Admit

Believe

Eternal

Life

Abel

This comes from my Brother in Christ, Ed Carson.

He was talking to me about an idea he had about Genesis, and he told me about

ABEL.

Iron Sharpeneth Iron, and the Lord inspired me with the Confess part.

Abel is told in:

Hebrews 11:4

“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which

he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by

it he being dead yet speaketh.”

And look, there's a calling in there.

ABEL DIES.

In Romans 10, BELIEF AND CONFESSING are the two requirements for salvation.

Romans 10:9

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in

thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

What is it for Abel?

He believes, and as a result of that belief, he is killed and then he CRIES OUT

TO GOD.

He believes and confesses!

Genesis 4:10

“And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto

me from the ground.”

Obviously, the Christian cannot die until he gets saved, but the typology is

perfect.

Admit you're a sinner on your way to hell.

Abel admits he needs a sacrifice.

Abel believes.

Believe

Abel, as a RESULT OF BELIEVING, DIES, which leads to him CRYING.

Cry out to God “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with

the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Abel cannot cry without believing, and he can't believe without his blood crying

(otherwise, Cain would not have killed him if he had not made a better

sacrifice).

You cannot believe without confessing or you aren't saved, nor can you confess

without believing.

So, he

Admits he's a sinner (needs sacrifice),

Believes (acting on his belief and sacrifices),

CALLS (Dies).

And then what does Hebrews say about Abel's cry/confession to God?

Hebrews 12:24

“And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,

that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

After he dies and subsequently CRIES OUT TO GOD, the Blood of Jesus Christ does

BETTER things than that of Abel.

So, if Abel admitted he was a sinner on his way to hell WHO NEEDED SACRIFICE

(Christ), believed God, then cried out to God, how does the Blood of Jesus

Christ speak better things?

You admit you're a sinner on your way to hell.

You believe Jesus Christ is God, who died, was buried, and rose again to save

you from that hell.

You cry out to God, asking him to save you, like the Blood of Abel cried out to

God after he died.

How was Abel's blood accessed?

He had to Believe (Sacrifice) and Die, which then cried out to God.

He had to die and admit he was a sinner on his way to hell, and then he cried

OUT to God.

You may say, “Isn't Abel's blood crying out to God spiritual? Some people think

the calling in Romans 10 is spiritual. If you make it physical, it's a work.”

No. Abel's blood is a literal, physical blood on the ground of the earth, like

the mouth confession is a literal mouth confession with your tongue.

“What if you're mute?”

The same applies to the mentally impaired who can't believe. God makes an

exception, but the exception doesn't apply to the general person, unless you

want to teach a universalism where no one has to believe and confess.

The Apostle Paul never specifies about the mentally challenged, or a person who is both blind and deaf and unable to talk or write.

At some point, a child becomes accountable for their actions including sins, correct? What Christian "sect" doesn't agree with that?

What about a toddler with locked-in syndrome that is also mentally challenged? How can he grow up and become accountable?

There are three answers to this.

1. Atheist answer: Paul of Tarsus was a human writer from second temple era Israel, who did not plan for edge cases.

2. Basic Christendom Answer: These are special exemptions (special pleading) that we can infer God's mercy from his nature.

3. ??? answer: They are damned and on their way to hell, as there is nothing on them.

The fact is the Apostle Paul for whatever reason did not actually mention what happens to coma patients, people who cannot comprehend the Bible/mentally disabled, those who are unable to be accountable.

The Bible directly says calling (prayer) which it defines as through the mouth is a vital step of evangelism.

