The Garden of Eden was populated with fruit trees, each of which was “pleasing to the eyes and good for food.”  In Genesis 2:16,17 the Lord told His most prized creation that he could eat of every tree of the garden except one–the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Note that He did not prohibit Adam from eating of the Tree of Life.  Adam and Eve could have partaken of the Tree of Life if they had desired to do so.  If they had they would have received the Holy Spirit which was necessary in order to attain salvation.  Nothing has changed.  It is God’s indwelling Spirit that empowers one to obey His commands, thereby qualifying to receive eternal life.  Question: why did Adam and Eve choose to eat of the forbidden tree when they could have eaten of the Tree of (eternal) Life?  It is here that we see the first indication of the “human condition.”  The first humans had free reign over their respective wills.  The choice of whom to obey was theirs to make.  Why did they will to eat the forbidden fruit AFTER BEING TOLD BY THEIR CREATOR THAT DOING SO WOULD CAUSE THEIR DEATHS, WHILE EATING OF THE OTHER TREE WOULD GIVE THEM ETERNAL LIFE IN PARADISE?

And why did the angels who had been assigned to occupy the newly created global paradise God had created for them (earth) choose to rebel against Him?  Apparently, “The Condition” also includes the angelic community.  Note that the angels shouted when they saw the earth the Lord had created expressly for them (Job 38:7).  What would it take to make an angel shout?  The earth had to be an incredible sight.  But living on a global garden wasn’t enough for some of them.  They wanted more.  “The Condition” had raised its ugly head.  The ensuing celestial war resulted in the universe being changed for the worse.  It will remain in that condition until Jesus Christ returns and creates a new heaven, a new earth and a new Jerusalem from which the Godhead and their saints will govern the totality of God’s restored creation.  This perfect universe will have holy ex-humans taking care of it.  Read God’s Very Elect: Future Caretakers of the Universe.  Use “Caretakers” as your key word.

Let us pick up the written narrative at 3:6 where we find Eve looking at the forbidden tree.  Note that though the Tree of (eternal) Life was standing next to the forbidden tree, she completely ignored it.  Unfortunately, our mother only had eyes for what her Creator had denied her, but which the stranger in the garden had made available to her.  The use of the Words–“when she saw”–tells us that Eve had never seen the forbidden tree before that moment.  Having been told by Adam what God had said, she had never approached it.  However, by adding just one word–“not”–to God’s Words, the stranger had convinced her that God had lied.  Now here she was, looking at the forbidden tree and noticing that it looked like all of the other trees.  Like them, it was PLEASANT TO THE EYES AND GOOD FOR FOOD.  At this point in the conversation we find that the Serpent has added a very special element to his description of that specific tree.  He told Eve that “IT WAS GOOD TO MAKE ONE WISE.”  In 3:5 he had explained why God had forbidden her to eat of the tree: “For God knows that when you eat of the tree your (spiritual) eyes will be opened and YOU WILL BE AS GODS, KNOWING (HAVING THE ABILITITY TO DETERMINE) GOOD AND EVIL.”  There it is–the reason she was so intent on eating the forbidden fruit.  Eve wanted to be a god.

Let us understand that Eve did not need to learn what was good and and what was evil.  She already knew that and had voiced it in her conversation with the Serpent.  She had explained to him that “good” meant not eating of the tree and “evil” meant eating of, or touching the tree, which would result in death.  But the Serpent promised her that if she ate of the forbidden fruit  SHE WOULD THEN BE “AS GOD.”  SHE WOULD WOULD BE WISE, THEREBY HAVING THE POWER TO DETERMINE WHAT WAS GOOD AND EVIL.  Sound familiar?  This is the lie all Sinners Saved By Grace have embraced.  They have decided that they can sin, then get Jesus to declare the act “good.”  They believe that, being gods, THIS IS IN THEIR POWER. They prove that what God said about them through the Prophet Isaiah (5:20) is correct.  They call good evil and evil good, sweet bitter and bitter sweet, etc.  They in fact call sin righteousness and righteousness sin and claim to get away with it, thanks to Jesus.  Notice that THEY decide good and evil, not God.

However, the Scriptures tell us that only God can determine good and evil, which He did and then recorded His decrees in His Holy Bible and told His prophets and apostles to tell the people about them.  Sinners Saved By Grace have done what Satan and his fallen angles failed to do–THEY HAVE BECOME GODS.  THEY HAVE REPLACED GOD ON HIS THRONE and told Him to stay out of sight and sound.  But this presents a problem–they know that sinners cannot sit on God’s throne.  Therefore they have ordered Jesus Christ to legitimize their sedition by using His death to turn their acts of sin into acts of righteousness.  Problem solved.  And, according to them, both Gods obey their commands as would any other good servants.

