How to Believe a Lie

The record of the first temptation and sin in Genesis 3:1-7 contains a truckload of lessons for us about defending ourselves against the lies that make it so much easier to sin. Let’s unload a few of them.

Questions Can Lie

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (v. 1)

The crafty serpent got past Eve’s defenses with an innocent-sounding question: “Did God really say . . .?” How often do we begin a conversation with temptation by asking (or responding to) and innocent-sounding question?

“Would a reasonable God really expect me to forgive someone for THIS?”

“Does the Bible really say that sex before marriage is wrong?”

“It’s not gossip if I really care about the person, is it?”

Get It Right

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' " (vv. 2-3)

Eve did what we do so often. She responded to the innocent-sounding question with wrong information. God did not say, “Don’t touch the fruit.” It seems like a little thing -- and, sure, she would have been better off not touching the fruit -- but when you’re talking about God’s Word and God’s character, the details matter.

If you’re tempted by an innocent-sounding question, make sure you go and find a trustworthy answer to that question.

Lies Come Wrapped in Truth

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (vv. 4-5)

The serpent follows with a mix of lies and truth to make the lies more persuasive.

Lie: “You will not surely die.” Truth: Eve did not die physically in that instant, but she did die spiritually. And she eventually died physically.

Truth: “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened . . .” Adam and Eve would see reality in a new (quite painful) way.

Lie: “. . . and you will be like God . . .” Truth: The God of the universe is not defined by knowing good and evil. An awareness of evil does not give us God’s power, love, wisdom, or goodness.

Truth: “. . . knowing good and evil.” Adam and Eve would come to know evil by doing it. But it wouldn’t make them more powerful. In fact, it made them quite pitiful and fearful and weak.

Believing Lies = Not Believing God

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. (v. 6)

Eve knew what God had said about the tree. She even added to His instruction. In order to believe the serpent’s lie she had to make a choice to stop believing that God and His command were trustworthy.

Eve saw: the fruit is good for food (true); the fruit is pretty (true); the fruit will make us wise (false). The serpent convinced the woman that the path to wisdom went around God’s instructions to her -- that you can’t have the real wisdom if you do it God’s way.

The truth is exactly the opposite. Gaining wisdom starts with deciding that God is right and good and trustworthy. Or to put it as Proverbs does: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Sin Spreads Pain

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (vv. 6-7)

Eve made the choice, but the consequences didn’t stop with her. Adam followed her lead and disbelieved God, as well. Their choice brought death to the world, and we’re still dying.

My sin. Your sin. Our choices to give into to temptation and disbelieve God’s trustworthiness always leads to painful consequences. And those consequences always spread beyond just us. Our sin hurts those closest to us. Either we lead others into sin after us -- or the results of it diminishes our relationships with those God means for us to show His love.

So what’s the best defense against the lies that make sin look sweeter?

1. Know the truth. Install God’s Word in your head; then let it soak all the way down into your heart and come out through your mouth, hands, and feet. It’s harder to lie to someone who knows, loves, and lives the truth.

2. Trust the truthful one. God cannot lie. Jesus called Himself “the Truth.” Remember that to believe any lie about sin, you’ll have to stop believing something true about God. Is He trustworthy?