Genesis
3:11 ¶ And he said, Who told thee that
thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that
thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man
said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I
did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto
the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat.
Adam and Eve,
before this, knew no significance to being naked. There was nothing shocking or
shameful about their natural state. The first couple not only knew no shame but
walking around naked was not remarkable at all. The realization that there was
some importance about their state of undress did not come about until they had
disobeyed God. Sin might make a person more knowledgeable, even though it won’t
make them wiser until they suffer its dreadful consequences.
Then God requires
an honest answer from Adam, which He does not get. There is no falling on the
knees pleading for forgiveness here. There is only passing the blame to Eve and
then even to God Himself. Here is a prime example of not taking responsibility
for your actions, a choice mankind will suffer from for thousands of years
afterward.
The woman also
plays the pass the blame game and there is a clear warning here for us. I
cannot blame Satan for my sin. I know what is wrong so my being tricked into
something is not an excuse. As an example, many people are scammed by a desire
to get rich without expending any effort or thought. Their own wickedness
brings them down as the person or persons who deceived them merely reveal their
sinful state.
Clearly, Adam and
Eve had free will. The capacity to sin was always there because they had free
will but the willingness to sin was only revealed when Satan exposed a human
desire for certain things, mainly the three things mentioned earlier; the lust
of flesh and eyes, and pride. We desire to see certain things, to experience
certain things, and to boast of certain things, all of which destroy us in the
end.
Were Adam and Eve
created sinners or sinless? Clearly, Satan didn’t impart sin to them as he only
revealed the capacity in them. Christian fundamentalist leaders like to add
layer upon layer on what sin is in order to control their congregations; to
serve them and to follow their convictions. But they often take us away from
God’s clearer messages. Adam and Eve were born with the capacity to sin,
revealed by Satan. But it took them to willfully disobey God for them to be
blamed.
Before a person
hears of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to satisfy God’s wrath against sin and
trusts in His resurrection for salvation here are the conditions God lays out
as spoken by Peter referring to a Roman who had not yet heard of redemption
through Christ.
Acts
10:34 ¶ Then Peter opened his mouth, and
said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
These will hear
Christ. God will somehow provide them with some level of truth by which their
belief will be tested. If they reject what Jesus said about Himself, and the
following verse defines what it means to believe on by way of parallel
phrasing, while the verse after it reveals what Jesus said about Himself;
John
3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him.
John
14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me….9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
….or
if they believe what Christ said and in His resurrection;
Acts
16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Romans
10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh
thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we
preach; 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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed.
…their salvation
is predicated upon belief in Christ, what He said and what He did. Damnation is
predicated upon rejecting Christ, thereby disobeying God. God loved you at the Cross
and He loves you now if you will believe Him and be given faith. He is furious
if you reject the offer of amnesty He presented to you out of that love. This
has nothing to do with what branch of Christianity you are in, your
denomination, any creed, or your church attendance, your giving, or how pious
and spiritual you pretend to be.
The moment you,
knowing there is a God and that He has claims on you, choose to reject the free
gift of salvation you have chosen disobedience and are condemned until or
unless you are given the opportunity again to believe.
The moment you
receive Christ you are forever beyond condemnation. Praying a 1-2-3 prayer in
an emotionally charged church meeting is not proof of your salvation. Proof of
the Holy Ghost’s indwelling is clearly stated.
Galatians
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of
vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
And your religion
is not simply how many people you have gotten to repeat the prayer because they
feel terribly guilty for letting their mother down, or their family, or
depressed because their lives are trashed by sin, a feeling which can leave at
the next good time or happy feeling. This has been the dogma of fundamentalism
since Dwight L. Moody and Billy Sunday.
But your religion, the expression of your faith is;
James
1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before
God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their
affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
And
you are called to a specific attitude and hope;
Titus
2:11 ¶ For the grace of God that
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works.
Do not commit the
fundamentalist and Eve’s error by adding to God’s commands or Satan’s and the
religious liberal’s error by denying it is true;
Deuteronomy
4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which
I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the
commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
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