It seems like every time I turn around, there is another scandal over sexual immorality involving politicians (liberals and conservatives), or Christians (Protestants and Catholics, even pastors), or celebrities.
A good friend and faithful reader of the Bible-Science Guy Blog made this comment in response to one of the recent scandals:
If only “Not Sin” possessed the alluring list of powerful attributes that “Sin” has.
I thought my friend’s remark quite profound!
Why is sin so alluring?
Why isn’t the choice to not sin alluring?
Why isn’t righteousness alluring?
We know why sin is attractive to us today; it’s because of our sin nature inherited from Adam. Mankind naturally gravitates toward sin. It takes regeneration by the Holy Spirit to enable man to resist sin. Even then, it’s a struggle to follow the path of righteousness, and we often stray from it. But thanks be to Yahweh for His grace and forgiveness in restoring us repentant sinners.
As we grow in faith and knowledge of God, righteousness does become more alluring and our distaste for sin grows. But as the Apostle Peter warns, we must always be on the alert, for Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. It’s easy to fall into sin as so many Christian scandals prove.
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:8-11 NASB)
Nevertheless, I wondered:
Why did Adam and Eve, who were created perfect by Yahweh Himself, fall into sin?
Why was eating the forbidden fruit so attractive to the perfect Adam and Eve?
Scripture gives some clues about why Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil from the center of the Garden of Eden:
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6 NASB)
Eve was deceived by the devil:
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:13 NASB)
Eve was fooled by the Serpent’s argument and the innate appeal of the forbidden fruit. But Adam sinned knowingly. He was not deceived about the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil like Eve was.
(1 Timothy 2:14; 2 Corinthians 11:3).
According to the Apostle Paul, Adam’s priority in creation and his not being deceived in the face of Eve’s deception are the reasons that Scripture assigns to men the responsibility for authority and teaching in the church and home.
A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.
(1 Timothy 2:11-15 NASB)
We don’t know why Adam chose to sin by eating the forbidden fruit. We can only speculate about why he chose to disobey Yahweh’s command. Here are some possible reasons, but they are only conjectures.
- Maybe the forbidden fruit appealed to Adam, just as it did to Eve. Maybe its deliciousness attracted him. Maybe he craved the new knowledge he thought it offered.
- Maybe Adam did not think eating the forbidden fruit was as serious as it turned out to be. He knew God had said “No,” but maybe he thought the upside of eating outweighed the downside. Maybe he expected God to brush it off with “No big deal. Just don’t do it again.”
- Maybe Adam ate because he chose the beautiful Eve over God. Adam certainly recognized that Eve had done wrong, and maybe he decided on solidarity with her. Maybe he thought something like this: “Life is not worth living without Eve.”
- Maybe it was simply that Adam listened to Eve and followed her lead without thinking too much about it. This is suggested by the Lord God’s words to Adam after he sinned: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife … Cursed is the ground because of you.” (Genesis 3:17)
Ultimately, it is a mystery why Adam, who knew what he was doing and who did not have a sin nature, deliberately disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit.
It says something about the alluring power of sin and evil that even perfect people fall into sin when tempted.
Therefore it is very important to pray to God the Father as Jesus taught us to pray:
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:13 NASB)
Questions to Ponder
- What would you have enjoyed most about life in Eden?
- Why do you think Adam chose to disobey God and give up Eden?
Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.
Soli Deo Gloria.
This is the seventh of a series of weekly blog articles on Adam.
Read the prequels:
1. Was Adam in the Garden of Eden?
2. Did Moses Believe in Adam?
3. Did Jesus Believe in Adam?
4. Did Paul Believe in Adam?
5. Does Belief in Adam Matter?
6. Adam and Puppies
Read the sequels:
