At what point do Adam and Eve “fall from grace”? How does Original Sin fit with a natural interpretation of the Eden texts?
Actually, these theologies are not biblical, so they do not. Without the unbiblical constraints of perfectionism, God treats each individual uniquely. Grace abounds with love, mercy, and forgiveness.
Sin is the choice to transgress a law. Our choices are not hereditary, but consequences can be.
Adam and Eve listened to bad advice and made a bad choice before touching the fruit. That means they sinned before eating the fruit. Eating gave them God-like knowledge of good and evil plus the byproduct of shame, neither of which are inherently sinful or evil. Along with the Breath (our spirit), these were their children’s inheritance. Each person must choose how to manage these God-given gifts.
People can live sinless lives (like Enoch or Jesus) by always making good choices. For the majority of us who continue to make stupid or rebellious choices, God is gracious and provides a cleansing process. From the beginning, he chose to forgive the sins of a repentant heart. He chose to wash sins clean with the blood of animals, then with his own blood.
Humans do not forgive fully. Too often, we do not even forgive ourselves. God is not like us. He loves to forgive. God is patient, and his grace abundant. Abba Father meets our failures with a smile and open arms. He forgives every time we repent. That forgiveness is complete, with no reservations.
Only our hard heart interrupts that process. Pride tells God we do not need his help, his guidance, or his mercy. We arrogantly tell God that he should not criticize our decisions or interfere in our lives. Tradition instructs us to redeem ourselves through ritual. That grieves God’s Spirit, but he honors our bad choices.
From childhood, humans defend themselves and their bad actions. However, rationalization and justification of evil keep shame from softening hearts. If people do not try to be good, then evil becomes “normal.” Repentance seems ridiculous. Eventually, God cleanses a population that thinks evil is good and good is evil.
Without repentance, each bad choice corrupts our soul (our mind) and slowly kills our spirit (God’s image). We “die” of a hard heart before our physical heart stops beating. The Bible calls this the second death. Physical death locks-in our non-repented choices as final. We condemn ourselves.
God begs us to choose differently, which removes that kind of arrogant death.
God did not kick Adam and Eve out of the garden for eating the forbidden fruit. Nor did they get the boot for sinning, lying, hiding, or even bringing evil into the world. God separated them from the tree that gave eternal life. He restored our access to that life through the death of Jesus. If we eat his sweet flesh and drink his “juice,” abundant life is ours. However, we must choose to repent of our rebellion, submit to his guidance, and “die” to our selfishness. This action softens and cleanses our hearts.
God died so that we could know how much grace he offers. He graciously allowed Adam and Eve to repent. They chose to pass blame. God provided an opportunity for Cain to repent. The man decided to lie. God did not instantly kill any of them. He let them live, hoping they might eventually learn to take responsibility for their actions. Biblically, God’s grace begs us to learn repentance each time we transgress or think of transgressing his law. He desires our goodness.
When we enact that knowledge, God rejoices. Life finds salvation in a relationship, not on religious rituals. Such communion was God’s plan from the beginning.
To be continued:
