And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Genesis 4:1-7

Hebrews 11:4 tells us that it was by faith that Abel offered a better offering than Cain.

Cain’s offering was not regarded by the Lord, as it is written, without blood there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22).  It required blood, in which the Lord said the life of a thing was, in order to atone for the sin of another.  And, it was through the eyes of faith that Abel could perceive this.  And, for whatever reason, Cain’s lack of faith, or lack of using his faith, was his failure to see.

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[H]im that filleth all in all.

Ephesians 1:23, portion, edited

Him that is all deserves our all.  He that is everything demands our everything.

No portion of this life is worth comparing with His.  No piece of this preparation is on equal with that which is to be revealed, and is here now.

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Now there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Hebrews 9:22

There is no condemnation for a believer.  For the sinner, condemnation is assured (John 3:18), but for those who are justified by faith, we live in the freedom of Christ (Galatians 5:1).

So we have a distress.  We find that we do sin.  And, this may bring guilt, pain, shame, regret.  Yet, these are not the right of the New Testament believer.  We come to a conjunction, a crossroads of choice.  Do I believe the Scriptures, or do I believe the pain of the shame, the guilt, and the condemnation.

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But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

The best, and most perfect way, to live is free from sin.  This is why God gave His law through Moses, so that we might know life, and fellowship with Him.  The Fall is what happened, and corrupted all of the creation.  The Cross is what enabled us to live free from sin, and the desires of the flesh.

We are told, quite simply, to “put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24).  This, to Paul, was his practical instructions on how to live without sin.

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