The Fall of Cain

In Genesis 4:7, God instructs Cain concerning the rules of his household. After God rejected the work of Cain’s hands as an offering, Cain was very angry. In response, God lays out the rule by which Cain is expected to govern his life.

And if you do good, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do good, sin lies at the opening, and its desire is unto you, and you are to rule over it – Genesis 4:7.

This is the first time in Scripture we are introduced to the sin nature. The sin nature describes the human nature bent by Adam’s fall. Through Adam’s trespass and sin, his nature became bent towards doing what is wrong, for although Eve was thoroughly deceived, Adam was not, 1 Timothy 2:14. Adam passed on this bent nature to his offspring, Genesis 5:3. Therefore, even though as humans we now inherently possess the knowledge of good and evil, we are all born with a nature that is separated from God in our spirit and bent towards wrong. However, with this knowledge, we are also to rule over our nature, not permit it to rule over us.

After Cain does not heed God’s instructions and slayed his brother as a sacrifice, he was punished. The works of his hand will no longer produce good, and he is to wander the earth, never possessing a homeland to reside in. In Cain’s response, we again encounter the sin nature when he states, “My perversity is greater than I can bear.”

And Cain said to the LORD, “My perversity is greater than I can bear.” Genesis 4:13.

In Genesis 4:7, the word for sin is in a specific […]

The Fall of Cain2024-04-25T06:26:34-07:00

Dealing with Bad Thoughts

A temptation is a solicitation to do wrong. It comes from a desire to perform something that we know is against God’s expectation of us. Understanding how we go from a temptation to sin is important to comprehend in order to stop the process by taking the way of escape before we work out the desire from the temptation. In the book of James, we find the process by which we are solicited and how that temptation works out to sin.

Let no one say when tempted, “I am being tempted from God”. For the God is without temptation of wrong and He tempts no one. But each one is tempted by his own strong desire while being drawn out and baited. Then the strong desire after being conceived, births sin. And the sin, when it is finished, brings forth death – James 1:13-15.

We are first presented with a strong desire to do wrong by one of our three enemies: the sin nature, Satan, or the world system. This temptation has no impact on us until we accept the desire as our own and then choose to perform it. Conception is the combination of a wrong desire and the determination to do it. This is a trespass and always happens within the mind, resulting in a person being in a state of unrighteousness, although sin has not yet happened. Conception does not guarantee birth, but unless it is interrupted it will always result in sin. Once a temptation has become a desire within us that we have determined to fulfill, if we do not apply the truth, the faith, or reject what the world wants, this determination will work out to sin when we perform the […]

Dealing with Bad Thoughts2023-12-14T08:11:01-08:00
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