If you (Cain) do well, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, the Sinful One is crouching at the portal and desires to have you: you need to master him (Gen4:7 from Masoretic text)
As has just been observed, the Bible does not set out God’s plans for His whole creation but concerns His redemptive strategy for humanity and the key players within that plan: Himself, His Son and Spirit, Israel and the Church. Yet the devil has a role too or else he would have been destroyed or shut away long since, for God is sovereign. Satan has no autonomous right to continue existing, let alone exercise any authority in the world, and yet He does so at God’s behest. The Bible teaches us very little about either the angelic or satanic realm; even God’s plans for men and women outside Israel and the Church have been obscured, hence such a disclosure at this time. In terms of the realm of evil and the numerous legends pertaining to it, this chapter will only consider those aspects which are alluded to in Scripture, principally with the purpose of completing the jigsaw regarding the eluded Universal Covenant of life and those who default from it.
The above verse from Genesis was considered in chapter two in the context of such a covenant. Because it has been eluded by the churches, so too have been its defaulters; they have been lumped together with all who fall outside the New and Old Testaments’ Covenants of Promise. In terms of the Church and her mission that has not essentially mattered for she is to preach the Good News of Jesus as Lord and Saviour, practice justice and offer compassion to all in the world, regardless of how deserving or otherwise the recipients may be. The churches have generally understood there to be one covenant for each testament period and an exclusive one at that. Such a concept should be repudiated, firstly by the reality of Abel and others declared righteous before the Abrahamic Covenant was established; still more so by the story of Ishmael. He had been circumcised, blessed by God and by his father Abraham, sent on his way in peace yet he was excluded from the covenant initiated through his father, for the seed of his union with Sarah were to be the children of promise, and such is the Church in the current dispensation{685}. Yet through Abraham, all nations were to be blessed, and that included the twelve that would spring from the seed of his son Ishmael, yet not necessarily through incorporation into an exclusive covenant. So now it is necessary to consider how the other eluded grouping, being defaulters from the Universal Covenant may be identified. Along with the powerful spirit that becomes their adoptive master they have played a mysterious role in God’s strategic plan to raise up the children of Adam, ultimately to divinity.
The fault-line between those outside the Church who have been planted by God and those who are satanic is often more marked than that between those of God’s seed who are being saved through the gospel and those who are not currently in Christ. This is reflected in their behaviour when one knows what to look for, and it impacts upon their future destiny as far ahead as Scripture permits us to discern it. As with other aspects of natural law, these mysteries concerning broader providence have lain almost imperceptibly beneath the pages of Scripture, yet references are made there to this grouping, but as already indicated they have been understood by most to be referring to non-Christians, whereas:
This is what distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil; whoever does not live uprightly and does not love his brother is not from God… Do not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother{686}
Let us love one another since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever fails to love does not know God because God is love{687}
Those who can love but do not possess “agape”
It is necessary in this context to distinguish between agape and other forms of love, for those of the devil’s party can exhibit the one but not the other. Those devoid of agape may love in a romantic way and to form friendships but it will always revolve around themselves. They may show fondness towards an individual, but it will always be on the basis that if that person were removed from their life, their happiness would be diminished. That is an entirely valid emotion that a saint might share, but it isn’t agape. For agape is ek tou theou (derived from God){688} so a child of the devil will not possess it. Augustine had been perfectly logical in his insistence that only a Christian can empathize and genuinely care for another human being{689}; if there were only two categories and every non-Christian were a child of the devil as he believed, such would be the case; but it is neither the observable reality, nor is it scriptural. Most Old Testament Gentiles and present-day non-Christians are assuredly not “derived from the Evil One” (Greek: ek tou ponerou) but they do inhabit the sphere of darkness still controlled by that prince and are yet to be delivered from it{690}. Most evidently possess agape which pertains to compassion and empathy; an internal urge to show kindness to a fellow human being which extends to any living creature in need, regardless of whether there is any benefit to the benefactor.
