Saturday, August 24, 2013

Triplets of Faith: Were Adam and Eve Saved?



As we have seen, God made different covenants with mankind throughout Biblical history. The common element is our faith in Him, as reflected in three true Gospels. Faith is our belief in God Whom we cannot see directly (Hebrews 11:1-3), although His creation reflects His excellence (Psalm 19:1). Without this faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).

How do we demonstrate our faith in God?  Faith is manifest in our obedience to Him (1 Samuel 15:22; James 2), yet each of us has disobeyed God (Psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3). Sin, or disobedience, is always the result of pride and/or unbelief

Thankfully, God can take the smallest seed of faith we can muster and grow it into faith that could move mountains (Matthew 17:20; Luke 17:5-6). Paradoxically, He shows His love for us by punishing us when we disobey, just as a loving Father does His children (Hebrews 12:5-11).

The specific requirements of what He asked the faithful to believe and to do differed with each covenant, or promise that God made to His chosen people (Hebrews 11). God did not reveal His entire plan of salvation or Who He is all at once (Isaiah 55:9), nor will we able to understand Him in His infinite glory until we see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Despite their disobedience that ultimately led to every person being born with a sin nature (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:18), I believe that Adam and Eve were saved because they knew Who God was, and they obeyed Him before the Fall. They recognized that He created them (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7) and everything else, and that He provided for them (Genesis 1:29; 2:9).

Before Adam and Eve disobeyed God, it appears that they enjoyed daily fellowship with Him, speaking with Him as He walked in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). They obeyed God in that Adam named all the animals as God requested, and they both kept and dressed the garden (Genesis 2:15,19-20).

Adam believed what God had done in creating a wife for Him (Genesis 2:21-22), and he recognized the significance of that creation and of their union (Genesis 2:23-24) as one flesh – a forerunner or type of the union between Christ and His Bride the Church (Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-32)

Despite this blissful existence with God in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve fell prey to Satan’s deception when the serpent convinced Eve to disobey God by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1-6). God, being holy and just, had to punish their sin (Genesis 3:16-19) and banished them from the Garden of Eden.

Yet their banishment from the garden was for their own salvation, for had they stayed there and eaten of the Tree of Life, they would have lived forever in their sinful, corrupted state, in their aging bodies subject to sickness and pain (Genesis 3:2-24).

In a futile attempt to cover their own sin, symbolized by their nakedness, with their own works, Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together (Genesis 3:7). But God covered their nakedness with animal skins (Genesis 3: 21), representing the blood atonement (Leviticus 17:11), or “scarlet thread,” that would culminate in the shed blood of His Son (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:22).

The perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), not only covered sin but removed it as far as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12). When God looks at all those who place their faith in Christ, He no longer sees their sin, but only the perfect righteousness of His Son (1 Corinthians 1:30; Hebrews 1:8; Philippians 1:11; 3:9).

Although the first couple was cast out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22-23), Eve continued to show her faith in God’s promise that her seed would destroy the serpent’s seed (Genesis 3:15; 4:1, 25). Adam’s faith is not spelled out, but he is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Luke 3:38), suggesting that he was also saved by faith.

The disobedience of Adam and Eve resulted in all their descendants being born with a sin nature (Romans 5:12-14). Except for Jesus Himself, all thereafter sinned and came short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and none has perfectly kept His commandments. So salvation cannot be based on self-righteousness or works, or none would be saved (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9). Rather, it is based on believing what God has revealed about Himself at that point in history, as we shall see next week!


© 2013 Laurie Collett
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28 comments:

Frank E. Blasi said...

Dear Laurie,
Yes, I too believe that Adam and Eve were saved. Perhaps it was when God spoke to the serpent and declared that the seed of the woman will bruise his head, and also he, his heel. There was no reason why this revelation wasn't spoken out of earshot of the couple - and therefore hearing and believing, they were saved through faith.
A great post.

Ceil said...

Hi Laurie! And isn't it wonderful that we can be saved through our faith too. Adam and Eve made a mistake, and one I would have probably made too. I can't put myself above them.

Thanks be to God for his saving grace!
Ceil

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Frank,
Good point -- God gave Adam and Eve a specific promise, which they believed, as Eve stated later.
Thanks for your comment & God bless!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Ceil! Ours is not to judge Adam and Eve, but to thank God for His freely given gift!
Blessings to you,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Denise! God bless,
Laurie

Nadwrażliwiec said...

I agree with You that Adam and Eve are saved, because they believed in God's promise about Messiah. Greetings from rainy Bosnia and Hercegovina :)

Denise said...

Beautiful Laurie! The Cross is a perfect reminder of His love for us, where one of His arms each point to the east, and another to the west – that is how much He loves us, and that is how far our sins have been removed from us!

Blessings and love!
Denise

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Zim! Greetings & blessings to you -- hope you stay dry!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Denise! There is no greater love, than to die for us, and no greater gift, than to have our sins forgiven & receive eternal life!
May you have a blessed week in Him,
Laurie

mail4rosey said...

I heard it said once that those who were not baptized (like Adam and Eve) had to wait in hell until Jesus was raised from the dead. It was the one and only time I heard it, I've never heard it since. But it stuck with me. I have never looked for scriptural basis to confirm or deny it, but I may now that your post made me think of it again. I'm just curious. :)

Happy Sunday to you and thank you for linking up at Super Sunday Sync.

