Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. - Rom 10:1-4

False religion tends to be made up of man-made rules (Mark 7:5-14). It is often directed towards the one true God, but it seeks to worship Him according to its own terms and ideas. The focus is entirely on externals and no attention is given to the thoughts and desires of the heart (Matt 23:25-28). We find this in the time of Jesus with the Pharisees, Sadducees and teachers of the law (Matt 15:7-9). They thought that they were well pleasing to God with all their made-up rules, traditions and false interpretation of the Scriptures, but all their efforts were rejected by the Son of God as being a lie (Matt 22:29).

You will find these things in many of world religions. In Roman Catholicism you have church traditions that have come in and present themselves as something that God requires. At some point they decided to make Mary a mediator between the person and Jesus, when the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between man and God (1Tim 2:5-6). They pray to the saints and believe that forbidding marriage is something good and holy. They teach these things as being the way to achieve higher levels of holiness, or a higher status with God. The apostle Paul calls them doctrines of demons (1Tim 4:1-5). Many things have been added that were never taught or even mentioned by Jesus or the apostles - all man-made rules and traditions that Christ Jesus condemned in the Pharisees (Matt 23:13-39).

You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 'These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.' - Matt 15:7-9

So then, false religion normally teaches that if you follow certain rules, teachings or traditions then God will be pleased. Cain was the first example of someone practicing false religion. The Bible does not say, but you may find that he was trying to build up credit with God by following his religious rituals, or doing things for the purpose of putting on a show for others to see - there is nothing new under the sun (Matt 23:5-7, Luke 18:11-12).

There was nothing in Cain's religion that humbled him as a wretched sinner before God, nor did he feel the need for grace and mercy from God. When his sacrifices were rejected he became angry, filled with the desire for murder. He was way too proud to see that all his religious efforts were worthless. Bitterness and jealousy filled Cain's soul as he plotted and planned to kill his younger brother Abel, whose sacrifices were acceptable to God. He was a slave to his own lusts, that were dragging him down the path to the eternal fires of hell (Matt 23:33-36).

Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." - John 6:27-29

Those who work hard for God's approval or the approval of other people will always hate those who are resting and trusting in the promises of God. They become jealous when they see others, who appear to be idle, finding acceptance and approval with God while they are so busy striving and working, trying to be moral and religious (Luke 15:25-31).  ¹

The Pharisees, like Cain, were full of restless evil when Jesus walked on this earth. They could never stop trying to set traps for Him (Matt 22:17-22). Like Cain, they did this so they would have an excuse to kill Him (Matt 12:14). When they did kill Jesus (who was raised from the dead on the third day), the nation ended up calling curses down upon themselves (Matt 27:25). They would never find rest and continued on with their murderous desires for the saints  ² (followers of Jesus) as the years went by.

Cain became a restless wanderer on the earth. The land was cursed under his feet and he remained a fugitive for the rest of his life (Gen 4:11-12). There is no rest for the wicked and those who practice false religion will be forever restless, never knowing the blessed Sabbath rest and acceptance with God (Heb 4:9-11). They approach God on the wrong terms with hearts full of vanity and pride (Lev 10:1). With all the painful striving and self-flagellation they put into their religion they expect God to be happy with them, but always end up running into the brick wall of rejection. All their religious efforts are only fuel for the fire (Matt 23:37-39).

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. - Eph 2:8-9

Abel, on the other hand, had a heart of repentance and faith towards God. (The points below are not things that are explicitly mentioned in the Scriptures regarding Abel, but most of them were probably true of him):

◆ He understood that he was a sinner in need of God's mercy and grace (Rom 3:23-26).
◆ His approach towards God was humble, seeking for his large mountain of debt to be forgiven. He needed God to blot out his sins and remove them from him, even as far as the east is from the west (Ps 32:1-2, Ps 103:8-13, Rom 4:6-8).
◆ He needed an atonement sacrifice; a Lamb without blemish and without defect (Isa 53:5-6, 1John 2:2, John 1:29, 1Pet 1:18-21).
He needed someone outside of himself to pay for his sins (Rom 3:19-26, Heb 9:11-15).
◆ He needed the "Seed of the woman" to crush Satan's head (Gen 3:15, Gal 4:4-5, 1John 3:8, Heb 2:14-15).
◆ He knew that he could never work to attain God's approval (Titus 3:3-7).
◆ All his best works were like filthy rags before the holy and perfect God. He needed a gift of righteousness to be given to him, or credited to his account (Rom 4:22-25, 2Cor 5:21).
◆ He had nothing in his hands to give, only a broken spirit and contrite heart (Ps 51:16-17).
◆ He beat his breast and pleaded for mercy. He went home justified by faith, rejoicing in the love and forgiveness of God (Luke 18:13-14, Eph 2:8-9).
◆ The countenance of Cain was downcast and bitter, but the countenance of Abel shone bright like a star in the sky. He was free from all condemnation. He was set free from the law of sin and death (Rom 7:24-8:4) - If God be for him, who could be against him (Rom 8:31-39).
◆ He had rest in his soul and was filled with a joy unspeakable and full of glory (1Pet 1:8-9).

For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, "But the righteous shall live by faith." - Rom 1:16-17

References and Notes