Example #1 – The Tempting of Mankind (Adam and Eve)

The first example is the pattern for all of God’s sovereign actions concerning the tempting of man. God’s sovereignty had Christ slain for Adam’s transgression before Adam was ever created: “Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to HIS OWN PURPOSE and grace, which was GIVEN US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN” (2Ti 1:9). And again: “Paul…in hope of eternal life which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Tit 1:1-2).

Obviously God had decided in advance that Adam would be tempted and would transgress his direct command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is most instructive to note that the made- of- the dust, weak, corruptible and “naked” [ which scripturally means sinful (Rev 3:17)] Adam, as well as the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, were both the product of the Creator. The only question now is how will Adam be tempted so that God can truthfully say that He Himself tempts no man? This was no problem for the creator. Adam and Eve were “drawn away of their own lust and enticed” (Jas 1:14). What was the instrument used to effectuate the temptation for which Adam was “made to err from your ways” (Isa 63:17)? It was and always is the Adversary himself or one of his minions called in scripture “evil spirits”. Did God Himself tempt Adam? No, He did not. Did God force Adam to transgress His command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Absolutely not.

God never needs to force anyone to sin or transgress. He made us weak and corruptible “of the dust” to begin with. God never needs to tempt us because the serpent is nourished by the ‘dust of the ground’. Serpents never literally eat the dust of the ground. Serpents are carnivorous. They eat rats, mice, small reptiles, etc. The ‘dust’ spoken of in Genesis is “the spirit that dwelleth in us which lusteth to envy” (Jas 4:5). This statement is made by James, the same New Testament writer who tells us in chapter one:

Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Will anyone who claims to be familiar with these scriptures: “It is the spirit that giveth life (Joh 6:63); “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created…” (Psa 104: 30); “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8); etc, etc. deny that “the spirit in us lusteth to envy” is the very spirit the Creator breathed into Adam which gave Adam his “breath of life”? Yes, it was God who gave us “the spirit in us [ which] lusteth to envy.”

No, James was not teaching ‘freedom’ of choice. James was simply teaching choice; choices caused to be made within the influence of the Creator. The Creator is the ultimate cause of all things, including every choice we make.

Understanding God’s sovereignty does not relieve us of giving an account of our actions to God, nor does it relieve us of our daily decisions and choices. Understanding God’s sovereignty simply means that we now understand that all of our choices and decisions are CAUSED choices and decisions.

In our pride and vanity, we do not want to admit it, but the truth of the scriptures is that every choice we make is a caused choice. “Freedom of choice” and “free moral agency” are false doctrines that defy the declarations of God in His word that…

Pro 20:24 Man’s goings [ are] of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
Rom 9:16 So then [ it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [ his] good pleasure.
Eph 1:11 …who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

and

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, [ are] all things: to whom [ be] glory for ever. Amen.

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