I watched a stray cat track down and capture a small bird yesterday, and after playing with it in a way that only cats seem to be able to do, it killed it and then consumed it. I watched sin in action yesterday.
It is called by most the way of nature, the natural order of life and death, but it is sin, or at least the result of it. “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.” (Gen. 3:18) The cat is not sinning in the eyes of the Lord, it is acting on instinct, that which every animal since the fall has been gifted with by the Lord, the things that are to be for each particular species, for His pleasure and glory.
Today wolves are not laying down with lambs, (Isaiah 11:6) they pursue, kill and eat, when they are found in zoos, they are not fed grass, but the flesh of dead animals. For us to say that this is not the way that the Lord intended things to be would be incorrect, in fact, that would be a sin, for God is Sovereign, He does not make mistakes. It is why the account of the flood in the days of Noah can be difficult to discern, along with the days that we are living in now. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5)
Why make them and allow them to live if you are just going to drowned them all, what’s the purpose, why not just continuously punish those who do wrong, who are evil, are we not told to do just that in Ecclesiastes 8:11, to remove the evil person from us so that others will see and not be emboldened to do the same?
When the lion no longer seeks prey, but eats hay and grass, will birds still eat bugs? Will fish still eat other fish, if there is no sin, but instinct in these animals, will many carnivores still feed on flesh?
Free will is not instinct, man does not possess one iota of instinct, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) All that man does, unless he is forced by others in any various, different means, he does of his own free will, hence the words, “without excuse.” It did not matter if Eve was deceived, beguiled if you prefer, it was still her fault, she had been “informed of the rules.”
Sin is disobedience to the Word of God, and every single person ever born, save for those whose mind is retarded, damaged from birth, knows of this disobedience, the Word of God is clear in this area. What of those who have never heard the Word? That is in the hands of the Lord, we can only guess, and our guess would probably be wrong.
We can never be perfectly free from sin in this life, but we must also never use the grace that we have as an advantage, (1 Peter 2:16) we are caught, as it were, between submitting freely to the Holy Spirit, and attempting by our own free will, to behave according to what the Scriptures command, we are to exercise that which we have been given. The proof of this poorly written statement is in Luke 17:10, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” An unprofitable servant only does what he is told, those who do more, by their own free will then are profitable.
The cat capturing and killing the bird is neither profitable nor unprofitable, it simply is, the servant of God who attempts to glorify his master by going a little further with Him is profitable, those who do not, well, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” (Romans 2:11) The choices you make; you will be held accountable for.