21. No Warning against Satan

No Warning against Satan

Another thing that entered into their perfect freedom of choice was the fact that God did not warn them against Satan, and they probably knew nothing at the time of his existence. But they were not thereby treated unfairly, but the very opposite, for thus the issue was not confused by becoming a choice between persons, but still remained clearly that of a deliberate choice between God’s will and their own. God’s word to them alone was a wholly adequate warning against any person, no matter how attractive, who would suggest, however subtly, that they should do, no matter on what pretext, the very thing they were forbidden to do.

Thus they were left entirely unbiased either way in the freedom of their choice when Satan appeared, for by that time they had received enough experience through their frequent fellowship with God to have the presumption fully established that what He said was the exact truth. So even when Satan appeared, they still faced the issue of God’s will against theirs. No issue could be more simply nor more fairly presented.

Thus did God make ready for the answer by experiment of the supreme question of wills, that the choice of His will might place them safely within the realm where their eternal happiness would be secure. For if His will should be their choice, their whole being would then be brought, in harmony with the nature of their choice, into a positive and permanent character controlled by the sacrificial principle, like unto God’s own character. Exercising their ability not to sin, would become to them the inability to sin. Thus in an eternal response to God with their own sacrificial love, they could be forever happy in understanding and appreciating increasingly the meaning and depth of His sacrificial love for them. But in the nature of things, the opposite choice was possible. For the inducements presented by God to lead to the choice of His will were wholly devoid of all semblance of force, and so the way was left open to choose their own wills, even though every inducement was against it. And if that happened, exercising their ability to sin would become to them the inability to be holy, for it would be the achievement of a fixed character dominated by the selfish principle. Putting himself thus outside the will of God, man would be completely beyond the reach of His love, and therefore forever beyond all possibility of happiness, as far as anything he himself could do to change that condition was concerned. This would mean fixed harmony with that which ought not to be, which would thus be fixed inharmony with God. And this is precisely the thing that happened. The question is often asked, Why did a holy God permit sin?

He did not permit sin! He could not permit sin, for permission is sanction, and sanction is consent, and consent to sin is forever unthinkable in a holy God.

What God permitted was the most perfect opportunity infinite wisdom and love could set before Adam and Eve to achieve for themselves characters that could not sin. God cannot be charged with permitting sin in opening the way for the First Pair to acquire characters that could not sin, simply because they threw away the infinitely loving opportunity He gave them.