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Why Did God Allow Adam and Eve to Sin?
email | April 16, 2008 | Billy Graham

Posted on 04/15/2008 10:31:33 PM PDT by perfect stranger

Why Did God Allow Adam and Eve to Sin? By Billy Graham, Tribune Media Services Q: Why did God allow Adam and Eve to sin? He must have known what they were going to do, and it seems to me that it would've been better if He had just stopped them. The world was already perfect, so why didn't God keep it that way? I've always wondered about this. -- R.M.

A: The opening chapters of the Bible tell us what happened when Adam and Eve committed the first sin -- but they don't tell us exactly why God allowed it to happen. We must be careful, therefore, not to blame God for something that is ultimately beyond our understanding.

At the same time, the Bible does tell us two very important truths about Adam and Eve's sin. First, it tells us that they were completely free to love God -- or to reject Him. In other words, they weren't robots! God's warning was clear: "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17).

But what if they had been robots -- that is, what if they didn't have any will of their own, and all they could do was love God? Then their "love" for God wouldn't have been love at all -- because love always involves a choice or a decision on our part. God took a great risk in creating them with a free will -- but only then could their love for Him be real.

The other truth the Bible tells us, however, is that while sin's consequences were great -- God's love is even greater. The proof is that He sent His only Son into the world so we could have our sins forgiven. Have you turned to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness and new life you need?


TOPICS: Ecumenism; Evangelical Christian; Moral Issues; Theology
KEYWORDS: billygraham
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As a developing Christian, I hadn't thought to ask that question.
1 posted on 04/15/2008 10:31:33 PM PDT by perfect stranger
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To: perfect stranger

Read “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis.


2 posted on 04/15/2008 10:34:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (McCain could never convince me to vote for him. Only Hillary or Obama can!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’ve been meaning to but haven’t yet.


3 posted on 04/15/2008 10:41:43 PM PDT by perfect stranger (Nobama)
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To: perfect stranger
I been a cradle Catholic all my life and it only occurred to me a few weeks ago when it was discussed at a seminar about the Bible.

It's a good question, but like so many things, I'm afraid the answer is beyond our understanding.

4 posted on 04/15/2008 10:44:24 PM PDT by incredulous joe
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To: perfect stranger

http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/penetrating_questions_from_the_book_of_job


5 posted on 04/15/2008 10:52:45 PM PDT by LucyJo (One of Brad's Gramma's 'people'...but, she has disclaimer rights on my posts. ; ))
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To: MHGinTN

PING


6 posted on 04/15/2008 10:54:03 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: perfect stranger

Imagine a sinless life, wherein we’d be like plants.


7 posted on 04/15/2008 11:08:00 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: perfect stranger

I’ve always enjoy reading Billy Graham.


8 posted on 04/15/2008 11:11:21 PM PDT by boycott
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To: incredulous joe
Why allow sin...God made us in his image, with free will...if he took away our ability to make mistakes and to accept him by our own will, we would only be a toy in his earthly playground...the Tree of Knowledge was put their in the Garden to do just what it did...give man an option to accept his teaching and love him unconditionally just as he does those who believe...
God already knew man would sin, and make choices that where not best for him...
9 posted on 04/15/2008 11:20:25 PM PDT by Turborules
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To: incredulous joe

No, it’s not beyond your understand. The Bible clearly says, “It has been given unto you to know the mysteries and secrets of the Kingdom.”

What that tells you is that God has given you the ability to know and understand .. beyond your own human understanding. It’s one of the gifts you receive when you receive Jesus as your Savior.

Salvation means: Safety, soundness, preservation, healing, deliverance and provision.

God has supplied everything for us already .. the secret is learning how to operate in it.


10 posted on 04/15/2008 11:23:04 PM PDT by CyberAnt (Yon: "The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq.")
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To: perfect stranger
The incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection were not plan B. God intended from the outset to demonstrate to creation his inestimable love for mankind. Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. It is the final step of creation, that mankind, made aware once again of his utter dependence on God for salvation, receives joyfully that salvation

. Without that knowledge of his need for salvation, and without experiencing the grace that permits him to long for salvation, mankind cannot have his will conformed to God, except for by a brute force which attains conformation without love; therefore God permitted us to sin so that we may rejoice in salvation and love him in gratitude made possible only through grace.

