3:121 John 3:12

The verse holds up Cain as the opposite of brotherly love that believers must not copy, for to be of that wicked one is to belong to Satan and stand on the adversary's side rather than on Christ's, and he killed his brother not for any wrong done but because his own works were evil and his brother's were righteous.RH Apr 3, 1900+4 Hatred of a brother belongs to death and makes a person a murderer in whom no eternal life abides, while love for the brethren proves passing from death to life and being born of a righteous God.Ms 31, 1903, par. 4–5+2 Cain's offering was disobedient because it lacked the required slain lamb pointing to Christ, while Abel in faith obeyed and offered the firstlings of his flock, which God accepted, and Cain in anger and jealousy killed him though reason and conscience told him Abel was right.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24+4 Cain and Abel represent the two classes of the disobedient wicked and the obedient righteous that continue till the close of earth's history, for the wicked hate the righteous because righteous doing condemns their sinful course and reveals their sins.SG3 50.1+4 Abel's works were righteous because he kept God's commandments while Cain's were evil because he exalted his own judgment above God, the required lamb confessing sin and representing Christ the Lamb without blemish whose blood speaks better things than Abel's, and the commanded love is God's love seen in laying down life for the brethren in deed and in truth and not in word only.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24+4

Cain stands as the opposite of brotherly love, the example believers must not follow.RH Apr 3, 1900+2 His killing of his brother shows what hatred does, bound up with evil rather than with the love that marks life with God, and it illustrates the difference between evil conduct and righteous conduct.RH Apr 3, 1900 That refusal of love was jealousy cruel as death, and the call instead is to refuse Cain-like jealousy and hatred and to love the brethren as Christ loved, losing sight of self and even laying down life for them.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24 Love of this kind does not compromise with sin but flows from loving God supremely and neighbor as self.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24 Loving one another is the message heard from the beginning, set in direct contrast to Cain's pattern.Ms 12, 1899, par. 17–18

To be of that wicked one is to belong to the evil one, to have Satan as leader, and to stand on the adversary's side rather than on Christ's side.RH Apr 3, 1900+4 The verse sets the principles of Christ against the principles of Satan, with Cain on Satan's side in slaying his righteous brother because his own works were evil.Ms 31, 1903, par. 9 Hatred of a righteous brother marks those who do not belong to God, while love for one another with righteous conduct marks the children of God.Lt 72, 1906, par. 13–17+1 Hostility toward a righteous brother is therefore the fruit of evil, and hatred with evil conduct stands opposed to the brotherly love that must be shown in deeds and truth.Ms 8a, 1888, par. 13–15+1

The verse answers its own question about motive: he killed him because his own works were evil and his brother's were righteous, not for any wrong his brother had done.RH Apr 3, 1900+4 The contrast of character explains the violence, with evil doing on the one side and righteous doing on the other.Ms 33, 1894, par. 8–9 That hatred and violence belong to the wicked one and stand against the love believers owe one another.Lt 391, 1906, par. 15–16

Hatred of a brother belongs to death and makes a person a murderer in whom no eternal life abides, while love for the brethren proves passing from death to life.Ms 31, 1903, par. 4–5+3 He that loves not his brother abides in death, but loving fellow believers proves passing from death unto life and being born of a righteous God.Ms 108, 1899, par. 22–25+2 Loving one another is the message from the beginning and the line dividing the children of God from the children of the devil, together with doing righteousness.Ms 31, 1903, par. 4–5+2 This instruction is to be received and profited from as a revelation of wonderful love for the sinful race.Ms 31, 1903, par. 4–5

Cain's offering was disobedient because it omitted the shedding of blood, lacking the required spotless slain lamb that pointed to Christ as the Lamb without blemish and the great Sacrifice to save the fallen race, an offering meant to acknowledge and confess sin.Ms 78, 1901, par. 3–11+2 Abel in faith obeyed the express direction and injunction of God, offering the firstlings of his flock with the blood of the victim.Ms 78, 1901, par. 3–11+1 God respected that obedient offering and gave tokens of acceptance by fire from heaven, while He did not respect Cain's bloodless substitute.Ms 78, 1901, par. 3–11+1

Cain was angry that his own offering was rejected while his younger brother's was accepted, angry with God for rejecting man's substitute in place of the sacrifice divinely ordained.Ms 78, 1901, par. 3–11+1 He was angry also with Abel for maintaining that God is just, for choosing to obey God instead of joining rebellion, and for reminding him of God's direction for the offering.Ms 78, 1901, par. 3–11+2 That anger was jealousy cruel as death, with hatred beginning from the moment God showed acceptance to Abel, because Abel was better than himself and his right-doing condemned Cain's sinful course.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24+2 He could not tolerate Abel because Abel would not accept Cain's reasoning but obeyed God and would not join him in rebellion.Ms 53, 1890, par. 48–59+1

