strong cries and tears. His real temptations and suffering matched His exalted, sinless character, and God strengthened Him and will strengthen those who humble themselves and entrust themselves wholly to God. His striving against sin reached its fullest extent on the cross, where bearing the sins of the world and the punishment for transgression He endured fierce temptation to turn from uprightness and to think God had forsaken Him. He knew that yielding was possible, yet He resisted through faith and holding firmly to divine power, thereby experiencing to the fullest what people face when fighting sin and revealing how terrible sin and its consequences are.
Striving to Overcome
Striving against sin is the Christian warfare and good fight of faith, a stern, lifelong and incessant conflict against principalities and powers that calls for endurance under suffering and persecution and may require resistance even to the point of shedding blood. The struggle exposes the need for true conversion in order to withstand temptation. That resistance is maintained by constant dependence on Jesus, keeping Him continually in thought, holding fast to God's Word, and relying on His strength in loving faith. Without His special help human strength is too weak to keep the truth, withstand temptation, win souls, and live to please Him who loved and died.
The conflict demands self-denial with wounds, grief, sorrow and sacrifice, putting away all sins and every cherished indulgence that hinders religious life, cutting off whatever causes offense as a right eye or right hand, renouncing own wisdom and self-righteousness, giving up chosen worldly associates and the approval of men, and letting the word of God cut to the soul even at great personal cost. Cherishing and excusing sin shows how little resistance is offered. Making religion easy comes from compromise with the powers of darkness, for the path to heaven is no smoother now than in the days of Christ and Satan's enmity against God has not abated, and religion has not changed.
Faithful striving is more than compensated by eternal glory, for the eternal weight of glory at the end of the conflict is worthy of all labor and every wound and sorrow, with every sacrifice bringing priceless returns in the ever-greater promises granted to the overcomer in the letters to the seven churches, while shunning self-denial proves cowardice and forfeits that glorious reward for shame and contempt hereafter. Believers must keep pressing the battle to the gates as overcomers by keeping the mind on God at their side, looking to Jesus, and leaning more firmly on the Lord's arm until victory is obtained and a new song is put in the mouth, with all heaven longing to cooperate to make them more than conquerors and crown them with immortal glory. The blood left on the narrow, difficult pathway represents the hardship and pain endured by those who traveled it before until blood was pressed from aching feet, and seeing it assures later travelers that others have suffered and continued, telling them that what others could endure they can endure so they do not faint with discouragement when their own feet bleed but press on to the end.
For ministers the verse shows they have suffered and resisted very little, thinking they endure much when they bear but little, and growing weary and faint in mind through forgetfulness of Jesus who endured the cross, despised the shame, and endured contradiction of sinners. It calls them to look unto Jesus and accept reproach, suffering, self-denial and self-sacrifice, giving up ease, worldly gain and every earthly inducement, and choosing wearing labor, anguish of spirit under opposition, and chastening of soul before God. It requires thorough conversion, constant guarding of the naturally sinful and slothful heart, striking vigorous blows against besetting sins, and coming up to God's pure and elevated measurement and standard rather than raising a self-made one, becoming a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men, with the promise that God will work for them if they let Him and that faithful endurance ends in acquittal free from the blood of souls and entrance into the joy of the Lord with souls saved. For those dealing with the duties and destinies of human life as teachers of truth the verse means they have not yet resisted unto blood and must reach a much higher standard, see eye to eye with Christ, lay aside every weight and the easily besetting sin, run with patience looking to Jesus, and examine themselves closely whether they are in the faith. For workers in hard missionary fields the verse means to hold the work with the grasp of death and go to battle like a soldier with armor on in hope, courage and faith, not letting the hand slip when labor is difficult, not waiting idle, not talking of financial embarrassments or great past sacrifices, not bringing discouragement to fellow workers, but cheerfully sharing burdens, speaking courage, looking up instead of down, and trusting God to bless and strengthen the work to its accomplishment.