In Defense of the Faith | thebereancall.org

Dave Hunt

What Was the First Sin?

Question: We are told in the Bible that sin entered into the world when Adam and Eve took of the forbidden fruit. Yet Eve wanted it and must have looked upon it with desire before she actually ate of it. Was it sin for her to do so, even to touch it and pick it? If so, there was sin before Adam sinned.

Response: You may be technically correct. However the Bible looks upon the temptation, Eve’s desire, eating of the forbidden fruit, and Adam’s partaking of it as one act. In fact, Adam is blamed: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin . . .” (Romans:5:12).

It seems clear that Adam’s sin was even greater than Eve’s. She was deceived, but Adam was not (1 Timothy:2:14). Apparently Adam knew what he was doing and did it in order not to be separated from his wife. He was determined to share her fate, even though he knew that to do so he was rebelling against the God who had created him.