Does God show respect to certain persons? Genesis 4:5
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Genesis 4:3 - 5
ESV - 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. 4 And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering.
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Asked February 26 2020
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Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
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Tim Maas
Supporter
I would say that God shows respect (that is, partiality or distinction) with regard to people in some ways, but not in others. On the "no respect" side, God shows no respect between people with regard to their innate righteousness, since all humans are universally tainted by sin (Romans 3:23). He therefore makes no distinction among those who attempt to be reconciled to Him solely through their own actions, since none of those actions can attain the holiness that He requires. In addition, He shows no respect to the material or surface criteria by which humans make distinctions among themselves, such as ethnicity, wealth, social class, physical appearance, or intelligence (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11). However, He does show a distinction between those who (in response to the Holy Spirit's prompting) recognize their spiritually lost condition and avail themselves of the means that God has provided to address it (by faith in Jesus' atoning death and resurrection), and those who do not. In my opinion, this is illustrated by Abel's offering being accepted because it indicated his understanding of the necessity of a blood sacrifice to deal with sin, while Cain's offering did not.
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