I do not say that an unaccountable child, a baby, is condemned to Hell. I do not believe that. I believe that ". . . as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). I believe that the dear Lord Jesus has paid for all of Adam's sin and that no one goes to Hell because of the inherited taint of sin. I think little children are kept safe until they come to know right from wrong and come to choose sin for themselves and then they must personally turn to Christ and be born again or go to Hell. But it is a fact, nevertheless, that "they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (Ps. 58:3) and that every child born has the taint of sin inbred. - John R. Rice [Genesis, pg. 143]
"I would say to every poor sinning man and woman in the world, that the only remedy God has for any os us is that we look to the Lord Jesus Christ and let His righteousness take the place of our sinfulness. Let God count us righteous for Jesus' sake even as He counted Jesus a sinner and let Jesus die on the cross! God would clothe us with the garments of salvation and with the robe of righteousness, even as He covered Adam's and Eve's nakedness with garments of skins from innocent animals. - John R. Rice [Genesis, pg. 148]
"The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," says the Scripture. Many have supposed that that meant Christ's crucifixion. No, it means more than that. It is true that the garments of skin picture the crucifixion and the righteousness of Christ which is imputed to us when we trust Him, because He bore our sin on the cross. But the time when Christ will bruise the serpent's head points to the Second Coming, and not only to the first. For in Romans 16:20 we are told, "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. . . ." - John R. Rice [Genesis, pg. 148]
What was the mark on Cain? I do not know. Perhaps some physical mark or scar or identification. We are not told what it was. It was not a matter of race. No race on the earth is more descended from Cain than others for everybody in the world descended from Noah, after the flood.
Later [Gn. 9] God will establish human government. Now [Gn. 4] there has been no recognized government to put Cain to death and no one is authorized to do it. He goes away from the presence of God and godly people, into the land of Nod. He knows that men will despise him as a murderer. They will not be allowed to kill him because of the mark that is upon him. - John R. Rice [Genesis, pg. 158]
"Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.' He had married, no doubt, one of his sisters, or a niece. Adam had lived, after Seth was born, "eight hundred years: and. . .begat sons and daughters (Gen. 5:4). The race was young. There were not the accumulated curses on individuals brought by individual sin. So in those early centuries Abraham could marry his half-sister and Jacob his cousins, Leah and Rachel, without harm. But later inbreeding by those who are close kin would multiply the chances of retardation and physical handicaps. But in this case the only way for Cain and Seth to marry was with their own sisters. - John R. Rice [Genesis, pg. 158-159]
It is important to see that Abel was saved exactly as we are. So Acts 10:43 says about Jesus. "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Remember that Abel was himself a prophet, the first of the prophets, according to Jesus, in Luke 11:51, and this is the Gospel he believed and witnessed to, with all the prophets. He knew no other plan of salvation than Jesus and faith in Him! - John R. Rice [Genesis, pg. 162]
To be a prophet means to speak for God, in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is made clear in a number of Scriptures. In Acts 2:17, 18 Peter quotes from Joel, chapter 2: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. . . . And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy."
Acts 10:43 tells us that prophets all give witness to Christ and that one who believes and trusts in Him is saved.
In I Corinthians 14:23 and 24, Paul was inspired to say that if all spoke with foreign languages, "and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all." A prophet might speak to a congregation, and sometimes did, but sometimes to an individual. The prophecy may involve foretelling the future but not necessarily so. A prophet is one who speaks for God in the power of God. So Hebrews 1:1 tells us that "God. . .at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets." - John R. Rice [Genesis, pg. 162]
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