This gift, enabling us to love out of friendship and not mere obey out of servility, is at such a precious cost: that God himself has taken upon himself all our pains and great humility and allowed us to sin. Thus, in full awareness of the horror and injustice of sin, the Church is yet able to proclaim at Easter in the ancient mass the paradoxical refrain, Oh happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin
to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night when the pillar of fire
destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is the night when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin
and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night when Jesus Christ
broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?

Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave
you gave away your Son.

O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

That prayer is used in Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran Easter liturgies. Or if you prefer a Calvinist source, here is Paradise Lost by Milton:

O Goodness infinite, Goodness immense!
That all this good of evil shall produce,
And evil turn to good; more wonderful
Than that which by creation first brought forth
Light out of darkness! Full of doubt I stand,
Whether I should repent me now of sin
By me done, and occasioned; or rejoice
Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring;
To God more glory, more good-will to Men
From God, and over wrath grace shall abound.


11 posted on 04/15/2008 11:38:23 PM PDT by dangus
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To: Tennessee Nana
There was a fishing village where men and their sons took to the sea to net fish for a month then return to market the catch. The caught fish were kept alive in a 'wet well' of the boat, Because they were in the wet well for a lengthy time, much of the catch would degrade and be of little market value.

But one fisherman always had excellent healthy fish to market. Years rolled by and the fisherman died and his son took over the boat. The other fishermen of the village came aboard to ask how the father had always had such healthy fish to market.

The son said not a word, but opened the cover of the wet well. In the dim interior water a very large sea catfish was seen cruising the wet well.

The other fishermen were astonished at the sight and asked 'why a fisherman would keep such a monster in the wet well, didn't it eat some of the catch each trip?'

The new captain smiled and replied that it did eat many of the catch, but the ones not eaten kept swimming to keep from being eaten and thus the exertion kept them healthier than non-active fish. Evil works sort of like that. The Devil gets many, but the ones he doesn't get keep mindful of the Salvation God arranges by His Grace and they revert to it often and with humble hearts ... they keep movin'.

12 posted on 04/15/2008 11:40:44 PM PDT by MHGinTN (Believing they cannot be deceived, they cannot be convinced when they are deceived.)
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To: incredulous joe
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. A little later the Scriptures tell us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Everything that was made, was made by Jesus Christ. It was His idea from the beginning. He did it for Himself. He also knew that we would fall and made arrangements, from the foundation of the world to "fix it". The angels that followed Satan fell from heaven and are now demons and there is no salvation for them. The angels long to look into our salvation. They don't understand why Jesus did what he did for creatures that are created LESS than angels. The Scripture tells us the WE will judge the angels in the end. If angels that live with God don't understand why God does things, then why would we know the mind of God? The depths of Gods love for us is boundless. He determined to love us enough to die for us when we were created. How many husbands and fathers would willingly without flinching lay down their lives for their loved ones? There are many that would claim to do so, but look at the child abuse today and divorce rates. I hardly think they would die for them if they are abusing them or abandon them. If it was so common, why is it news when we hear of a father giving a kidney transplant to a family member? This is why our love is required for our soldiers no matter what you think of the war.

Many people cry out for justice when they see wrong, but we must remember that if the perp gets justice, what would you do if you got justice? We are all sinners and fall short of the Glory of God, yet he loves us unconditionally. We all deserve judgment, yet we get Grace and Mercy. God determined to love Adam and Eve from the Creation. He showed his wrath at the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. There are sheep and goats, wheat and tares. If you are His, you are His child, adopted into His family. You get the fatted calf, His ring, and a party, even after you have messed up big time. If you are not His, then you have an eternity of Hell in front of you. You would think it would be an easy choice, yet how many love God as He loves us? You must abandon you love of self and serve a loving God that only wants the best for you. For some, that is too great a price.

Exploring the mystery of Gods love will take an eternity. Exploring ourselves is easy. Our righteousness is as a stench in His nostrils and as filthy rags to Him. If we accept Jesus as our Savior and serve Him, then God only sees the righteousness of Jesus when He looks at us. Our debt has been paid in full.

One thing I learned a long time ago about pondering God is we should read the Scriptures and believe them without question. As humans, we tend to try to mix OUR emotions into the story. We don't think like God. We are unable to think like God. The Bible is a love letter from the one who loves us without measure. Take it and don't dress it up with a bunch of emotional claptrap. That is why we have babies being murdered, because we want to be "nice" to women that have committed fornication, and "nice" to homosexuals that seem nice when we meet them. The mother can be saved if she repents, as well as the homosexual, but they don't want to. So we are the ones that bend instead of the sinner. When God said not to eat of the fruit of the tree, He meant don't do it. Some think Adam and Eve "got away with it", because he didn't fry them on the spot. He shed the blood of animals to cover their sin, and they died to Him spiritually that day and they were forever separated from Him. Sarah didn't listen to God and we got the Muslims out of that. Jonah didn't listen to God and he got quite a ride. We can talk ourselves into many things, but Scripture is pretty plain and should be looked at pretty much without emotions clouding our judgment. Satan can "talk" you into almost anything with his lies.

