Self-Righteousness

We don’t really like discussing this topic in our “righteousness” chapter, but feel as though we would do a great injustice to the reader if we left it out. While not a very positive subject, it is positively one of the biggest hindrances to mankind and his walk with the Lord.

Our desire is not to glorify the evil works that some might have in the world, but rather to show people what the true Way is to victory. We discussed earlier in our “blessed are they which do hunger” section about Phariseeism and how Christ’s righteousness is the type of righteousness we are to obtain. We are not going to revisit that angle of this topic, but rather to explain how self-righteousness will keep people from getting into the Kingdom of God and of Heaven.

We’re going to discuss the story of Cain and Abel from a perspective that is seldom taught. Many Christians have seen this story as one that is preached to teach people about how murder is wrong. While that could be true, that perhaps could be simply a surface understand of the scripture that requires more digging in the Word. The truth is, we don’t need a story like Cain and Abel to tell us that murder, hatred, and jealousy are wrong in the sight of God. Anyone can identify that those types of behavior are “ungodly.” So then what could God be trying to tell us through this story?

Let’s discuss the main characters and elements of this story and see if we can’t find what God could truly be attempting to reveal to His readers. First, we’ll discuss some of the similarities and differences between Cain and his younger brother Abel.

Both Cain and Abel are sons of our first parents, who have fallen from perfection in the Garden of Eden. They both have noble professions, bringing forth some sort of product of their labors. They also have openly confessed to God that they are sinners, hence the reason that they bring forth an offering unto the Lord. Each offering is brought before the Lord in hopes that God will accept what they have as a covering for their sins. Based on what is brought before Him, God decides whether to consume and accept the sacrifice or not. God loves them both equally, for He is not a respecter of persons, (Ac 10:34).

Now that we know that God isn’t playing favorites, we need to discuss the individual offerings that are brought before the Lord as a sacrifice for their sins. Allow us to paint a picture for each scenario:

Cain is a farmer and has set aside the very best of his crops to give to the Lord for his sacrifice today. As the altar stands in the distance, perhaps Cain prepares his fruit and vegetables before bringing them to the Lord. We can see Cain washing and shining each individual piece of his offering, in effort to impress the Lord with his sacrifice.

He brings his fruit of the land to the altar of the Lord. He thinks of all of those long hours laboring in the heat, feverishly working to bring forth something worth giving to God. We could even go so far as to say that maybe when he offered it, he cut the fruit open as he laid it out upon the pieces of wood, so as to show the Lord that the fruit was not rotten on the inside. As Cain steps away from the altar, he wipes the juice from his food off of his hands and waits to see if God will accept the works of his hands.

God does not accept it and Cain is wroth, not understanding why.

Abel stands afar off with his lamb tied to the rope that he holds. He has spent the day washing and grooming the first of his flock. Perhaps Abel has even named this loving little creature, as it is easy to get attached to such animals. Abel steps up to the altar. In one hand he holds this innocent victim that has done nothing wrong, of whom he loves very much. He thinks of all of the days and nights that he kept this little guy safe from the snare of wolves and such predators. In the other hand, he holds a knife in which to slay the friend that he has grown to love.

He cuts the throat of this innocent little animal, in horror by the blood that pours out upon the altar and possibly even squints as the lamb screams as he kills it. Abel then walks away sobbing, identifying that the lamb he has just slain was because of his own personal sins. As he stands waiting, he looks down to see his blood stained clothes and is sadly reminded of the price that was paid to cover his sin.

Fire came down from Heaven and consumes the lamb that Abel has offered. Abel is now accepted of God because the sacrifice has been received.

In case the reader has not realized by now why God accepted one and not the other, we will briefly explain what has just happened. Cain labored hard to bring forth something that he felt God would accept, but all of his hard work was woefully inadequate. He did many good works in God’s name, but instead the Lord said, “depart from me, ye who works iniquity, I never knew you,” (Mt 7:23). Why? Cain and Abel were no doubt shown he way to be able to have fellowship with God. The reason that we know this is because they are bringing an offering to the Lord. God laid out the foundation by which we might be accepted by Him way back in Genesis 3:21, when God killed an innocent animal to make a proper covering for man’s nakedness. Even though we are shown no evidence of Adam and Eve ever offering anything to the Lord for their sins, we see that Cain and Abel were taught what God would accept for sin.

Cain knew what was acceptable to God, but instead he wanted to offer what his own works and not something that required blood. In Cain’s offering of fruit, it required no innocent victim to die for his sins. The juice of his offering didn’t stain his clothes like that of Abel’s offering. By this we mean that there was no identification with his fruit that he offered to God. By Abel offering his animal, he showed that he had faith in God’s prescribed order for redemption, which one day would be Christ Jesus on the Cross.

God even approached Cain about his offering and gave him a chance to change his mind. All Cain had to do was offer up the blood of Jesus that was to come, but he thought that he could make his own way into Heaven. Because of the blood, not only was Abel’s offering respected by God, he was accepted by God as well. God doesn’t respect people, but he respects His “Beloved Son in Whom He is well pleased.”

The only way that we cannot make it into Heaven is to offer to God anything other than Christ and Him Crucified. Our works will never earn us anything in Heaven; rather it is our faith in Christ’s Finished Work that gives us access to God and Heaven.