"For there is no need to say, he means, that one must go up to heaven, or cross a great sea, and then receive the commandments, but things so great and grand hath God made of easy access to us. And what meaneth the phrase, 'The Word is nigh thee?' That is, It is easy. For in thy mind and in thy tongue is thy salvation. There is no long journey to go, no seas to sail over, no mountains to pass, to get saved. But if you be not minded to cross so much as the threshold, you may even while you SIT AT HOME BE SAVED. For 'in thy mouth and in thy heart' is the source of salvation." -John Chrysostom, Romans 10:9

"For there is need of both: of true and firm faith, and of confession made with boldness, so that the heart may be adorned with the undoubted character of the faith, and the tongue may shine brightly as it fearlessly proclaims the truth." - Theodoret of Cyrus, Romans 10:9-10

""Just as that was said to them concerning the giving of the law then," he says, "so this also applies to us now concerning the grace through Christ. For he himself added 'that is' (tout' estin) three times to the Mosaic sayings, signifying something like this: that this is the same as if it were said to us that we must not disbelieve either concerning the Savior's descent from heaven or concerning His ascent again from the dead, but having believed with a whole heart, confess the grace with the tongue as well; for doing this, it will happen that salvation through justification will be ours. For he habitually divided 'unto righteousness' and 'unto salvation,' assigning the former to the faith of the heart and the latter to the confession of the mouth, each being suited to each." - Gennadius of Constantinople, Romans 10:6-10

Romans 10:14

“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Early Christians took calling to mean salvation.

"Necessarily he set forth 'those who call upon (ἐπικαλουμένους) him.' For God does not give grace indiscriminately, and to those who do not wish it, he does not supply it so much that they do not at least ask and pray to the benefactor. But lest anyone say that many do not call upon (παρακαλοῦσιν) the Lord Jesus not because of unbelief and ingratitude but because of ignorance, he shows through what follows that God also took away the excuse of their ignorance, sending evangelists and heralds exhorting and calling them to the request for the gift. Therefore he added what follows." - Diodorus of Tarsus/Diodore of Tarsus, Romans 10:11-13

"But Isaiah the prophet, who spake many years ago, that we were to be sent, and to preach, and to say what we do say. If the being saved, then, came of calling upon Him, and calling upon Him from believing, and believing from hearing, and hearing from preaching, and preaching from being sent, and if they were sent, and did preach, and the prophet went round with them to point them out, and proclaim them, and say that these were they whom they showed of so many ages ago, whose feet even they praised because of the matter of their preaching; then it is quite clear that the not believing was their own fault only. And that because God's part had been fulfilled completely." -John Chrysostom, Romans 10:14

"We have despised God, we have hated that good Name, we have trodden Christ under foot, we have lost all reverence, none names the Name of God with honor. Yet if you love any one, even at his name you start to your feet; but God you thus continually invoke, and make nothing of it. Call upon Him for the benefit of your enemy; call upon Him for the salvation of your own soul; then he will be present, then you will delight Him; whereas now you provoke Him to anger. Call upon Him as Stephen did; "Lord," he said, "lay not this sin to their charge." [Acts 7:59] Call upon Him as did the wife of Elkanah, with tears and sobs, and prayers. [1 Samuel 1:10] I prevent you not, rather I earnestly exhort you to it. Call upon him as Moses called upon Him, yea, cried, interceding for those who had driven him into banishment." - John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on the Acts of the Apostles

"He called the salvation of men the wealth of God. For he knows the Master’s loving-kindness. Fittingly he adapted the testimonies to the heart and to the tongue: to the heart, “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed”; to the tongue, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Then he teaches that the Jews have been deprived of salvation of their own will, because they did not wish to receive the preaching that was offered to them. But he does not bring the reproof in an obvious way; instead he manages the argument differently." - Theodoret of Cyrus, Romans 10:12-13.

Here's Theodoret of Cyrus using calling to mean prayer.

"It is fitting that we too continually remember these bonds, and reap the benefit that comes from such remembrance: and to pray indeed that we do not enter into temptation; but if this should happen, to welcome the divine dispensation, to display our own courage, and to call upon divine grace as an ally. For in this way it is possible to fight, to conquer, and to attain the proclamation of victory in Christ; with whom to the Father belongs glory and majesty, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen." - Theodoret of Cyrus, Colossians 4:18