THE LIES OF SIN – PART TWO

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,

Hebrews 3:12-14 (NASB)

SIN MAKES RIGHT LOOK WRONG AND WRONG LOOK RIGHT

²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20 (NASB)

I have found that the first way sin deceives is to make right actions look wrong and wrong actions look right.

We see this in the first act of sin in human history.

⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. ¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; ¹⁷ 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.”

3:1 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’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ 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.’” ⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! ⁵ 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.” ⁶ 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 & 3 selected

God had warned Adam and Adam had warned Eve of the harm that would come from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said they would die if they did so.

The serpent in his desire to harm the couple even repeated the warning -- And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Eve responded with God’s warning -- The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ 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.’”

God did not say they could not touch it but did tell them not to eat it. This is a part of the problem of human response to God’s warnings, we tend to add to them.

Up to this point Eve is okay. But then the deceitfulness of sin begins to work its lies.

It starts with making good look bad and bad look good.

The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! ⁵ 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.”

Eve believed the lie.

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;

She not only went there herself but also took her husband along.

“and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

This is the primary way sin brings us to death. What should be repulsive and horrible to us becomes gloriously beautiful. Then we also promote the lie to others that what will actually kill us will give us life.
 
Next Part - The Lies of Sin Part Three
 
http://leonardterry.blogspot.ca/2013/03/the-lies-of-sin-part-three.html