Retaining God’s seed
John also tells us that:
Whoever is born of God does not (habitually practice) sin for his seed remains in him; and he cannot (habitually practice) sin because he has been born of God{691}
Note his seed has remained; it is not referring to something that is either accredited or infused through spiritual regeneration but to that which has been present since birth:
“That the working of the Father and the Son operates both in saints and sinners is manifest from this, that all who are rational beings are partakers of the Word, i.e. of reason, and by this means bear certain seeds implanted within them of wisdom and justice, which is Christ” [Origen]{692}
This third century theologian affirmed Paul to be saying as much in the passage where he writes “Say not in in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven (to bring Christ down from above) or who shall descend into the deep (to bring Christ up from the dead). But what says Scripture? The Word is near you even in your mouth and in your heart”{693}, by which “Paul means that Christ is in the heart of all in respect of his being the Word or reason”{694}. Referring back to John’s verse, the apostle well knew that even the children of God commit sin, but he is saying that those in whom God’s seed remains do not consistently practice it. That is because they are restrained by God’s implanted law in their heart{695}. Those who are of God maintain sound reason and exercise restraint; they do not consistently practice what is wicked. The children of the devil do; it is or has become all they know, and they also fail to love. When one who is of God sins grievously, he hurts others but also grieves himself. Unless he is a masochist, he will not consistently practice such wickedness, or if he does, he will be thoroughly miserable. When a child of the devil causes hurt by his actions, he is simply being himself and feels serene or even exhilarated; he may boast of his exploits in the courtroom when hopefully he is apprehended. Such a positive delight in evil practice is what motivates serial killers to offend repeatedly; it is within the nature of godlessness. Frequent reference is made in the Bible’s Wisdom literature to those who go in the way of Cain by “leaving the paths of uprightness to walk in the way of darkness{696} as opposed to those who continue to “walk in the way of good men and who keep the paths of the righteous”{697}; for the day shall come when “the upright shall dwell on the earth and those who are perfected will have pre-eminence in it, whereas the wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the treacherous ones rooted out of it”{698}. Of course, if all had been born in a state of depravity none would be in a position to leave the paths of righteousness for they could never have been on them in the first place. Those heading for perdition are not those who have failed to apprehend the grace and healing of Christ as it is offered through the gospel, for contrary to the teaching of Arminius and the understanding of many modern-day Christians, man has no innate ability to respond to the grace of Christ. No one may come to the Saviour unless the Father draws Him{699} as Paul well knew: “for those He foreknew, He had predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son… and these He predestined, He also called; and these He called, He also justified; and these He justified, He also glorified{700}. Yet God is just, for those who are to be punished in the age to come have irrevocably rejected the Word’s interior witness. They are without excuse for all have such an enlightening deposit in their nature, at least to start with, so those who turn their back on it, evidenced by the misery, despair and often destruction they cause to their fellows will have to face the consequences.
God fulfils His wondrous purposes for the ultimate deification{701} of frail children of dust by permitting certain souls to succumb to the control of the devil. The Cain and Abel story identifies the instrumentality of human free will within that process, in which the elder brother chose a course of evil so as to be later classified in Scripture as “ek tou ponerou”: derived from the Evil One{702}
The children of the devil are variously described in Scripture as:
Cain as a type
Adam and Eve were the progenitors of fallen humanity{719}. Their disobedience put a temporary end to the prospect of eternal life for all humanity:
As through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness, there resulted justification of life to all men{720}
Adam is the type and federal head of fallen humanity that lives under the reign of death. Cain who was in a literal sense the firstborn of fallen creation is the type of individual reprobates, being those who become rejected by rejecting the interior witness of Christ in their hearts. In his short epistle, Jude warns against false teachers who would come into the Church, whom he describes as deluded, defiled, disregarders of authority and blasphemers of the glories, both barren and uprooted so twice dead. He adds:
Woe to them for they have gone in the way of Cain{721}
Cain was a murderer, not a false teacher, yet he is referred to in type: the human first-plant and the first person to be cursed by God and given over to the devil who according to the Genesis account he was potentially capable of mastering. Scripture affirms Cain to be wicked, satanic and the type of those devoid of moral restraint or compassionate love – inhumane, heartless psychopaths:
For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous{722}
Cain’s parents had been banished from the Paradise garden and the source of eternal life. However, they and their offspring had not been banished from JHWE’s benign presence{723}. They continued to worship and bring offerings to God, as did Cain and Abel. But after the elder son’s defiance in rejecting God’s personal plea to him to resist the Sinful One crouching at the portal of his soul, after slaughtering his righteous brother a further degree of banishment from God’s presence was established in his case:
My punishment is more than I can bear; surely you have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from your face{724}
Cain - the first defaulter from the Universal Covenant of life
Cain defaulted from covenant for wilfully defying the God who had pleaded with him and failing to do what he was perfectly capable of doing: maintain his integrity and thereby not permit the Evil One to get the better of him by slaughtering his brother and showing His contempt for His Maker. Having defaulted, he becomes alienated from the rest of humanity (“whoever finds me will kill me”) and from God’s providential care (“from today I will be hidden from Your face”). Cain is the type of those who become entirely alienated from God (the godless), having rejected and subsequently lost the witness of the divine will for humane living provided to the spirit and referenced by the conscience. Externally such will still be aware of standards of acceptable behaviour and will maintain it to a degree to be accepted in society; so even they do not usually exhibit “absolute depravity”. As for such who operate within the Church to pervert doctrine or bring about schisms, a still higher degree of subtlety and sophistication is required if an agent of Satan is to be transformed into an agent of light{725}. To appear the spiritual master, apart from being erudite and voluminous, such must incorporate much that is seemingly sound and spiritual within the poison they are peddling if a sufficient number of the faithful are to be deceived. Their true nature and intentions may be discerned by their character and legacy but by then it can be too late; the damage will have been done.
