Sound Biblical Doctrine vs. Man-Made Doctrine (the 1 st. “G” word)

When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the ‘tree of knowledge of good and evil (as we saw in the last post) they immediately KNEW they were naked! (Genesis 3:7-8)

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”  So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”  Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”  To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”  Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”  And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.  Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”–  therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man…  Genesis 3:9-24a

The “G” Word:  GOD’S GRACE

What impresses me here is God killed innocent creatures, shed their blood and made clothing to cover man’s sin!   I believe this “shedding of innocent blood” is the first Biblical account of the Eternal Holy God Almighty GRACE.  Grace: showing unmerited favor toward man.

In every book of the Old Testament we read of those who loved and obeyed God offering blood sacrifices for various reasons.  Examples:  to thank God for provision of needs; to ask forgiveness of sins; when seeking wisdom from the LORD.   To ask for ‘grace’!  God’s grace leads us to the one TRUE Gospel which is next in the series.  In the nest several posts, we will examine the Biblical (God’s) view of the Gospel and man’s sinful way of altering it to make it more palatable for people.

Thomas Goodwin, a Puritan theologian said it very well!  “Grace” is more than mercy and love, it super adds to them. it denotes, not simply love, but the love of a sovereign, transcendly superior, one that may do what he will, that may wholly choose whether he will love or no. There may be love between equals, and an inferior may love a superior; but love in a superior, and so superior as he may do what he will, in such a one love is called grace: and therefore grace is attributed to princes; they are said to be gracious to their subjects, whereas subjects cannot be gracious to princes. Now God, who is an infinite Sovereign, who might have chosen whether ever He would love us or no, for Him to love us, this is grace.”

“Grace began the day man fell into sin” © Streim 

Praying you will read the Word daily, searching for the truth in these times when so much “false” ideas are being read, preached and taught.  It is only by searching the Word and having a quiet personal time in prayer daily that we are able to hang onto “hope that lies within us…”  Sending love to my blood bought adopted brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe and to those who are searching for the Truth that sets us free from the penalty of sin!  ♥Streim