<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]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.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 flavor of it, for those who like puns.</font><hr></blockquote><p> Of course, you knew I would reply. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/rofl.gif" alt="rofl" title="rofl[/img] I agree they both said, I did eat. But is this a REAL confession? Look at the wording again,<br><br><blockquote>Gen 3:12 And the man said, [color:red]The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree</font color=red>, [color:blue]and</font color=blue> I did eat. <br><br>Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, [color:red]The serpent beguiled me</font color=red>, [color:blue]and</font color=blue> I did eat.</blockquote> Now, I do not call these honest confessions, do you? <br><br>Notice that the I did eat is joined in each case with an [color:blue]and</font color=blue> to the rest of the [color:red]phrase</font color=red>. Each blamed the other for their sin, but God still held each of them responsible for their sins (plural at this time--they ate, they hid, and they lied not understanding the theology of the "will"). I see that they believed during the process (though the process is almost instantaneously, there is still an order....they first see God's grace--clothing, then repentance and faith follow, see the diagram in the last post) in that they raised their children to bring offerings unto the LORD (Gen 4:3ff). It follows that they taught their children to worship, because they themselves had become worshipers having seen the grace of God. Additionally, I see that they believed in the fact that they offered no more excuses or continued to hide themselves from God--they took their just punishment without excuse--without a word (which they did not do when first confronted). Thus, IMHO, they became repentant at the time of being clothed upon and not before.<br><br>What you need to understand here is that salvation is of the Lord alone. A confession of BLAMING someone else for your sin is a DEAD confession coming from a depraved man and woman. Using your logic EVERY person in the world could scheme and say well I did this sin because of so and so and because the Devil Made ME DO It, and would HAVE an acceptable confession before God-thus everyone would be saved. Judas could even say the Devil Made ME DO It (Lk 22:3). I am afraid I do not concur with Flip Wilson's theology. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/evilgrin.gif" alt="evilgrin" title="evilgrin[/img] Simply, God had grace in spite of their condition and confession, for they were elect before the foundation of the world. Salvation is of the Lord!

Reformed and Always Reforming,