Abel's reproof of disregard for God's requirements provoked Cain, and Abel's life of obedience and unswerving faith stood as a perpetual reproof to him.Lt 19a, 1897, par. 25–28+1 Cain reproached Abel, tried to draw him into controversy, and argued with him.Ms 78, 1901, par. 3–11+1 Though reason and conscience told Cain that Abel was right, in fury of passion and burning anger he slew him, causing the first death in the world.Ms 78, 1901, par. 3–11+2

Cain was of the wicked one because he had no respect for God or for His commandments but followed his own corrupt course, so God rejected him and would not bless him and would give him no prosperity.SG3 115.1+1 Abel was righteous because he loved and reverenced God, so God accepted and blessed him with prosperity and blessing from God alone.SG3 115.1+1 The same rule decides blessing and rejection apart from any earthly birthright or paternal blessing, as also governs Esau and Jacob: whoever loves and fears God like Abel is accepted and blessed, and whoever disobeys like Cain is rejected like Cain.SG3 115.1+1

Loving one another is the message heard from the beginning, and it is the dividing line between the children of God and the children of the devil.Ms 31, 1903, par. 4–5+4 To be of God is to do righteousness and to love the brother, while to be as Cain was is to be of that wicked one, to do unrighteousness and to hate the brother.Ms 108, 1899, par. 22–25+4 Cain belonged to the wicked one and slew his brother not for any wrong his brother had done but because his own works were evil and his brother's were righteous, and believers must not be like him.Ms 31, 1903, par. 4–5+4 Hatred of a brother belongs to death and makes a person a murderer in whom no eternal life abides, while love for the brethren proves passing from death unto life.Ms 31, 1903, par. 4–5+2

Retaining coarse traits of character and revealing human defects in words and disposition gives the same testimony as Cain.Ms 108, 1898, par. 7–10 Profession amounts to nothing unless Christ is revealed in actions and works of righteousness.Ms 108, 1898, par. 7–10 Abiding in Christ means not sinning, and doing righteousness proves one is righteous as Christ is righteous, and this is the genuine evidence of true conversion.Ms 108, 1898, par. 7–10

The love commanded is God's love seen in laying down life for the brethren.Ms 108, 1899, par. 22–25+1 It is denied when one has this world's goods and shuts up compassion from a brother in need.Ms 108, 1899, par. 22–25+1 It must be in deed and in truth and not in word and tongue only, assuring the heart before God.Ms 108, 1899, par. 22–25+1 Such love belongs with keeping His commandments and doing what is pleasing in His sight, bringing confidence toward God and answered prayer.Ms 108, 1899, par. 22–25+1

Love to the brethren is linked closely together with love to God.Ms 88, 1893, par. 35–37 It expresses the great principles of the law in the two precepts to love the Lord with all the heart, soul, strength and mind and to love the neighbor as self, upon which hang all the law and the prophets.Ms 88, 1893, par. 35–37+1 The word from the beginning is the holy law spoken at Sinai.Lt 80, 1898, par. 16–18

The passage belongs to a discourse on God's love for the human family.Lt 59a, 1895, par. 5 This instruction is to be received and profited from as a revelation of wonderful love for the sinful race.Ms 31, 1903, par. 4–5

The chapter calls for manliness and firmness in Christian character.Lt 2, 1895, par. 1–4 A cheap Christian character works more harm in the world than the character of a worldling, for professed Christians mislead others by professing to represent Him whose name they assume.Lt 2, 1895, par. 1–4

Cain and Abel stand for the two classes that exist from the fall of man to the second coming of Christ and till the close of this earth's history, the righteous obedient believers and the wicked disobedient unbelievers.SG3 50.1+3 Cain slaying Abel means the wicked are envious of the righteous and hate them because the righteous are better than themselves, with jealousy leading to persecution and to putting them to death because righteous doing condemns their sinful course and obedience exposes sin.SG3 50.1+2 Abel would not join Cain in rebellion, and Cain's anger burned until he killed him, while the well-doer, the obedient man, does not war against the transgressor of God's law but those who do not respect God's holy law oppress and persecute their fellow men.ST Feb 6, 1879+1

Cain killed Abel not for any wrong Abel had done but because Abel's life of obedience and unswerving faith was a perpetual reproof, and so in all ages the wicked have hated those who were better than themselves.PP 73.3–74.2+2 The brighter the heavenly light reflected from faithful servants the more clearly the sins of the ungodly are revealed, and purity and holiness rebuke selfishness and corruption while blameless conduct and unswerving faith disturb the sinner's peace, reprove sin, and are a terror to evildoers wherever known.PP 73.3–74.2+2 Righteousness by its unlikeness to the world provokes bitter hostility because it gives no license to evil passions and, by presenting love and the beauty of holiness, draws away the subjects of Satan's kingdom, so the prince of evil is aroused to resist it and the efforts to destroy those who disturb false peace become more determined.PP 73.3–74.2

