1 John 3:10-12

Whose Child Are You?

We reveal who we are by how we live. The children of the devil habitually sin, while the children of God constantly strive to do God's will. Particularly, God's children will love each other, and when they fail to do so they will be excluded from the family of God. Children of the Father will show the love He has for the brethren. The early church had a great love that was shown in their actions (Acts 2:45; Acts 4:32; Acts 4:34-37; Hebrews 13:1-3). The importance of brotherly love was stressed by Jesus and is a foundation principle taught from the very first day of the church's existence (1 John 3:10-11; John 13:34-35; Romans 12:10).

Cain is an example of one who was spiritually a child of the devil because he killed his brother (Genesis 4:1-16). Since Abel's offering was by faith and faith comes by hearing God's word (Hebrews 11:4; Romans 10:17), we deduce that Cain was willfully disobedient (Genesis 4:5-7), which showed his spiritual parentage. The word "murdered" is literally our word butcher, as in cutting the throat, and may indicate how Cain killed Abel. He killed his brother because Abel's works were good and his evil, thus, he was envious (1 John 3:12).