Guilt and Confession

Satan had deliberately deceived Eve, using the serpent to convince her God had lied to them, as I Timothy 2:14 tells us.  “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”  No one had lied to Adam, he just went along with Eve, knowing full well they were disobeying God’s command.  Thus, Adam was fully culpable for his sin.  While Eve had sinned she did not bear the same level of responsibility.  This is why Romans 5:12 places the blame on Adam, rather than on Eve.  “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

During the seventies, people who used LSD used to talk about how it expanded their minds, making them so much more artistic and intuitive.  Apparently, the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil had a similar effect on their minds, according to Genesis 3:7.  “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”   While most drugs repress one’s moral standards, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil accentuated it, producing what we know as the conscience. 

Before they ate the fruit, their nakedness had not bothered them.  After they ate the fruit, they felt guilty about their nudity and began to make clothing out of fig leaves to cover it.    They didn’t want God to see their wrong doing.  Genesis 3:8 says, “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”  That conscience has been passed down throuth the generations, and people still hide from God because of their feelings of guilt.  Unfortunately the conscience is not always a good guide for what is right or wrong.  Titus 1:15 tells us, “…unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”  Their concept of good and evil get distorted.

Genesis 3:9-11 describes what happened next.  “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” 

God knows everything.  He didn’t need to ask man where he was, and he knew why he was hiding.  Unless a person admits to himself that he was wrong, he is not likely to make any effort to change, regardless what he says publicly to avoid the consequences of his actions.  God wanted them to voluntarily admit their sin.  I John 1:8-10 warns, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”  If we freely admit our guilt, we will be forgiven and have the guilt removed.  If we refuse to accept responsibility, we imply God is wrong, and can never get rid of the guilt.  God gave Adam and Eve the chance to confess. 

Adam admitted he had eaten the fruit, but he blamed the woman, according to Genesis 3:12.  “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”  He did not want to take full responsibility for his actions, implying his choice was either her fault, or God’s for making her like she was.  People still try to shift the blame rather than acknowledging their guilt.  The woman did the same thing in Genesis 3:13.  “And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” While the serpent had tricked Eve, both of them had known God said not to eat the fruit, and both of them had chosen to eat it.  Neither was innocent, although Adam bore a greater level of guilt than Eve. 

The popular belief that one should never admit to being wrong to keep from appearing weak prevents one from correcting their errors or getting forgiveness and leaves them stuck with their guilty conscience.