6. Entrance and Accountability of Sin

Benjamin Shaeffer
Jul 3, 2023
6 min read

Where did sin come from?

Sin entered this world not long after its creation. The Bible recounts how in Genesis three, which I would encourage everyone to read but for now, I will summarize and then expound and explain the meaning and outcome of the events which transpired.

We started with perfection. The world and everything in it was good; God says so in Genesis 1:31. God created a perfect world, a cultivated garden, for Him to enjoy alongside the creatures He made. Unfortunately, this utopia was not to last.

“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” - Genesis 3:1b

This one question started it all. A serpent goes to Eve and asks her about what God commanded her and Adam. He gets into the minor details as if there might be an exception to God’s law that Eve hadn’t thought about. He finishes by accusing God of being selfish and of holding back wisdom and goodness from His creatures who ‘deserve’ it.

“You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” - Genesis 3:5

Based on this verse, people commonly think that sin entered the world via some supernatural powers of the fruit itself. However, the next verse tells of the true origin of the entrance of sin:

“So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6

They broke the only commandment that they had. They saw, desired, and took what they were not supposed to. (Note: this is the same pattern of sin that everyone struggles with. We see, we desire, and we take. Example Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39.) When they did take and eat, their eyes were opened—not to some secret glory or deeper wisdom but to their nakedness. That is how sin entered the world.

So what did they do after they realized that they had done wrong? They should have run to God after they had eaten and confessed what they had done. But instead, Adam and Eve covered themselves with leaves to hide their nakedness and ran and hid from the Lord when He came to them. Even after God calls them out of hiding, they don’t repent but start pointing fingers and naming names which, ultimately, was them accusing God. God asks them what they have done and He gets these replies “the woman You gave me” and “the serpent [You created]”. It wasn’t Adam’s fault but the woman’s that God put there and it wasn’t Eve’s fault but rather the snake which was created and put there by God. This is the pattern and result of sin. You see, you desire, you take, and blame God for the consequences. The fault lies somewhere, but in the end, who must we hold accountable for the entrance of sin into the world?

Accountability

Is God accountable?

After all, God could have stopped it. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. The Lord could have denied Satan’s petition to tempt. He could have hardened Eve’s heart to it. He could have made her blind so that she wouldn’t be able to see the fruit. All that is true. So why didn’t God do anything to stop it? I don’t know nor do I think I’ll ever know or understand why He allowed Adam and Eve to sin. I do know that God is not responsible for Adam and Eve’s actions on that day. He is NOT the creator of evil and sin. The Lord is completely holy therefore it would go against His nature to create something impure.

You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. -Leviticus 19:2

God cannot be held accountable for sin.

What About Eve?

If God is not accountable, what about Eve? Eve was the first one to take and bite the fruit and break this law of God. She was also the one talking to the serpent and led astray but him. Ultimately, however, God does not hold her responsible. She does receive her own punishment and admonishment for what she did, but it is Adam upon whom the blame falls.

“She took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6b

She gave some to her husband WHO WAS WITH HER. Adam was there. He knew God’s command and should have stopped Eve in any way he could have. Adam was the caretaker. He was the one who was to build and protect what God put in his charge (Genesis 2:8). He should have taken any action to stop his wife and to keep her from going astray. Some people say that Adam wasn’t exactly with Eve when she got the fruit and he ate without knowing where the fruit was from but this cannot be true, based on the scripture and God's resulting actions. There is only one tree of the knowledge of good and evil and its fruit wouldn’t have been mistaken for any other’s. He passively watched Eve's interaction with the snake and knowingly took of the fruit despite God's law.

Adam's Trespass

Adam should have done something, but still, why does he bear the brunt of the blame? Eve ate first. Note verses nine through eleven:

9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” - Genesis 3:9-11

God calls to Adam and asks him if he ate. God doesn’t go right to Eve who, as He knew, ate first, but He went to the person that He put there to keep everything. If this isn’t enough proof, Scripture confirms it in Romans chapter five:

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. - Romans 5:12-14

Adam, as the man, is responsible for the fall of humanity and the world’s curse.

Oh, what could have been different today if he did what he ought to have done? What would life look like now? We will never know and it is perhaps useless to speculate. It would be a better use of our time to focus on the consequences of what happened and what we will do now. Who can stand before God for us as our advocate and take our place?

That is a very good question and the answer is also found in Romans chapter five:

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. - Romans 5:15-17

Jesus Christ is the second and better Adam. He does what the Father put Him on this earth to do. Unlike the first Adam, Christ does go to the Father and takes the punishment for His bride.

As men let us follow the example of Christ and not Adam. Remember, we are the gatekeepers of our garden and the ones who will be held accountable for the snakes that get inside. Let us guard well and when we fail, go to God begging for forgiveness and taking the punishment for ourselves and our own.