December 6, 2023

Genesis 3: 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (NIV)

I am learning to view sins not as an arbitrary list of rules drawn up by a cranky Judge, but rather as a list of dangers that must be avoided at all costs—for our own sakes.*

Bible colleges back in the 1970s had lots of rules for their students. At my school, there was a “forbidden stairway” that ran between the boys’ section of the dorm and the girls’ section. Our rooms all opened to the outside but this stairway was enclosed, thus making it just a little too private for the comfort of the administration whose goal was to protect its co-eds from temptation. The thing is, there was nothing evil about that particular set of stairs, and going up and down them was not a sin – until there was a rule against it.

The same might be said about the special tree in the Garden of Eden. There was nothing evil about eating fruit from any other tree in the garden (Genesis 2: 16), but one particular tree was forbidden. When God made the rule, eating that fruit became a sin. Activities which are not sinful in themselves become wrong when laws are imposed or when performed outside of biblical parameters for appropriate behavior. Driving fast is not against God’s law but it becomes a sin when you break man’s laws against it. Sex is blessed by God in marriage but is a sin in any other setting. Did you grow up being told it was wrong to run in the “church house”? Well, it is if there’s a rule against it!

We live in a world of rules and laws. Man-made laws formulated for my protection might inconvenience you, and some rules arise from unworthy motives, but when God says, “Don’t eat the fruit from that tree,” he is not being arbitrary or capricious. God’s laws are for the good of all. No matter what Satan might whisper in your ear . . .

In an orderly society, it’s essential to limit some liberties for the common good.*