Introduction
When we are not pleased with our situation, we may feel that God’s actions in our lives are unfair. A relevant example of this is in Genesis 4, where Cain is displeased because God does not accept his offering. In response, the Lord admonishes Cain, saying, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will it not be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at the door; its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6-7).
In these verses, the Lord God Almighty reminds Cain not to let sin rule over him. However, Cain succumbs to sin and commits a grave offense. Additionally, we observe that most of the names the Lord gives in Genesis 4 are of people who let sin rule over them and made humans full of corruption.
As followers of the Trinity of God, we must meditate on God’s teachings throughout the Bible, the Old and New Testaments. In particular, here, reflecting on the Cain story, we should ask ourselves how we can resist sin and overcome the temptations that lie at our doors, and follow the Lord’s command to resist temptation and not let sin rule over us. In this blog, we will explore how one could resist such temptations to sin that lie at our souls’ doors.
Temptations to Sin Are Many
In the Gospels, the Lord Jesus often teaches that sin separates us from the Trinity of God and that we must repent. He addresses all types of sin, including those hidden in our hearts, which defile us and are visible only to God. One specific sin that the Lord Jesus warns against particularly strongly is blasphemy (see Matthew 12:31-32). In Mark 7:20-23, the Lord Jesus reminds us to be vigilant about our hearts, as He sees into the depths of our souls, and it is the heart of man that harbors sin.
Mark 7:20-23: Now He said, That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetous desires, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, slander, pride, foolishness; all these evils proceed from within, and defile the man.
Comments Mark 7:20-23. Not all the sins have been mentioned either; there will not be enough room to list and enumerate all the sins humans commit. The Lord does not keep account of all the sins humans commit. If the Lord would account for them all, all humans would be gone. Because of the blood of the Lord Jesus shed on the cross, the sins are not counted for the one who believes. When humans accept His beloved Son, the majority of sins (except the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit) have been covered with His blood.
Importantly, in James 1:14-15 the Holy Spirit teaches us that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
We should all be wary of bringing death to our souls. Therefore, we must ask ourselves: Is this continual sinful condition the true state of my heart? Many of us face various temptations in this world—some are minor sins, while others are more significant. Our eyes serve as gateways to our souls; we see many abominable things in the world, which can lead to temptations. How can we escape these worldly temptations? Is it possible to have a clean heart and think only good and see sin as sin from deep within our hearts, not only in our minds?
Trying to answer these questions we can refer to three Bible passages below.
Ezekiel 36:25-27: And I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them.
2 Corinthians 5:16-19: Therefore, we henceforth regard no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, the new has come into being. But all things are of God, the One who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having placed into to us the word of reconciliation.
Psalm 51:10: Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.
All these Bible passages focus on the condition of the heart. However, for anyone to become a new creation with a clean heart and a right spirit, it is only possible through the miracle of the cross and resurrection, along with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Therefore, for all humanity, the ultimate miracle that the Lord Jesus offers us is reconciliation with God the Father through the renewal and salvation of our souls.
Conclusions
We can apply all the scriptures quoted in the previous section to ourselves. By repenting of our past sins and believing in the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit—we can receive the salvation provided by the Lord Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross. He is the only way to the Father. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we must be baptized in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as commanded in Matthew 28:19, for the remission of our sins, and seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit as instructed in Luke 24:49. The Lord Jesus also teaches us, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). This means that, as followers of the Lord Jesus, we need to walk with Him throughout our lives. To do this, we must read and meditate on the Word of God and stay close to the Lord each day.
Meditation Tasks
- We invite all readers to reflect on the salvation provided by the Lord Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross. We also encourage you to check out our blog articles, “The Son of God Offers Forgiveness of Sins for All” and “The Lamb of God Can Cleanse Us from All Our Sins.”