Faith is Essential to Acceptable Worship: Cain v. Abel

“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” – Hebrews 11:4

First read without prior explanation, the story of Cain and Abel is mysterious and enigmatic. Adam and Eve had two sons – Cain, who went into agriculture – and Abel, who took up herding or animal husbandry. Both were religious men, and when it came time to worship each brought an offering appropriate to his profession – Abel from his flock, and Cain from his fields. But curiously, God favored Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s.

Cain, in turn, became angry. God warned him, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” [Genesis 4:7]. But Cain nursed his rage and murdered Abel, whose blood cried out to God from the ground. The story ends in tragic closure: “So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden” [Genesis 4:16].

What do we make of this strange story? According to St. Augustine, “Cain was the first-born, and he belonged to the city of men; and after him was born Abel, who belonged to the city of God.” Augustine correctly saw that each was representative of radically different approaches to religion and to God. There was the way of Cain – a way of unbelief and of self-righteous, man-made religion. Jude 11 warns, “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain.” In contrast to the way of Abel – a way of faith. So the theme of this first example of faith in Hebrews 11 is a contrast of two cities, two streams – the two ways of faith and unbelief.

The authentic nature of Abel’s worship is explicitly attributed to his faith in the opening sentence of this verse: “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice [i.e. better worship] than Cain did.” To do a thing “by faith,” we must do it in response to and according to a word from God. We hear God’s word indicating His will, and “by faith” we respond in obedience. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” [Romans 10:17]. From this we must understand that God evidently had given explicit instructions to Cain and Abel indicating that only animal sacrifices were acceptable. Very likely they learned this from their parents, Adam and Eve [see Genesis 3:21, which gives an implicit inference that animal blood was spilled in direct response to their sin]. And by this time, Cain and Abel had been conforming to this practice for over 100 years as Cain was 129 years old. To this may be added the thought that Cain and Abel both understood the substitutionary atoning nature of blood sacrifice because when God provided the skins to clothe their parents, He established the principle of covering sin through the shedding of blood. Abel’s faith was an expression of his conscious need for atonement.

But not so with Cain! He came his own way – “the way of Cain.” By refusing to bring the prescribed offering, and instead presenting his garden produce, he was saying that one’s own good works and character is enough. Cain may have reasoned, “What I am presenting is far more beautiful than a bloody animal. I myself would prefer the lovely fruits of a harvest any day. And I worked far harder than Abel to raise my offering. Enough of this animal sacrifice business, God. My way is far better!” Cain’s offering was a monument to pride and self-righteousness – “the way of Cain.” Abel, on the other hand, believed and obeyed God. He brought God what God wanted. This was acceptable worship.

The other reason Abel’s offering was accepted was his heart’s attitude. Cain’s attitude puts it all in stark perspective. The Scriptures indicate that when God rejected Cain’s offering, Cain became "very angry, and his face was downcast” [Genesis 4:5], thus revealing just how shallow his devotion was. And when God pleaded with Cain to desist and do what was right, warning him with powerful metaphorical language that sin was crouching like a monster at his door desiring to have him [Genesis 4:6, 7], God’s plea was met with ominous silence. Whereas Cain’s mother had been talked into sin, Cain would not be talked out of it.

And it seems that Cain was determined to stay angry. He liked being mad. And so it has been with Cain’s children. Cain seemed to draw strength from his rage. The release of venom was his elixir. He would rather kill than turn to God’s gentle pleadings and repent. So he directed his hatred for God at his brother Abel and killed him.

But Abel had come to God with a completely different spirit – a submissive, devoted heart. Abel brought “portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” [Genesis 4:4] – his best. God saw Abel’s heart and was pleased with his motives, for “God loves a cheerful giver” [2 Corinthians 9:7]. How God desires devoted hearts in his worshippers! Jesus said that the time “has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” [John 4:23, 24]. God longs for those who worship Him with the complete devotion of their human spirits. So it is likely very significant that this great chapter on faith begins with a worshipper – because worship is fundamental to everything else we do in life. So there we have it. The opening sentence tells us that faith is essential to acceptable worship. And that is still true today if we would come to God, we must come not with our own works, but rather with and through the sacrifice of Christ – the way of Christ, not “the way of Cain.”