The lesson from Adam and Eve is one lapse of judgment can mess up a bunch of stuff. We are the ones that choose to submit to God's will or rebel. God has it worked out and has had it worked out from the beginning. There is no plan "B". We just need to accept what was said and done, as is.

13 posted on 04/16/2008 2:01:32 AM PDT by chuckles
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To: chuckles

Good post. There’s an interesting study in theology regarding our Lord’s lament as He looked over Jerusalem when they received Him not. It very well concludes that Israel could have received Him, thereby ushering in the Millenium at that time. Had that happened, a number of things may have occurred, but Prophecy still would have been fulfilled, just in a different fashion.


14 posted on 04/16/2008 2:17:36 AM PDT by Cvengr (Fear sees the problem emotion never solves. Faith sees & accepts the solution, problem solved.)
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To: perfect stranger

—An object lesson for all Creation . . .

about the wages of sin

And God’s Justice triumphed by God’s Mercy and Love . . .

No more heavenly rebellions a la satan are entertained in the least.

All Creation is expectd to emphatically “get it” this go around.

Evil and rebellion are deadly. Only Loving God brings and allows life.


15 posted on 04/16/2008 2:43:22 AM PDT by Quix (GOD ALONE IS GOD; WORTHY; PAID THE PRICE; IS COMING AGAIN; KNOWS ALL; IS LOVING; IS ALTOGETHER GOOD)
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To: Turborules
Why allow sin...God made us in his image, with free will...if he took away our ability to make mistakes and to accept him by our own will, we would only be a toy in his earthly playground...

Amen!
http://www.freewill-predestination.com/
16 posted on 04/16/2008 2:50:28 AM PDT by Proverbs 3-5
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To: perfect stranger

he did it to teach Satan a lesson, and the angels that fell with him

that flawed, imperfect humans could learn to follow God through faith, instead of sight which Satan had

Satan and the angels saw, spoke with, and heard from God face to face. When they sinned, they did such a stupid thing, God taught them just how wrong they were by using imperfect created beings, humans, to show His love

Humans respond by faith. To show love to people who never even saw God, that proves God is love


17 posted on 04/16/2008 3:56:53 AM PDT by RaceBannon (Innocent until proven guilty; The Pendleton 8: We are not going down without a fight)
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To: perfect stranger
Moses penned Genesis hundreds of years after the fact. Other prophets fill in the blanks regarding this event. So the Christian does not get the big picture just by reading these words alone.

Ezekiel 28:12 addresses the devil by calling him king of Tyrus. Ezekiel says that in verse 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; yet Moses says not one word regarding the creation of Lucifer and his role of the anointed cherub that covereth. Yet Moses calls this entity the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden and then labels him the serpent.

Now what knowledge did this proverbial tree have as Adam and Eve were NOT the only two involved in the sin.

Isaiah 14:12 gives more information regarding Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick;

therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in sight of all them that behold thee.

The stated purpose Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are *partakers* of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

The devil, serpent, destroyer, king of Tyrus, king of Babylon, accuser, great red dragon, some of the many names/roles the devil has been allowed to play has already been sentenced to death and he will never be allowed to be born of woman.

Adam was a fully grown adult when created with NO knowledge of the Written WORD, only he was given the commandment to NOT touch that tree.... further note God did NOT blame Eve for Adam's sin, Adam is the one who pointed his finger to Eve that woman that God gave him.... Maybe that is why the question gets asked this way Why Did God Allow Adam and Eve to Sin?

18 posted on 04/16/2008 4:31:49 AM PDT by Just mythoughts (Isa.3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.)
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To: perfect stranger
Well, it was quiet a bit later when God told Moses of the 10 commandments. Perhaps he didn't clarify the *rules* for A and E.
19 posted on 04/16/2008 5:00:56 AM PDT by wolfcreek (I see miles and miles of Texas....let's keep it that way.)
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To: perfect stranger

Love is a free-will offering. Without free will, mankind could not truly love God.

JMO.


20 posted on 04/16/2008 5:23:46 AM PDT by MortMan (Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. - Alexander Hamilton)
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