Gen. 1:3 versus Gen. 3:1
Part 1
The apostle John said of himself and of all the apostles, “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6)
False teaching is easily identified in this way. If I teach what the apostles taught, I am “of God”. If I alter their words, I am “of Satan”. We must know what the Bible teaches well enough that when we hear some strange teaching we can compare what is said with what the Bible says. Just like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
It is not a matter of how great a thing a person may do, how much sacrifice they may make, of how much persecution they may suffer, but whether they honor God by taking care to follow His commands. The Bible is filled with examples whereby when man obeyed the will of God “fully” (Numbers 14:24), he received God’s blessings, and other occasions where he fell short of “full” obedience he suffered for it.
When God had made man, He said, “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)
God gave a two part instruction…man was to work the garden and keep it and he was not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. No where do we see any indication that Adam and Eve failed to do what God told them to do but we do have record of their failure to respect God in regard to that which they were NOT to do.
We all know the story of Eve’s temptation. She knew God’s instructions. She knew that God had told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for she stated God’s instructions to Satan in Genesis 3:2-3. The fact that God had spoken was not enough. She listened to Satan who, by his words did what ALL false teachers do yet today. He spoke to Eve in terms of what God MEANT by what He said. This was the perversion! What makes preaching false is when it offers man’s wisdom/logic on what God MEANT by what He said rather than quoting what God stated or commanded on a particular subject. By this means, people are deceived into reasoning as Eve did. They do not think it wise to obey God’s commands, but view His commands as restrictive and depriving them of happiness. Listening to Satan, Eve began to weigh the matter for herself. Eve resorted to her own thinking in the matter, thereby ignoring God’s command. This was her fatal mistake and one that is still being made by many today. She made a decision; she chose to believe Satan’s words and in doing so, she removed God from ruling her life.
The facts given to her in regard to the fruit were correct. It was good for food; it was delightful to the eyes and it would make her wise to know good and evil. She exchanged God’s instructions for her own reasoning which man has been doing ever since. How often do we hear people today justify some practice in rejecting some portion of God’s Word as “this is just a little thing,” admitting that they are not following the will of God in the strictest interpretation but reasoning that “surely this will be all right,” or “this is just as good.” What does “this is just as good” really mean? What is just as good as what? It means that man’s idea is just as good as God’s teaching on the point in question, that man’s wisdom is just as good as God’s wisdom. This was Eve’s mistake!
What did she do? She merely took a piece of fruit and ate it and gave it to her husband and he ate. Can you think of an act less offensive? Can you think of an act that would be less degrading? Then why was it such a terrible thing to do? The magnitude of this wrong cannot be measured by our evaluation of the act itself. It can only be measured correctly when God’s word is taken into consideration. From that standpoint what had Eve done? She had replaced God’s teaching by her own decision in the matter, and in so doing; she had dethroned God and enthroned herself or her judgment. When we exchange our reasoning for God’s will, we sin! Adam also listened to someone other than God…his wife. Adam’s sin was not in listening to his wife, but in “hearkening” to the voice of his wife. He obeyed what he knew was different than what God had commanded. Because of their sin, Adam and Eve were separated from God. So likewise are all separated (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 3:23).
The only way we honor God is thru full obedience to His commands. Saving faith obeys. James 2:14-26 is clear is stating that faith apart from obedience is dead. Likewise, partial obedience does not suffice. Today, God has spoken unto us by His Son (Heb. 1:2). The teaching God has given to us through his Son must be respected as fully and carefully as the teaching God gave to Adam and Eve.
The apostle Paul wrote to Corinth, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Cor. 11:3) He also warned the Galatians, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Gal. 1:8-9)
RDB
copyright 2011
copyright 2011
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