You Have Not Yet Resisted Sin Even to the Point of Blood
Short Introduction
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III opens the lecture by meditating on the verse Hebrews (12:4) which says: “You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin.” His Holiness stresses that this verse calls us to active struggle and not to spiritual laziness.
The Basic Idea
The basic idea is that the believer is required to resist sin with all his strength and soul’s resources, even if it requires giving the utmost sacrifices, indeed to the point of martyrdom. Resistance proves our love for God and our rejection of sin.
The Spiritual Dimension and Church Teaching
From the perspective of our Coptic Orthodox faith, the struggle against sin is a means of sanctification: humility, the fear of God, and holding to grace are all tools that fortify the believer and protect him. The Lord works with those who struggle sincerely.
Forms of Sin and Areas of Resistance
Sin may come from outside or from within (the lusts of the heart or the influence of the environment or the ideas of heretics). Every form must be resisted: corrupt speech, wrong ideas, lust of the eye and the flesh, pride, and the influences of a bad environment.
Practical Means of Resistance
- Withdrawal and fleeing from the influences of sin.
- Convincing the self internally that this is wrong by spiritual readings, chants, and reading the lives of the saints.
- Strengthening the will by spiritual discipline (fasting, abstaining, saying “No” to the bad habit).
- Prayer and humility to ask for God’s help.
Patience and Perseverance
Resistance requires patience and perseverance—do not surrender if time is long, because by patience a person is preserved and gains himself. Remembering death and judgment helps to restore the fear before God.
Conclusion and Practical Call
His Holiness calls the believers to keep this verse in the heart: “You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin,” and for each one to struggle in his house and at the family level to teach his children resistance and protect them from the influences of the world.
Resistance
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