When God was speaking to Cain after he offered
an unacceptable offering of some of his crops to God, He said,
“You will be accepted if you do what is right.
But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the
door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Genesis 4:7
Isn’t this just the issue with sin in our
lives today? It is not always easy to do the right thing in our lives because
we are tempted on all sides, but God even told Cain that sin has to be subdued
and we have to master it. This is no easy task because of trials and
temptations. So, is God the one who tests us? Let’s read James 1:12-18 to find
out.
“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation.
Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those
who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is
tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.
Temptation comes from our own desires,
which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is
allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
So don’t be misled, my dear
brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our
Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a
shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And
we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.” James 1:12-18
(NLT)
When we are tempted, God is not tempting us, but rather our own
sinful desires that “entice us and drag us away”. It is when we give into those
desires that we engage in “sinful actions”, and if we do not “subdue it and be
its master” (Gen 4:7), we will be given over to death. We are given a strong
warning in 1 Corinthians that we should heed if we are to subdue sin in our
lives.
“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different
from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation
to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out
so that you can endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 (NLT)
But
notice that God’s Word reminds us that God is faithful to show us a way out of
temptation so we can endure it, but when we take this scripture in context and
consider God’s serious charge to Cain, we realize that He will only provide a
way out when we do the right thing as we subdue and master the sin and
temptation in our lives. Cain did not heed God’s warning and charge to subdue
the sinful desires in his life, and this led to serious consequences in his
life.
One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the
fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and
killed him. Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is
Abel?” “I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?” But the
Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me
from the ground! Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed
your brother’s blood. No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no
matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the
earth.” Genesis 4:8-12
Cain
killed his brother because he didn’t listen to God. Many times we face serious
consequences for the sin in our lives when we choose not to obey his charge to
subdue sinful desires. Fortunately, we are under the New Covenant, the blood of
Christ, that gives us a second chance, and a third chance, and on and on. God
loves us and provides us with a way out! Of course we shouldn’t keep on sinning
(Romans 6:1-23), but failure does not mean we are not destitute when we
actually repent of our sin and begin to subdue those sinful desires (Romans 6:23). Praise the
Lord!
Romans
6
6 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more
and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can
we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined
with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried
with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be
raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified
with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer
slaves to sin. 7 For
when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with
Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from
the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.
10 When he died, he died
once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory
of God. 11 So
you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to
God through Christ Jesus.12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your
body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves
completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your
whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
14 Sin is no longer your
master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you
live under the freedom of God’s grace.15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does
that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you
become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin,
which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous
living. 17 Thank
God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching
we have given you. 18 Now
you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous
living.19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the
illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let
yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into
sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you
will become holy.20 When
you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result?
You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal
doom. 22 But
now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you
do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin
is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our
Lord.” Romans 6:1-23 (NLT)
In His Grace!
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In His Grace!