Forthright Magazine http://www.forthright.net Straight to the Cross Richard Mansel answers the question, "What Must I Do to Be Saved?" Learn for yourself or share it with those you hope will be saved. http://tinyurl.com/24859rj COLUMN: LIVING THE FAITH Biblical Authority and the Garden of Eden by Richard Mansel, managing editor We must feed our minds on the Word of God if we will make sound spiritual decisions. We remain focused on the boundaries within Scripture and understand the implications of Biblical authority in our lives. We illustrate this with an examination of the Garden of Eden. God put Adam and Eve into a place of exhilarating beauty (Genesis 2:8-9,15). The world was new and pristine and they had everything they needed. Satan arrives and tempts Eve into eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She shares the fruit with Adam and they realize they have wronged God ( Genesis 3:1-7). God finds them hiding in the Garden and confronts them with their sin. They rationalize their behavior and God ignores their excuses and expels them from the Garden (Genesis 3:9-24). We consider lessons that are crucial to our understanding of Biblical authority. First, God was undoubtedly the absolute authority in the Garden. Likewise, in our lives, he should be the supreme authority. His is the only voice that matters. Jesus said, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day" (John 12:48, NKJV). Scripture is inspired and strong enough to empower us down the road to heaven (2 Timothy 3:16- 17; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 1:19). Second, God was immune to rationalizations. Adam and Eve rationalized that they should not be responsible for their disobedience because of special circumstances. However, God completely ignored them. Their disobedience brought consequences and man's pleadings had absolutely no bearing on God's reality. God's Word was "settled" long before humanity even existed (Psalm 119:89). Therefore, nothing created since then, including culture, has any effect on God's will. He never changes and neither does his Word (Hebrews 13:8). Third, context did not matter to God. With God there are never extenuating circumstances. God presents his Word and we either obey or disobey. There will be no negotiations or any discussions. We sin and suffer the consequences (Ezekiel 18:24). God's grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) and cleansing blood (1 John 1:7) are the only recourses we have. We cannot outsmart God (Galatians 6:7). We have nothing within us that can supersede the authority of God. We can take our chances that this is not true, but hell is an eternal gamble. ---- Read this article online, write your reaction, and read others' comments as well. Click here: http://tinyurl.com/6fwp4ag You can help get the word out. Here's how: http://www.forthright.net/editorial/lend_a_hand.html