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Jude 1:11
In his warning against false Christians, Jude refers to the "way of Cain," and the rest of the epistle details the men he is warning against (Jude 3-4, 8, 10-18). To summarize, the "way of Cain" is religion or worship on one's own terms, even though the person may claim loyalty to God and use the Bible to some degree to back up his practices. Genesis 3:13-15 could indicate that Eve and Cain thought he was the promised Seed who would crush the head of the serpent. If Cain believed he was a messianic figure, he certainly would have followed a religion on his own terms! As Jude shows, the way of Cain manifests itself in unbelief, rebellion against authority, perversion, ungodliness, turning God's grace into license, and denying the Father and the Son—not denying their existence but denying God's authority and the need for Christ's sacrifice and redemptive work. Jude shows that those linked with the way of Cain are grumblers and complainers, living according to their own desires, using flattery to gain advantage, seeking material wealth, and causing division, yet having a veneer of righteousness and spirituality. The story of Cain reveals a man who was not nearly interested enough in the whole story, particularly the truth about himself. He made assumptions regarding his standing with God, what God required and desired, God's grace, and how prophecy must be fulfilled. He was not interested in details that would contradict who he was—or who he thought he was. Sometimes, as in this speculation regarding Cain, we cannot know the whole story. But it is definitely in our best interest to find out the whole story when it comes to where we stand with God and how we should be responding to Him. Cain lost interest in these things because he decided he already knew "the rest of the story." We need not share in Cain's wretched ending if we will make the effort to get all the facts straight and all the details worked out regarding our understanding of God, our standing with Him, and our following His will for our lives.
David C. Grabbe
Cain's Assumption (Part Two)
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