Hebrews 12:3 “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”
The words “resisted” and “striving” refer to major battles, battles that require all possible strength, wisdom, and endurance; but, most of all, “faith” (Hebrews 12:2). This battle is “against sin”; that is, “against” our arch enemy and all his minions and devices. The context makes it clear that “striving against sin” includes both our temptations to “sin” and the sinful things are adversaries do against us to hinder and terminate our worshipful service to our Lord. Sin is like a vicious, animalistic enemy with nothing but mayhem and destruction and death in his eyes. It is true that our Merciful and Gracious Lord has Eternally Saved “his people” from the ravages of “sin” (Matthew 1:21, II Timothy 1:9); but, through “faith” our Lord expects us to and has empowered us to resist and strive “against sin”; that is, to daily do battle “against” it and to defeat it. The message is that we “have not yet resisted unto blood”; but, get ready, for our arch enemy is constantly surveilling us and planning major battles against us, and when he finds our weaknesses, he will exploit them. And like the faithful Children of God before us, we should not be surprised if “striving against sin” requires us to “resist… unto blood”! Like our ancestors, we will defeat our enemy and win the battle by never taking our Spiritual Eyes off the Lord (Hebrews 12:2).