Shedding Blood in Resistance

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. (Hebrews 12:4)

I have been pondering this verse for days and suspect I may be off and on for a very long time. I am listening to any insights that the Spirit has to bring to me at any time and I sense that there is much more in here than meets the eye as is often the case in texts that on the surface seem very disturbing or conflicting.

As I grapple with this verse and the surrounding context I see many different ways in which to view it, some rather legalistic and others somewhat tentative. This may be one of those places that is so unclear it leaves God a lot of room to maneuver and convey a number of different messages depending on my needs at the time. If I am not too dogmatic and insist there is only one right interpretation I suspect I may be able to see more light through this keyhole.

I am presently working on a contrast chart of this whole passage and came to this verse this morning. One thing that I see here is that I have not been required to be the point man against sin and shed my own blood in resistance. Jesus has taken that role and there only needs to be one. But if I ever do find myself being threatened to that extent I will have been empowered inside with the peace and the compassion of Jesus for those who threaten me because He lives in me. It is His Spirit of love – free of resentment – for His enemies that enables anyone to endure that level of hostility.

Other texts come to my mind as I look at this and I wonder how they interrelate with it. In Matt. 5:39 Jesus says, But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. I find the contrast of these two verses interesting because one says to not resist and the other talks about resisting, though I am not convinced it is telling us to do so or not. It simply states that we have not done it yet. Anything beyond that seems to be an assumption which can often get us into trouble understanding Scripture. They may very well be talking about resisting two very different things also. Resisting sin can be very different than resisting the evil brought against us by sinners. Our underlying assumptions about what sin really is also greatly affects our ideas of what it means to resist it.

This verse is bounded on two sides by other verses that I believe contribute heavily to finding its true meaning. The two before it emphasize our need to keep focused on Jesus who has endured more antagonism from sin than anyone else ever will, and the next verse which launches into a section about viewing life through the perspective of a child of God accepting discipline. I have to believe that there is a very significant reason this verse is sandwiched between these other thoughts but it is not all real clear to me yet. So I keep looking.

One thing that comes to mind is the comparison of Jesus as the Son of God and viewing myself as also a son of God. On the other hand, what Jesus did may not be required of me to do. I may not necessarily need to shed my blood because my role in the Great War is not to try to save all of humanity like Jesus did. Then again, Jesus wants to live His life in and through me in such a way as to attract others to the love of God and the real truth about Him in similar ways to what He did in person while here on earth. And if that at some point involves persecution against me by those who are intolerant and resistant to the love and compassion of God toward them, then my resistance will be because I am compelled from a heart full of the presence of the One who is the source and supplier of all love, not because I have achieved some level of perfection.

I am currently have a major paradigm shift in my thinking and understanding of the real reason Jesus suffered and died for humanity. It is an intense change of perspective that I am not completely familiar with yet but it is becoming more clear each day. This new view of the cross and the real strategy of God in the Great Controversy is much more consistent with many other things I have been learning about God and the bigger issues of the Controversy than all of the other explanations put forth by theologians and religionists that I have ever heard. But to simplify it into a few words without peripheral understandings in place makes it appear to be heresy of the highest order to some. But I am feeling more and more convicted that it is closer to the real truth than much of what I have been taught all of my life and I am continuing to study and pray and analyze it trying to grasp as many implications and insights as I can.

I am very resistant to allowing one or two people or a given organization to being an authoritative source for what I believe. I have certainly been blessed by many different ministries that have contributed to much of my transformation in thinking over the past 15 years, but I do not depend on any of them as the last word on anything. I have gained very important insights from their teachings and compared them to what has proven true and reliable from my own study and what the Spirit has been leading me to see. At the same time I try to remain willing to keep open even my own settled conclusions, for I believe that real truth never fears examination and reexamination, it only becomes better for it. And sometimes what I have believed was settled truth is found to be in need of updating when the Spirit convicts me that it is time to move to a higher view of reality.

But truth is always consistent with itself and will always reinforce the goodness of God. If anything brings into question the foundational belief in God's goodness, compassion and consistent love, then I have to view that idea with suspicion myself. It may contain some truth that I need to be aware of but quite likely it also contains some perversion that is designed to detract from the real glory of God.

So when I look at this verse about shedding of blood in resistance and striving against sin, my mind is very cautious to not jump into any ideas that sympathize with any self-focused efforts of spirituality. Coming from a background saturated with religion focused on perfectionism I am always extremely wary of anything that would attempt to lead me back in that direction. At the same time I have to be careful to not overreact from that to another extreme and lose sight of important truths that God wants to impress on me. I want God Himself to be the real and final authority for the revelation of truth above all other claimants.

Another thing I notice now is that this whole section comes just after a long listing of people and their experiences of faith demonstrated in their lives from chapter 11. This verse is very likely a reference back to some of those who really did shed their blood in striving against sin. Paul is likely saying that most of us reading this have not really experienced the depth of faith available to us as those in the past who were so devoted to staying connected to God's heart that they preferred torture and death than to betray the only Source of real life for them. They came to a point in their lives where they knew God so well that their trust in Him and His character surpassed anything men could do to distract them from that attachment.

These people are our examples of what it looks like to focus the eyes on Jesus, to consider Him who also endured the hostility of sinners against Him even though they were not personally able to have the example of Jesus because they lived before He came to earth as a man. Even with that disadvantage they responded to God's attractiveness to the point of loyalty to Him above anything else. In light of that, this verse becomes an invitation to follow their example of devotion and enter into a much deeper intimacy with God that will enable us to live from an enriched heart fully devoted to the ultimate Source of love Himself.

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