For the same reason Cain slew Abel, those who throw off the restraint of the Holy Spirit put God's people to death.GC88 46.1+1 The same irrepressible conflict between righteousness and sin, love and hatred, truth and falsehood that moved Cain moved the united forces of evil men and evil angels against Christ, whose every word and act breathed divine compassion, and the Jews rejected and crucified Him because the purity and holiness of His character was a constant rebuke to their selfishness and corruption.GC88 46.1+1 From the days of Christ until now those who love and follow the ways of sin hate and oppose His faithful disciples, bringing persecution and reproach on all imbued with His Spirit, with only the outward character of persecution changing with the times while the principle and spirit that has slain the chosen ever since Abel remains the same.GC88 46.1+1

The same hostile spirit seen in Cain was later directed against Christ and continues in opposition against obedient people, so hatred from the world should not surprise believers.Lt 22, 1895, par. 2–5+1 The Cain spirit works in the children of disobedience and has grown strong in the world, leading men to accuse, condemn, imprison, and put to death their fellow men.Ms 136, 1899, par. 12–13 Transgressors of plain commands, inspired by Satan to harm fellow men, have no right to injure bodies because of religious faith, and those who pass sentence of pain and death for differing belief, exalting man-made laws and using cruel inventions to compel blasphemy, will have the same sentence passed on them if they keep disregarding God's law, proving they would reject and put Christ to death if He came again as He came before.Lt 22, 1895, par. 2–5+1

The same enmity that stirred Cain against Abel stirred Joseph's brothers against Joseph and Saul against David.ST Dec 18, 1879+2 Joseph's brothers hated Joseph as Cain hated his brother, because Joseph was innocent and righteous and beloved of his father while they were wicked and a grief to him, looking upon him as a spy to be slain for informing against their evil works, and David's blameless character and very life and presence cast a reproach upon Saul by contrast and presented Saul's character to disadvantage.ST Dec 18, 1879+2 The spirit of Cain is deadly hatred toward a brother that intends murder and is the result of a hardened heart, for indulgence of one known sin deadens conscience so the next temptation is more easily overcome, and step by step the course is pursued until feelings become calloused in a harvest of crime.PP 651.3+1 Envy is the offspring of pride that, if entertained in the heart, makes miserable and puts the humble in jeopardy, leading to hatred and eventually to revenge and murder, so that fury against one who never did harm displays Satan's own character.PP 651.3+1

Evil spirits and the spirit of evil energized Cain, the same demoniacal spirit of apostasy from truth that works in the children of disobedience and that moved the priests and rulers against Jesus.Ms 104, 1897, par. 10–12+1 Cain was of the wicked one because he followed Satan as leader, who is an accuser of God and of those made perfect through obedience, and that spirit seeks to silence those calling to obedience to God's holy law and to provoke the loyal to become disloyal, as Cain tried to provoke Abel.Ms 104, 1897, par. 10–12+2 Unable to control his brother's conscience and make him disloyal, Cain with demon intelligence rent and destroyed one formed in the divine similitude, giving joy to the fallen apostate whose misapplied powers and ever-increasing knowledge and energy of transgression poison thought and measure human cruelty, and like Cain the unrighteous seek to control conscience and destroy those faithful to God's law.Ms 104, 1897, par. 10–12+1

Abel's works were righteous because he kept the Lord's commandments and carried out God's express direction in bringing his sacrifice to the altar, while Cain's works were evil because he disobeyed, had no respect for God or His commandments, followed his own corrupt course, and exalted his own judgment and ideas above God.ST Jan 9, 1896+1 Those unreconciled to the law of Jehovah are unreconciled to those who magnify that law as holy, just and good, and they show the same bitterness, malice, hate, envy and jealousy that Cain showed toward Abel when Abel's righteous works condemned Cain's sinful course.ST Jan 9, 1896 Cain hated Abel for his obedience, persecuted him and put him to death because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous.ST Nov 14, 1895

The same Cain-like course is followed when men set aside God's law, especially the fourth commandment enjoining the Sabbath as the memorial of creation, make the law void and sweep away the Ten Commandments as nailed to the cross.ST Jan 9, 1896 They institute a spurious sabbath on the first day for Christ's resurrection without one line of God's word requiring it, offering what God never commanded while ignoring what He plainly commanded.ST Jan 9, 1896 Those who obey God's voice as Abel did receive from the disobedient the same treatment that Abel received from Cain.ST Jan 9, 1896+1

