Quote:
Originally Posted by Trapped
The "no good thing" is sin.
Sin indwells us. Sin entered, as Ohio alluded to from Romans 5, through the offense, through the disobedience.
17 For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18 So then as it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be constituted righteous.
We are never, ever told that sin or anything entered "through the fruit" or "through the tree". It's the act, the behavior, the actions, the disobedience that's the source of all the problems. The sin that indwells us is there because of the choice Adam and Eve made. I know one of Lee's favorite words was "element", trying to pass off somehow that "sin" or "Satan" was an "element" inherent in the tree, but the verses to back that thought up are simply an echo into silence. They are not there. Sin isn't something outside of us that is separate from us that we can ingest. It's not part of the tree. Sin is our actions and our thoughts and our behaviors.
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It's interesting that Galatians 5 talks about the "
works of the flesh" vs. the "
fruit of the spirit." Matthew 7:16 also says, "You shall know them by their
fruits" (which can pertain to either flesh or spirit).
So why the picture of fruit trees in the Bible? Is it because we
ingest/eat fruit, thereby taking something that is outside of us, into us - to become part of us? Just because the only mention of the TOKOG&E is in Genesis, doesn't mean it's not still around and strongly influencing us . . . or is that not the thought you are trying to put forth?
(BTW - I did find what you said about the TOKOG&E earlier to be a pretty fascinating thought! Once we are centered as God intended us - on Him - then maybe we are entrusted with a certain distinguishing/control on our own part(?). But then again, this doesn't seem to be the picture the Perfect Man portrayed to us when He walked among us, as He was fully dependent upon the Father in all things . . .)