For here is another mystery: God through His only begotten Son created all things including the human soul, but they were not all planted by Him{726}. Who was planted by whom will be determined by the outcome - whether they are finally rooted up{727}, but from a human perspective it will have been a matter of free will. Similarly, the elect are those who from a human perspective respond to the gospel and persevere in the faith, even if from God’s perspective they are foreknown and were divinely enabled to apprehend Christ. Defaulting covenant is referred to in the New Testament as becoming reprobate (adokimoi – disqualified) or being removed from the Book of life{728}. No names are ever added to this book, only removed, which is the outworking of an inclusive covenant.
The counter-church
Those who go in the way of Cain are in effect an inverted image of that other vocational group called out from the world to go in the way of Christ. Like Christians, the devil’s children are also no longer their own; they are in the ownership and service of another{729}; they too are spiritually directed and empowered by the effectual working of their lord{730}; they too are no longer one of the lost: the “sheep without a shepherd” upon whom Christ will have compassion{731}. These are not lost for they have found their herdsman or rather he has found them. He had been prowling around seeking whom he may devour{732}; he had crouched at the portal of their souls desiring to possess them. It looked promising, and so he had sifted them as wheat to see if there be any underlying faith within them{733}. Such an analysis will appear obscure and arcane to many: but it is scripturally based and pertains to the mystery of evil; by far the most intriguing aspect of divine providence required to unlock the Mystery of God.
The elect: assigned to Christ
The elect are planted by God and earmarked for Christ, as affirmed in His high-priestly prayer:
I have revealed You to those whom You gave Me out of this world. They were Yours – You gave them to Me and they have obeyed Your word{734}
Note how our Lord prays: “they were Yours”. Surely everything is God’s, but He means they were of God and not of Satan, like Cain who was of the wicked one. The genitive (of Satan) pertains neither to creation nor procreation but to planting, ownership and party.
The wheat and darnel: inseparable within the gospel age
The two planters of souls are figured in the parable of the wheat and darnel{735}, which has particular relevance to the subject of this chapter as well as providing an indicator for the age to come. Whilst it is only a parable, it is explained by Jesus Himself on this occasion. It will not do to try to restrict it to the Church as Augustine and many others have attempted. Of course, it is analogous to the visible Church and the invisible wheat within her, for those in Christ who bare no fruit will be rejected{736}, but Jesus explicitly tells us it pertains to the world and everyone in it{737}. The parable suited to the Church is Paul’s concerning the “great house” and the vessels of honour and dishonour within it{738}. In Jesus’ parable, the wheat represents all men and women who are planted by God in the sense described above. The darnel represents human seed planted by Satan{739} whom Jesus specifically describes in the parable as “children of the Wicked One”{740}. Jesus characterises them as distinguishable by their own wickedness and the fact they ensnare others into sin{741}, just as in nature darnel can damage and poison wheat. As the darnel is gathered together and burnt, a similar fate awaits the satanic seed, but not until the end of this age. Keeping in mind God’s undoubted sovereignty and the fact that Christ has already triumphed over these evil entities, their continued presence must be by divine prerogative; likewise, the planting or assigning arrangement. A further reference to this mystery is provided by Paul, for the seed planted by Satan equates to the instruments of God’s retribution created for destruction to whom the apostle refers{742}. In the same chapter, he mentions “instruments of His mercy” which he makes clear exclusively refer to elect Jews and Christians. It is therefore assumed by many there are two groups whereas in fact there are three. The third are the bulk of humanity who are neither destined to be co-inheritors with Christ, nor those “created only to be captured and destroyed”{743}; the souls who Paul says have been adjusted or adapted{744}, being foreknown and destined for satanic use to fulfil God’s wondrous purposes, such as having His own Son betrayed and executed for the salvation of mankind and the ultimate defeat of His arch-enemy. This is typified in the example Paul himself provides in Romans chapter nine to explain the purpose of such vessels of destruction: the exaltation, hardening of heart and final humiliation of the Egyptian Pharaoh to display JHWE’s power to save and deliver His people from their oppressors.
