This is a good response Joe. Thanks. I really have a lot of things I would like to say about this odyssey into Calvinism. I never dreamed there were such huge differences. It is a little embarrassing in fact. I better just stick to this response. It’s going to be much longer than I like anyway.<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]Really? Adam responded by HIDING and not repenting until he was clothed upon—note the text DOEST NOT say Adam took the clothing and clothed himself, but rather that God clothed Adam and Eve:<br><br>Gen 3: 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.<br>The term here used for clothed (labesh) is indeed a great word study within itself. It means to ‘be” clothed upon, be arrayed, or to be armed. It is in the imperfect tense and thus it has symbolic meaning for us. The imperfect expresses an action, process or condition which is incomplete, and it has a wide range of meaning: (1) It is used to describe a single (as opposed to a repeated) action in the past; (2) it differs from the perfect in being more vivid and pictorial (3) The perfect expresses the “fact”, the imperfect adds colour and movement by suggesting the “process” preliminary to its completion. Thus, here in Genesis, if compared to the rest of Scripture, we may see a salvation born and a sanctification which continues. </font><hr></blockquote><p>Most of this I emphatically agree with. Adam’s first response was to hide. He did not run out to meet God and cast him self down begging forgiveness. Your definition and explanation of clothed is very good. It was truly a Divine and sovereign action taken by upon Adam of which he had no participation in whatsoever. This stands in stark contrast to his previous attempts to cloth himself with leaves. The symbolism is relevant to us today as well. Adam and Eve had sinned and they were utterly powerless to change anything about the condition into which they had fallen. They were just as dead as the worst sinner ever was.<br><br>There is one thing I disagree on. (Wouldn’t you know it?) The sequence of events as you see them is different from the way I see them. You said he didn’t repent until after he was clothed, though there is nothing in the text to indicate that.<br><br>Let’s see if we can tell when he actually was restored to fellowship with the Creator. I will quote the passage to get the [color:red]flavor</font color=red> of it, for those who like puns.<br><br><blockquote>Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? <br>Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. <br>Gen 3:11 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? <br>Gen 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. <br>Gen 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. </blockquote><br><br>They are scared, they are naked (except for leaves) before God their creator. They are dead. BUT they both confess in turn “I DID EAT”. That was a statement from there dead, sin filled conscience that they were guilty before God and worthy of death. The very next sentence from the mouth of God was the promise of redemption from the seed of the woman.<br><br>It was the confession that was required of them to open the door of restoration and the promise of life. It is very important to understand about this -- there was nothing meritorious about Adam’s confession. It didn’t change any of the facts, he was still every bit as guilty. There is nothing to boast about. It is just the condition that God puts on man that must [b]precede salvation. (Romans 10:10) Dead men can’t do anything to bring themselves back to life, but spiritually dead men can confess their sin before God and only then receive the pardon.<br><br>Just like the Pharisees in John 9 we talked about earlier. If there is no confession of guilt the sin remains. <br><br>I will post the rest tomorrow, hopefully. It is too long.