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Rosey,

Thanks so much for your comment & for hosting!

Throughout Biblical history, from Adam & Eve onward, salvation has been by grace alone through faith alone. No one has been saved by any good works, including baptism. Here is a link to a post I wrote about baptism:
http://savedbygracebiblestudy.blogspot.com/2012/08/must-we-be-baptized.html

Before Jesus rose from the dead, all who died went to the center of the earth. This was divided in 2 parts: hell for the unsaved (like the rich man Jesus spoke of), and Paradise (Abraham's bosom) for the saved (like Lazarus who was a beggar at the rich man's home; Luke 16).

When Jesus rose from the dead, He brought the souls of the saved with Him to Heaven (Ephesians 4:8-10), so Paradise in the center of the earth has been empty ever since. The unsaved are still in hell.

May you have a blessed week in Him!
Laurie

Wilson Tom said...

Hi I am a new follower to your lovely blog (Via GFC)and it really feel pleasure meeting new awesome bloggers like you. Found you through Inspiration Monday. Was busy last month due to sister's marriage so was not regular in blogging, but now will regular and waiting for your next post.

my blog: wilsontom.blogspot.com

Brenda said...

Hi Laurie,
I don't really feel I can say whether Adam and Eve were saved I believe only the Lord would know that. However, I do believe that their story and all the other stories in the old Testament are for examples to us of what to do and what not to do in our own walk with the Lord. God bless you Laurie.

Donald Fishgrab said...

Great post, Laurie.

God's plan has not changed since the creation of the world according to Hebrews 4:3, although part of it was kept secret according to Matthew 13:35. The salvation of Old testament saints was in place, even though it was not revealed until Christ died. I Peter 3:19 and 4:6 stress that Christ preached the gospel to those who were already dead but had believed in God so that they could have that salvation. Hebrews 11:40 makes it clear they did not receive that final promise until Christ died. Until that time they were held in paradise, also known as Abraham's bosom. The wicked, on the other hand went directly into hell, according to Luke 6:19-23.

Both Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism imply God had to keep changing his plan due to man's sin, although they differ as to the amount of change.

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Tom, for following & for your comment! I am following your blog also on GFC. Best wishes to your sister, & many blessings to all!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Brenda -- only God knows the hearts, and it is awesome how He educates and blesses us through timeless examples. One of the ways we know the Bible is Divinely inspired is because it portrays the dark side of man as well as their good deeds, even for those like David whom we consider to be heroes of the faith.
God bless you too!

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Donald, for this thorough and enlightening discussion and Scripture verses. I am always so blessed by your input, and I'm sure others are as well.

God bless,
Laurie

Alecia Simersky said...

Yes, I agree. But oh, so thankful for the blood of Jesus.

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Alecia! Praise God for the power in His blood!
God bless,
Laurie

Anonymous said...

I also believe that Adam and Eve were saved. God is amazing and is not one to keep grudges. They made one mistake and how many have we made? I do believe that trough faith and repentance we can be saved by the blessing of God

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, craftyspices! Praise God for His mercy and grace to all who place their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son!
Blessings to you,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Steve,
Thanks for your comment, however, I hope you will understand my request that if you comment in the future, that it would be in response to the post, rather than copying & pasting your most recent blog post.

Saving faith in Jesus Christ requires belief in His death, burial and resurrection as the only way to Heaven, so I'm not sure what you mean by God "bestowing faith on nonbelievers."

Mark 16:16 (King James Version) says: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

So if you have saving faith, and are baptized as a symbol of that faith, you are saved. But baptism clearly is not a requirement for salvation, as damnation is only for those who do not believe, not for those who believe but are not baptized.

Proof of this is the thief on the cross, who recognized Jesus as Lord. Jesus told him that he would be in Paradise with Him that day, even though he clearly had no possibility of being baptized. (Luke 23:39-43).

God bless,
Laurie

Anonymous said...

The people of the Old Testament looked toward the cross where we look back at the cross. God himself covered Adam and Eve when they were naked with animal skins...the first shedding of blood. I believe they are saved.

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Debbie! God covered the sins of Adam and Eve with the blood atonement, a type looking forward to the ultimate sacrifice of the shed blood of His Son.

Thanks so much for your visit & comment, & God bless!
Laurie

Unknown said...

Praise God, we are saved by faith and not by works. I am so thankful for our gracious God who forgives my sin daily.
Thanks for linking up at Essential Fridays.
Blessings
Mel from Essential Thing Devotions.

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Mel! Praise God for His amazing grace! His mercies are new each morning!
Thanks for your comment & for hosting, and may you have a blessed week in Him,
Laurie

Anita said...

Hi Laurie,

Thank you for your thoughtful post. I am so thankful that everything is in our Lord's hands.That if salvation depended on us alone, heaven would be empty. Our loving God, who is love, knows us better than we know ourselves, and as we look upon the cross and empty tomb, thankfulness should pour from deep within.

Thank you for linking up with Scattering the Stones :)

Laurie Collett said...

Beautifully said, Anita! Praise God for graciously giving us what we cannot achieve and do not deserve. May we thank Him with every breath.

Thanks for hosting & for your lovely comment, & God bless,
Laurie