By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
So the Old Testament passage to which Paul refers is Genesis 4:3-7
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.
By faith Abel… obtained witness that he was righteous. Let me ask you this: Have you ever obtained a witness from God that you were righteous? Has God ever whispered in your ear Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. (Song of Solomon 4:7) Have you ever obtained a witness? Paul said, The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16)
Now Cain also obtained witness from God. But it was not that he was righteous. But it was a warning to Cain. That sin that lieth at the door carries with it the picture of a preying animal crouching and waiting to pounce, or in this case waiting to enter. And then that expression And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him was first used in the garden of Eden to describe the relationship between man and wife. This was part of God’s curse, but embedded in the curse was the blessing of that relationship: the longing love of a woman’s heart to her husband and the authority of a loving husband over his wife; a beautiful picture of our relationship with Christ, our beloved. Christ shall be my desire, and he shall rule over me!
This the relationship of marriage, a most intimate union. These same words are used to describe the relationship between Cain and sin. If Cain was not to do well, then he was warned that sin was lying in wait at the door of his heart crouching and ready to pounce upon him. And so strong and intimate will be their union if that door is opened. He and sin will be bound as a man is bound to his wife. He will own his sin and be the master of it.
The word imputed comes to mind. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. (Romans 4:8) It’s as if God is warning Cain that the sin that was knocking on his heart’s door would enter and come to fruition if he didn’t turn and do well. And that’s exactly what happened. Cain opened that door. Jesus said Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. (Matthew 5:21,22)
Cain also obtained a witness from God, and from this witness we see what God’s witness to Abel was by seeing what it wasn’t. What are you talking preacher? Sin was not lying at Abel’s door. And the desire of sin was not Abel and Abel was not to rule over sin as was with Cain. Abel was not to be joined in a holy union with sin. No! Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. It was not sin that was to be imputed to Abel, but righteousness. Praise God! By faith Abel… obtained witness that he was righteous. The bible says of Abraham It was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. (James 2:23) Thank God for the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
For years I’ve wondered if Abel and Cain truly knew Hebrew 9:22 Without shedding of blood is no remission because the Bible doesn’t explicitly say that they did. Regardless, what they most certainly did know was the witness they obtained of God. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalm 1:6)
What way are you going today? Are you going the way of the faith? The way of the cross? For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Where is your faith? Abel obtained a witness that he was righteous by his. Have you ever obtained a witness from God that you were righteous? Has God ever whispered in your ear Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.