From Abel's death onward there have always been two classes on earth with the same characteristics: the loyal and obedient who keep God's law and are blessed by God, and those who make void God's law and hate and persecute the obedient, including the world and professed Christians who set aside the law.ST Nov 14, 1895 The same rule decides prosperity and adversity, blessing and rejection, apart from any earthly birthright or paternal blessing: God gives prosperity and blessing to one whose course is righteous like Abel's, and brings adversity and rejection upon one whose course is wicked like Cain's.SG3 115.1+1 That rule also governs Esau and Jacob, for if either loved and feared God like Abel he would be accepted and blessed with prosperity from God alone, and if either disobeyed like Cain he would be rejected like Cain, whether or not he obtained the blessings and privileges generally bestowed upon the first-born.1SP 107.1

The offering God required was to include a slain lamb, acknowledging and confessing sin and representing Christ as the Lamb without blemish who became the great Sacrifice to save the fallen race.Ms 53, 1890, par. 48–59+1 Cain brought a sacrifice without the shedding of blood and according to his own ideas, refusing God's requirement and lacking only the lamb, while Abel in faith followed God's injunction, obeyed direction and offered the firstlings of his flock, the best offering as a symbol of the Lamb slain, which God accepted, with Abel's reminder of God's direction provoking Cain's anger.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24+3 By faith Abel's more excellent sacrifice obtained witness that he was righteous, and being dead he yet speaks, while Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant and His sprinkled blood speak better things than Abel and must not be refused.Ms 104, 1897, par. 10–12

The verse sets the principles of Christ against the principles of Satan, and calls each person to know on whose side he stands, whether on the side of the adversary to which Cain belonged or on the side of Christ who kept His Father's commandments.Ms 31, 1903, par. 9+1 That decision is to be made plain at baptism.Lt 11, 1900, par. 27 Those who may become sons and daughters of God are to walk uprightly in a crooked and perverse generation and to display that contrast.Ms 31, 1903, par. 9

God's workers must reject Cain's violent spirit, for Cain was the violent one in acting against plainly stated will and refusing to acknowledge authority, while Abel was obedient.Lt 22, 1895, par. 2–5 They must never answer opposition with violence, retaliation, or harsh accusations, but show meekness, submission, kindness and the tenderness of Christ, even permitting injustice rather than fighting back.Lt 22, 1895, par. 2–5 Hatred from the world should not surprise believers, because the same hostile spirit seen in Cain was later directed against Christ and continues in opposition against obedient people.Lt 22, 1895, par. 2–5

Love does not compromise with sin but flows from loving God supremely and neighbor as self.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24 Cain stands as the opposite of brotherly love, an example not to follow, for he killed his brother from jealousy cruel as death because his own works were evil and his brother's were righteous.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24 Christians are therefore called to refuse Cain-like jealousy and hatred and instead to love the brethren as Christ loved, losing sight of self and even laying down life for them, bringing the best offering as a symbol of the Lamb slain.Ms 41, 1890, par. 20–24

Brotherly love must be shown in deeds and in truth, since hatred and evil conduct oppose it.Ms 8a, 1888, par. 13–15 Personal religion tells in its influence and in personal deeds.11MR 372.3 The soul surrendered to God and kept from evil will have a life full of goodness, love, and truth.11MR 372.3

The verse is to be studied and practiced and shown by faith in daily life.Ms 31, 1903, par. 9 Teachers and workers are to learn Christ's meekness and lowliness so His yoke is easy and His burden light, witnessing to keeping grace by faithful, joyful service.Ms 31, 1903, par. 9 They are to put sacred fire in the censer and use no common fire, to speak no harsh passionate rash word that could ruin a soul but to speak as Christ spoke with courtesy and respect, and to keep hereditary and cultivated tendencies under control while character is daily refined, sanctified and purified, because such teaching shapes present and future happiness.Ms 31, 1903, par. 9

The well-doer, the obedient man, does not war against the transgressor of God's law.Ms 136, 1899, par. 12–13+1 The opposite of loving one another is seen in Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous, and the same Cain spirit working in the children of disobedience has grown strong in the world, leading men to accuse, condemn, imprison, and put fellow men to death.Ms 136, 1899, par. 12–13 Those who do not respect holy law oppress and persecute their fellow men, following Satan as leader and accuser of God and of those made perfect through obedience, while Cain and Abel stand as the two parties of the obedient righteous and the disobedient wicked that will exist till the close of this earth's history.Ms 136, 1899, par. 11 Transgressors of plain commands, inspired by Satan's spirit, have no right to injure bodies because of religious faith, and those who pass sentence of pain and death for differing belief, exalting man-made laws and using cruel inventions to compel blasphemy, will have the same sentence passed on them, proving they would reject and put Christ to death if He came again as before.Ms 136, 1899, par. 12–13