Sin Lies at the Door for All of Us

As the Sabbath begins, we can rejoice in the peace, purpose, and hope that God gives to us. Sadly, remembering our Creator and being reminded of the plan of God does not block out everything from a week that has come to an end.

This week a young man went into a Florida school and opened fire killing and wounding students and faculty.

One of the sad things about the event is that people had noticed and reported warning signs about the nineteen-year old shooter. The young man had been expelled from school, and surely the faculty of the school had issued warnings about the destructive path the young man had been on.

It is a strange quirk of human nature that human beings all too often fail to heed warnings of danger. The failure to listen to wise counsel leads all too often to serious consequences.

To me this coincides with the biblical example found in the story of Cain and Abel.

The two sons of Adam and Eve came to God with offerings. God recognized Abel’s offering because it met the criteria that God had apparently established. Cain’s offering did not meet the standard God had established. Note Genesis 4:5, “He (God) did not respect Cain and his offering.” Not only did God not respect Cain’s offering but He did not respect Cain because of his wrong attitude.

Did Cain have a wrong attitude? We only have to look at the end of Genesis 4:5 where we find Cain filled with anger and “his countenance fell” over God’s rejection of his offering. If you had been on the scene of this event, Cain’s wrong attitude would have been clearly visible.

Did God recognize the problem? We only have to look at Genesis 4:6-7 where God addresses Cain’s wrong attitude, “So the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."”

God pointed out that Cain was being ruled by sin and if he did not change his line of thinking there would be a terrible outcome. God counseled Cain to recognize his wrong mindset and rule over it. God knew the potential that could unfold if Cain did not reverse his course. Sadly, Cain did not heed God’s counsel. He allowed anger to rule and explode into the murder of his brother.

As we look at the all too common atrocities in our world, we are not going to end their occurrence until we recognize that “sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you and you should rule over it.” Until men and women recognize sin lurking at the door and take measures to reject the sinful mindset, evil of all kinds will continue.

Unfortunately, how many people are self-aware enough to reject sin? Even if the majority of the world’s population are oblivious to the need to rule over sin, we in the church know this to be a crucial aspect of the Christian life.

As the Passover draws close, we need to recognize that “sin lies at the door” for all of us. Do we recognize the pulls and pressures of sin? Do we seek to repent of those sins that still plague us? Do we beseech God for His help to rule over sin?

As we ready ourselves to come before God at Passover, is our attitude like that of Abel: humble, faithful, obedient, offering the first and best? Or is our attitude like Cain: prideful, disobedient, offering that which is blemished?

Where we stand in regard to the Passover is a most worthwhile consideration for the Sabbath.

Have a pleasant and profitable Sabbath,

Gary Smith

The Doulos of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

In this week’s submission for your reflection, I’d like to begin by quoting a portion of the first verse of the epistle of James, “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ . .” Of the eleven words quoted, I would like to focus upon the word “bondservant.”

In Greek, the word bondservant is “doulos”. It is a word that could also be translated as “slave.” From a scriptural point of view James in citing the word for bondservant or slave is telling his audience where he is coming from in what follows in the epistle. He is telling his audience that he is a slave of God and of Jesus Christ.

What does James mean by this term? A few verses give us some insight into the meaning.

Matthew 8:9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

• From this we can see that a doulos is under authority and what it means to be under authority.

Matthew 20:27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave —

• Those who will be first in the Kingdom of Heaven must be doulos, bondservants, to the others in the group.
• We might say that the doulos of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ will approach life as a willing servant of God in all situations.

Matthew 24:45-47 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant (doulos), whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.

• The doulos of God must be actively serving his master—an ongoing mode of conduct.
• Being a doulos means that we are actively serving our Master every day in all we do.

Romans 6:16-17 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

To whom are we a doulos?
o Sin-disobedience
o Righteous—obedient
o Are we obedient from the heart? That is the doulos of God.
o To obey from the heart is not enslavement, but deliverance from sin and death.

Not only James, but Jude (1:1), Paul and Timothy (Philippians 1:1), Moses (1 Kings 8:53; Daniel 9:11; Malachi 4:4), Joshua and Caleb (Joshua 24:29; Numbers 14:24), Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Deuteronomy 9:27), Job (Job 1:8) and Isaiah (Isaiah 20:3). Doulos is distinctively the title by which the prophets were known (Amos 3:7; Zechariah 1:6; Jeremiah 7:25).

William Barclay in his commentary on the book of James summarizes doulos well, “By taking the title doulos James sets himself in the great succession of those who found their freedom and their peace and their glory in perfect submission to the will of God. The only greatness to which the Christian can ever aspire is that of being the slave of God.” (From The Daily Study Bible, by William Barclay: First Edition. Biblesoft Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2015 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

As we take time to reflect this Sabbath consider, “If I were writing a letter to offer instruction to others, would I even consider using the approach of James?” Might I say, “(Your name) a bondservant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ?” It is a worthy title to consider?

Gary Smith