Let us now determine Adam’s part in this catastrophe.  Note that he is not mentioned initially when Eve was looking at the forbidden tree: “And when the WOMAN saw ….” (vs 6).  Note it: Eve alone took of the forbidden fruit and ate of it.  At this point Adam had only seen the tree.  Adam had heard God’s warning, had obviously believed Him, had heard Satan’s pitch and had rejected it.  Then Eve gave him some fruit and “… he ate.”  Why was he now doing what His Creator had commanded him not to do on threat of death?  ADAM SINNED FOR ONE REASON: BECAUSE EVE WANTED HIM TO.  God would later make the reason for his sin clear when He said to him: “Because you have LISTENED TO THE VOICE OF YOUR WIFE ….”  He would be punished severely.  By this act our mother became the first human false prophet.  How?  she had listened to the friendly, smooth-talking, normal looking false god call her Creator a liar.  She had believed him because he told her what she wanted to hear.  She had then persuaded Adam to reject God’s words, believe the Serpent’s words, then follow her example of obeying them.  Eve had convinced Adam that God had lied.  Sound familiar?  This is the message all Catholic and Protestant ministers preach and the example they all set before their Bible-rejecting congregations.  Just as Adam and Eve voluntarily subjugated their respective wills to the Serpent’s will, his false prophets’ do the same to their congregations then feed them what he wants them to “consume.”

What is the allure of Satan’s message?  Why do billions of people answer his call to reject God’s Word?  One word answers the question: POWER.  Satan promises them power to become their own gods, to make their own rules and to concoct a method by which they can turn Scripturally-defined sin into church-defined righteousness.  By following him church people can sin at will and still receive eternal life.  What is not to like about that deal?  Think about it: God’s way is dictated by Him, not man, exalts and glorifies him, not man, and offers no options.  Satan’s way allows one to do whatsoever one wants to do.  AND THE OUTCOME IS THE SAME FOR BOTH WAYS–ETERNAL LIFE.  This explains why so few have the will to embrace God’s way (Mat. 7:13,14).  Why submit to the strict, My-way-only Biblical God when one can have eternal life by doing things his own way?  See the Introduction to this website for some examples of the heathen heresies these human gods proclaim to be God’s will.  This website is dedicated to proving the church’s doctrines, customs and traditions to be exactly what they are–Satan’s lies designed to please man (Mat. 16:23).  I prove them to be lies using God’s own words.  One local preacher admitted his rebellion against God, saying to one of his parishioners who had asked him about a newspaper article I had written.  This was a sword-wielding article in which I used God’s Word to destroy a number of heathen doctrines and practices the church teaches and follows.  The pastor’s response to the article was classic.  He said: “Everything he (meaning me) wrote is true.  But our church going in another direction.”  AND THE PARISHIONER CONTINUED TO SIT UNDER HIS TEACHING–unbelievable, though totally typical.  In the war of the wills, Satan wins 99.99% of the time.  What the devil did to Adam and Eve he continues to do to today’s counterfeit Christians.  Another pastor, when asked why he taught contrary to God’s Word, replied: “We are going outside the Bible in our search for truth.”  Another “minister of righteousness, when asked the same question, replied: “God has changed.”  A globally–known minister, while discussing the Lord’s Sabbath on t.v., proclaimed to the world: “They changed it” (from Saturday to Sunday).  No one asked who “they” were.  No one knew and no one cared.  I know and I care.  “They” was the counsel of Laodicea in 364 A.D. presided over by Pope Sylvester I.  Why were “they” allowed to change what God declared unchangeable?  According to their writings, “They” have “the power to change God’s Word, even the precepts (Words) of Christ.”  Why?  Because “they” have made themselves gods.  Protestant Sinners Saved By Grace have embraced the doctrines, beliefs and traditions of the world in which they live .  The fruit does not fall far from the tree.  Satan’s people do not wander away from him.   Revelation 17 calls the tree “Mystery Babylon” (Catholicism) and her fruit her “harlot daughters” (Protestantism).  Read The Ingathering: The Rise of the End-time Church.  Use “Ingathering” as your key term.

The church and the nations in which she resides are going belly up because God is once again pouring out His wrath on sinning man who has never left Eden.  He is still standing under the forbidden tree eating like a refugee while his (Satan’s) “ministers of righteousness” are busily pointing out all the delicious false doctrines on which they can dine.  And the “angel of light” smiles.  L.J.