Genesis 4:7

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

What the name Homo sapiens means. The name we selected for ourselves means ‘wise human’. Homo is the Latin word for ‘human’ or ‘man’ and sapiens is derived from a Latin word that means ‘wise’ or ‘astute’. Source; Google Search

Rather than going all the way back to original sin let us take the issue of being human after the fall. 

Here is an aspect of being human that I am sure we can all relate to in our own lives, overlooking details.

What I have failed to see in all my studies is the simplest of terms, God gave us rule over sin. This is where the self-naming issue of homo sapien comes into play. We think of ourselves as wise.

We call ourselves human beings rather than homo sapien. We literally are being human without giving any thought to ruling over si,. until it is brought to our attention. Humans are capable of resisting temptation.

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Our humanity will likely cry out “But Jesus is God, I am but human!”

While true, it was His humanity that resisted sin and ruled over it, not His deity. 

We cannot go back to original sin and decide how to resist the serpent. We have to accept what God told Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” It is in the being that determines if we are wise in how we deal with sin. How will we ever answer for all that we have done in not ruling over sin in our lives wisely?

1 John 4:17

By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

Are we wise enough to understand how love is perfected with us?

Are we wise humans or just being human?

Acts 9:1

The Conversion of Saul

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

Acts 23:2

And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.

Acts 23:5

And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

I was reading an article by bible scholars who were speculating about Paul’s thorn in the flesh. They were using the argument that Paul had some sort of trouble with his eyes. They quoted these verses as justification by saying he couldn’t see it was the high priest that he had gone to in Acts 9:1.

Then they went on to contradict themselves with the very next comment that Ananias was no longer the high priest and that his son-in-law Caiaphas was then high priest. This leaves us with the impression that high priests retain their title after leaving office, similar to how the President of the United States is always called President after leaving office.

That means by their own argument that the high priest in Acts 9:1 was probably Caiaphas and that Saul had never met Ananias. If that were true then relying on Acts 23:5 as justification for Paul’s thorn in the flesh being eyesight problems is unwarranted.

Human nature has a tendency to allow pride to insert itself in the arena of knowledge. The scriptures tell us that. (knowledge puffs up) Once we earn a degree of notoriety within the church for being someone others can go to for answers, human nature says we want to be respected.

Respect isn’t earned just because we want it.

1 Timothy 6:9

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

The strikethrough to be rich is to indicate that riches are not the only temptation that will weaken our witness.

That is just being human.