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 (Gen.
4:5-7).
ARMINIANISM / WELL-MEANT OFFER
ARGUMENT:
Q. “In Genesis 4:6-7, God seems
to be graciously attempting or striving (to use human terminology) to bring
Cain to repentance … Cain was very angry because his offering had been
rejected: ‘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.’ … ‘If thou doest well …’ i.e., ‘if you repent and
start over we will be well, otherwise sin is waiting to possess you.’ Isn’t
this a well-meant offer of salvation …?”
(I)
Prof. David J. Engelsma
I call attention to what the text does actually teach. First, Cain had no right to be angry with God for rejecting his self-willed sacrifice. Second, if Cain does well, Cain will be accepted by God. *Whoever* does well, that is, believing on Christ Jesus with a faith that is accompanied by true repentance, will be accepted by God. Third, if Cain continues to do evil, sin lies at the door to destroy him eternally, as actually proved to be the case.
I propose that there is absolutely nothing in the text of a gracious desire of God for the salvation of Cain and that there is nothing in the text of an offer of salvation in the grace of God desiring to save Cain. Nothing!
The text confronts Cain with his solemn responsibility to obey God by doing well, including the warning that if he continues on his evil way he will be destroyed.
I could say this passage to the devil, and the saying obviously would not be a well-meant offer.
That the advocates of the well-meant offer are reduced to appealing to such passages as this one should impress on them that they have no grounds for their heresy. (DJE, 09/01/2022)
---------------------------------------------
(II)
Prof. Herman C. Hanko
[Source: Covenant Reformed News, vol. 15, no. 12 (April 2015)]
First of all, the [Arminian/Open Theist] ought to ask himself this question: As it stands in the text, is it not a true statement? Can anyone on the face of God’s earth deny that in doing well one is accepted by the Lord? That statement is so obviously true that it is impossible to understand how anyone can possibly deny it.
Therefore, to imply that the statement means that a totally depraved sinner is able to do what is pleasing in Jehovah’s sight is a totally unwarranted deduction. The error lies in a premise that the Arminian accepts as true but that is, in fact, false. The error is this: God will not demand of a person that which he is unable to do.
The demand to do well is implied in the text. It has to be. Jehovah does not withdraw the demands of His law on the grounds that the sinner is incapable of performing the good. God is holy, just and righteous. His moral perfection requires that He must continue to demand righteousness of the sinner. God created him in true righteousness. Man deliberately squandered these gifts. He can no longer do what is righteous. Does God now say, “Oh, I am so sorry you did this terrible thing. I will no longer ask you any more to do that which I formerly required of you.” No! That would be unjust.
If a man owes you £10,000 and turns a profit of £100,000 on a project he finished, but squanders the money on a world-wide trip, justice demands that he still be required to pay you. His plea that he is broke does not release him from his obligation to pay his debt. You have every right to take him to court and obtain a court order that compels him to pay it. His plea that he is unable to do so means nothing. He was able to pay it. He, by his own foolishness, made himself unable to pay the debt. He is to blame. He must still pay what he owes.
Jehovah does no less. God’s command to the totally depraved sinner must be heard by him. The sinner will not get away with pleading, in the great judgment day, his inability as if it were an acceptable excuse.
How thankful we must be who by faith flee to Christ, who has paid the debt for us and so made us, out of sheer grace, acceptable to God!
---------------------------------------------
(III)
More to come! (DV)
QUESTION BOX:
Q. “Is sin personified in this verse?”
Yes,
indeed, sin is personified here.
“The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye
ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering
in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them” (Isa. 23:1).
These ships are told to “howl” or cry, in a personification, for the great market
city of Tyre, to which they frequently sailed, was to be destroyed.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou
that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37).
Jerusalem was only a city but it is here described as engaging in the murder of
prophets and resisting the salvation of her children, for the religious
representatives of Jerusalem (v. 13) tried (but failed) to stop Christ
gathering Jerusalem’s elect children (John 6:39-40; 10:27-29), as Augustine,
Peter Martyr Vermigli, John Calvin, John Knox, Francis Turretin and many other
worthies rightly explain. Jerusalem was, however, the capital of
Israel since the time of David and would now be destroyed for her sins—which
meant that the nation of Israel would no longer exist as the theocratic nation
(Matt. 23:38; 21:42-43).
“O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory?” (I Cor. 15:55).
Death is personified as the enemy and final destroyer of men, but the believer
mocks the grave’s power in the hope of rising again through the power of
Christ’s resurrection.
“For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Rom. 8:22). The creation also shall be saved
through Christ’s redemptive work, and it is here pictured as longing for the
day of the general resurrection.
Isaiah 44:23 is an
exhortation flowing from the redemption of God’s people and the blotting out of
their sins: “Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower
parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every
tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in
Israel.” More personification is seen in these verses concerning the Lord’s
return to judge at the end of the world: “Let the field be joyful, and all that
is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice” (Ps. 96:12) and “Let the floods clap their
hands: let the hills be joyful together” (98:8).
In Genesis 4:7,
sin is pictured as a power that can destroy the sinner. When one takes the road
of sin against God, every sin he commits makes other and more heinous sins more
likely. The first act of adultery may only leave a guilty conscience, but it
opens the door to the next one and the next one—each one easier and more to be
desired, until it all leads to sexual perversion such as we see all about us
today.
By the way, the last clause of Genesis 4:7 is better translated as an imperative, so that Cain is commanded by God: “But do thou rule over it.”
(Herman C. Hanko, “Covenant
Reformed News,” vol. 15, no. 12 [April 2015])
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