8. What Should Adam Have Done?
9. What Did Adam Cause?
10. What Was Adam’s Forbidden Fruit?
11. How Long Was Adam in Eden?
12. Was Adam’s Garden of Eden Real?
13. Christmas & Adam (with videos)
14. Where Was Adam’s Garden of Eden?
15. Did Adam Wear Clothes in Eden?
16. Was Adam Backward or Brilliant? (with video)
17. Who Was Mrs. Adam?
18. Adam’s Dream Girl
19. Adam’s Prolific Princess
20. Adam’s Problematic Princess
21. How Many Children Did Adam Have?
22. Whom Did Adam’s Sons Marry?
23. Did Adam Ride a Unicorn?
24. How Long Did Adam Live?
25. Did Adam Swat Mosquitoes in Eden?
26. Did Adam’s Garden Have a Talking Snake?
27. Why Should Adam’s Sin Affect Me?
28. Did Roses Have Thorns in Adam’s Garden?
29. Adam the Image-Bearer & Harambe the Gorilla
30. Did Adam Ever Return to Eden?
31. What Was Adam’s Tree of Life?
32. Will Adam Be in Heaven?
33. Did Adam See the Big Dipper?
34. Did Adam Know Earth Is Round?
35. Did Jesus Say When Adam Was Created?
36. Did Adam See Dinosaurs?
37. Did Adam Like Steak?
38. Could Adam Read & Write?
39. Did God Use Evolution to Make Adam?
40. Adam & the Olympics
41. Adam and the Gospel
42. Adam and the Genesis Road
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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday November 4, 2015 A.D.
The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 2:16; 3:1-6)
Bible-Science Guy 
Bill,
Well done.
A few decades ago, it was pointed out in a Christian teaching that the Devil’s lie that “you can be like God” before the first sin occurred, is a likely motivator for many of man’s sin. I have observed over the years how often this vain human desire “fits” as a possible motive for the actual sins of others and for myself. It does not take much imagination to realize that “To be like God” can take many forms in the heart of man; sadly many are wicked. Of course, the wicked interpretations imply a doubt by the sinner about the almighty and good attributes of God.
We are not told if this temptation by Satan motivated Eve to sin, and it is not clear if Adam heard or knew of this temptation, but I suspect that being human, Adam innately possessed such a desire, and with his unfettered free will, even while perfect, he chose to act against the commands of God. Simply just that desire “To be like God”, whether he heard it from Satan, Eve, or not at all, may have been the reason he sinned too.
Thanks for this series on Adam, and for making it clear how key to the truth of God’s word it is that we know that Adam is a real historical person, and not a myth.
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By: John from Hebron on November 5, 2015
at 11:16 pm
Thanks for reading and for the encouraging comment.
Yes, I agree: “to be like God” is another possible reason behind Adam’s sin.
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By: BibleScienceGuy on November 5, 2015
at 11:41 pm
Maybe Adam did not understand the difference between physical and spiritual death. Maybe that was the ‘knowledge’ he lacked and God wanted to teach mankind before partaking of the tree of life. Since Eve did not die physically right away maybe Adam thought, ‘ehh’. Little did they know, and little do many today know that day they began to physically die, and there was a judgment. Now creation groans, man alongside it and judgment is coming once and for all. Maybe not well written but I hope reasonable.
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By: Peter on November 10, 2015
at 11:18 am
Eve was the first feminist. She took the fruit because she saw that she would become a God, which would put her over Adam. Well, once she took and ate the fruit her eyes were opened and then she realized satan had lied to her and she is likely to be turned into a pile of ashes. So, she runs over to the other side of the garden was Adam is taking a nap and wakes him and tells him you will probably never be able to make love to me again or snuggle up to me at night after today. Adam is then informed that satan tricked the love of his life into committing suicide. SO, Adam decides that the only thing that can save Eve is for him to do the same thing, hoping God won’t kill her if he had done it also. So, Adam knowing that when he ate the fruit he would make Satan the Lord over this planet went ahead and gave his life and this planet to Satan.
Then centuries later the second Adam (Jesus) gave his life for his bride because of her sin.
Feminist today still have the same gripe and still try to get on a level above men, especially in the Churches. So, when you occasion to review how many organizations (I won’t call them Churches) have women in authority then you will know that they are a product of the original demonic deception used on Eve is still working.
1 Timothy 2:14
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
How can a so-called female Pastor or Teacher teach or preach when they are commanded to keep quiet?????? “Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says. And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.” (NASB, 1 Cor. 14:34-35)
1 Timothy 2:12 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)
12 I allow no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to remain in quietness and keep silence [in religious assemblies].
There are more scriptures but they are all presenting the same commands.
If you take offense to this article I wrote here I would strongly suggest that you seek deliverence from that demonic spirit.
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By: Jim Watts on May 6, 2018
at 2:53 am