Moses reveals in Genesis 4 that the fall of mankind into sin begins with Satan — the accuser — masked as a crafty serpent sowing seeds of doubt into Eve’s mind.
“Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” he asks.
This clever question plants the idea that God’s word is unreasonable, even unjust. The serpent tempts Eve to doubt God’s word and elevate her own moral reasoning above his divine wisdom.
Her husband, Adam, who was with her, fell into the same temptation.
Sadly, the tendency to question and contort God’s Word persists today. We’re quick to ask, “Did God really say...?” to conveniently ignore the parts of the Bible we dislike. We substitute our finite understanding for God’s infinite knowledge. This prideful impulse underlies so many of our sins.
Consider society’s changing moral views. So many now reject scripture’s clear teachings on morality, sexuality, the family structure, and more, preferring to follow their own hearts. Rather than accepting God’s design for our lives together as wise and good, people deny his truth and live according to their own feelings and reasoning.
This pattern repeats across countless issues. God’s word explicitly condemns greed, envy, pride, lust and hatred. Yet our culture often celebrates these vices, rebelling against biblical values. We justify our sin by claiming enlightened thinking, never acknowledging that we’ve simply given in to ancient temptations.
Tragically, this elevation of personal preference over submission to God has infected the Church. Even Christians sometimes pick and choose which parts of scripture to believe and obey. Many are tempted to avoid clear biblical principles when those principles make them uncomfortable. Rather than allowing God’s word to shape their thoughts and actions, they try to shape God’s word to fit their own lifestyles and desires.
The apostle Paul warned Timothy about false teachers who would do just this. – “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3)
Let us heed this warning! God's word is not a buffet where we take what suits us and leave the rest. Either the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, or it isn’t. We must submit to all of Scripture, even when its truths challenge our comfort or preconceived ideas. To stay anchored in scripture is to avoid drifting into dangerous moral relativism. God's word is “… useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
The Bible’s overarching message is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save us from our sins and give us a new life. But if people continue to doubt God’s Word on issues of morality, how long before the Gospel message itself is so clouded that people never hear the good news?