Three eschatological outcomes are evident in Scripture old and new. In God’s Revelation to Jesus Christ relayed through John, the largest eschatological group are pictured as the “nations of those who are saved”, whose kings bring their treasures to the city in which Christ is enthroned with His elect who are privileged to see Him face to face{745}. In Isaiah, they were (under Plan A) those who from Sabbath to Sabbath would come to the holy city where the elect dwell with their Lord and bow in the Lord’s presence, “and on their way out they will see the corpses of those who rebelled against God who will be an abhorrence to all humanity”{746}. In the Gospels they are the sheep of Matthew 25; the elect having already been gathered to Christ so as to be spared the climax of tribulation{747}. In the epistle to the Romans the majority are those longing to be liberated as children of God who do not have the first fruit of the Spirit waiting for the revelation of the sons of God who do{748}. As for the Lord’s related parables, darnel is never converted into wheat nor goats into sheep – they are different in in nature from their conception; rather, some of the lost sheep are found and “saved to the uttermost” – hence the three categories. God’s special blessings and curses are applied to a small proportion of the human family as was the case in populating the postdiluvian world. The Book of Enoch distinguishes between the “holy and elect” on the one hand who will be honoured at His coming, and others who will not be honoured but having repented will be “saved in His Name” for “His compassion is great”{749}. As always, there is a third group who will be unwilling or unable to repent or bow the knee and they will not be spared.
Some will understandably be mystified by Romans chapter 9 and the concept of souls adapted for destruction in terms of God’s justice. As Paul wrote, it is not for His own pleasure that God endures these people’s abhorrent ways, but for the ultimate benefit of those He would bring to glory (v22,23). As for God’s justice, these are often persons of great renown{750} who enjoy wealth, power and prestige in the world such as the example of Pharaoh given in Romans 9. As well as enjoying a sumptuous lifestyle they may be influential in politics, industry or religion and be greatly esteemed and respected, even by the good, as were certain hypocritical Pharisees in Jesus’ time and as recently as the last century, a democratically elected Chancellor of Germany. For often being respectable these people will not be easy to identify. Only God and on occasions those filled with His Spirit may gaze into the window of their souls and discern the emptiness there{751}. Evil being a deficiency, these people are not to be defined so much by what they possess and practice as by what they lack and so fail to practice. Such people leading the Jewish community in Jesus’ day could not fool the Saviour who declared quite plainly: “You are of your father the devil”{752}. That was not the way Jesus generally addressed or approached “sinners”; the multitudes whom He loved and regarded as sheep without a Shepherd{753}. Others within the devil’s party more readily display their affiliation, such as those criminals who abuse, dehumanize or destroy others without mercy or remorse and take pleasure in doing so. The behaviour of such can be so inhumane as to be beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. Their absence of conscience, remorse and an empathy for their victims has been the common observation of judges, juries and victims’ families when such people are brought to justice. For if the divine light provided to the mind’s eye of natural man still leaves him in the dark and in need of spiritual healing, how deep will a man’s darkness be if the eye itself is darkened. As Jesus expressed the matter, though it is invariably mistranslated, “if the light that is in you is darkness, how much darker is the darkness”{754}. Thankfully, the majority of people demonstrate by their moral restraint and empathy that they have a working conscience. Their mind’s eye is enlightened, yet they will continue in a measure of darkness until they are finally liberated from the bondage of corruption into which they were born{755} or encounter the grace of the gospel in the meantime.
Indifference to truth
The other feature common to the human category being focused on regardless of whether they are outwardly respectable or plainly criminal is indifference to truth. Their adoptive father was described by Jesus as the “father of lying”{756} so those he masters are pathological in that trait. Having no working conscience they will only speak the truth if it is convenient for the purpose in hand: there will be no other incentive. Anyone who is of God may lie but will never feel entirely comfortable about it unless, perhaps, it is a white lie so as to avoid hurting another, which on at least one occasion is commended in Scripture{757}. Those who are indwelt by the Spirit and already united to Christ will be highly sensitized in this area, wishing to avoid even so much as a hint of exaggeration. For truthfulness is integral to holiness; which is why the promises of God are so dependable even if He fulfils them in the most surprising ways.
Children of the devil in Jesus’ min