Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. …
And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Do you ever get confused about what Jesus really said? Do you ever question the severity of the consequences if we ignore what he said?
I have. I know others who have. It seems the serpent always begins with the same tactic ...
Did Jesus really say, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”?
Well, who would want to believe that? Now the faithful adherents of every religion outside of Christianity are separated from God. But Jesus really said it (John 14:6). They will certainly die.
Did Jesus really say, “If you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins”?
I once had to teach this verse to a fifth-grader. We began by talking about some of the bad things that could happen to him in school. He carried on for a long while about his righteous anger at the suggestions and the many creative ways he would inflict his wrath on his enemies if such things came about. This verse stopped him cold. Jesus really said it (Matthew 6:15). Those who live in anger and unforgiveness will certainly die.
Did Jesus really say, “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned”?
Not according to a few Bible studies I’ve attended. Once saved, always saved is a far more comforting doctrine and the easier the path to that label “saved” the better. After all, who wants to consider the possibility that our self-deceived loved ones who said the sinner’s prayer and then went right back to sinful living aren’t going to be with us in Heaven? But Jesus really said it (John 15:6). Those who do not remain in him will certainly die.
Did Jesus really say, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”?
This verse came up at a Bible study I attended, and one of my friends was so unsettled by it that she decided to stop thinking about it and pretend it didn’t exist. But Jesus did say that (Matthew 7:21). There are those who think they know the Lord who will certainly die.
To some up all this dreariness, here’s what Jesus said: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
