Adam's Heart - Love v. Pride (6)

Finally, love may cover over a multitude of sin, 1 Peter 4:8, but what does that have to do with whether or not Adam blamed anyone for the fall? Honestly? Nothing. Rather, it is a plea to refrain from joining with the accuser of the brethren by accusing Adam of blame.

As we've already seen, Adam's words could not have been blame toward either God or Eve simply because God does NOT show partiality. But since God is the only one that can know the human heart, Jeremiah 17:9-10, it behooves us to refrain from judging so that we are not judged, Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37; John 7:24. Accusing Adam of blame is judging him.

If God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, then followers of Christ need to do the same and stop drawing conclusions based upon mere opinions or by appearances.

Love obeys God's commands, John 14:15.

 

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. John 7:24

 

John 7:24 is the very  fulfillment of Isaiah 11:3.

 

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; 4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. 5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

Adam is Jesus' brother as evidenced by Luke 3:38; Genesis 6:2, 4. The sons of God do what they see their father do, John 5:19. Now look at what Jesus' other brother said on the subject.

Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. James 4:11

Jesus says it like this:

Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' Matthew 25:45

But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. Matthew 12:36

The Apostle Paul had this to say about judging:

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. Romans 2:1 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. Romans 5:12-14

Sin is not charged against a person apart from the law. That is why Paul wrote this:

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. Romans 2:14-15

Adam lived during a time that was apart from the law. The Mosaic law did not come into the world until after, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah walked on the earth. Do not disregard God's ways by imputing sin against these individuals just because you may think they did evil. Paul further clarified this principle when he taught us to refuse to judge even those outside the body of Christ.

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13

Not even Jesus would impute sin, charge, or condemn a person of sin apart from the Law. Here are three examples where Jesus refused to play the role of someone who had authority to impute sin: Matthew 17:24-27; John 8:3-11 and Luke 12:13-22.

Now keep in mind, Luke 3:12-13, and Luke 16:14, in which the apostle indicates that some tax collectors loved money more than repentance and that scoffing accompanies the love of money. With this context in mind, Matthew 17:24-27 demonstrates how Jesus, though He was exempt from taxes because He is the King's son, lovingly paid His and Peter's taxes just for the purpose of preventing an offense in the tax collector's heart. Jesus had the power and authority to impute sin upon the tax collectors but He didn't. His example demonstrates love for others above His own right to judge someone's heart for it is better to suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong, 1 Peter 3:17.

In Luke 12:13-15, instead of doing what the man who sought justice asked, Jesus rebuked that same man for greed without judging anyone. If we follow this example, is not the complainer the one who is to be rebuked for complaining and speaking negatively about another brother without obeying Matthew 18:15-19? Yes, according to James 4:11. That is why this article will be a rebuke for all those who have imputed sin against Adam even though God did not send Jesus for the purposes of judging the world, John 3:17-19, 9:35-41. Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone at Adam, remembering the woman caught in adultery, John 8:3-11. Love covers over a multitude of sin while pride seeks to expose it to the world.

 

 

Copyright © 2011 by Diane Pebley

(All rights reserved, no use granted without the express written permission of the author, Diane Pebley)