The Bible: One Bite at a Time Expository Sermon Series Notes Genesis to The Revelation Sid Galloway © 1999

Genesis 3:1-3 Dangerous Dialogue with the Devil: A Debate You will Always Lose

Audio Tape # 20 - March 12, 2000         (Notes Updated ..... March 14, 2000)

Review: (Gen 1-3:1) Creation See the notes on the Web

Exposition and Commentary - Genesis 3:1-3 (Strong's #'s in parentheses)
"Now the serpent (5175 nachash, from 5172 nachash = enchanter) was more cunning (6175 aruwm = shrewd; intelligent) than any beast (2415 chay = living) of the field which the LORD (3068 YHWH = Yahweh, from havah = to be) God (430 Elohim) had made. And he said to the woman (802 ishshah), 'Has God (430 Elohim) indeed said, "'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden"'? " And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; “but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God (430 Elohim) has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

I. The Serpent (Gen 3:1 a)
A. Who, What, When, Where ?
B. Why ?
II. The Seducer's First Ploy (Gen 3:1 b)
A. Question God's Word
B. Twist God's Word
III. The Woman's Deception (Gen 3:2-3)
A. Dialogue with the Devil
B. Religious Rules Replace Relationship

I. The Serpent (Gen 3:1 a) .......... II. The Seducer's First Ploy (Gen 3:1 b)
(........................ see the previous two sermon outlines)

III. The Woman's Deception (Gen 3:2-3)
A. Dialogue with the Devil - "And the woman said to the serpent"

- We saw in last week's sermon that Lucifer's first ploy was to tempt Eve to doubt God and His Word. Eve's first mistake was to try and dialogue with the Devil and attempt to fight spiritual (mental-relational) warfare against him. This is a debate that any man or woman will always loose. But regarding women, in 1 Tim 2: 11 - 14 the Holy Spirit says through Paul,

"Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression." [Emphasis added]

- According to this passage, Eve, being a woman, was created differently from Adam in such a way that she was uniquely vulnerable to deception in spiritual warfare. Just as a man is designed by God to be better able to fight in physical warfare, man is also designed to be more effective in spiritual battles using the Sword of the Spirit: God's objective, logically communicated Word. This apparently is one of the reasons why man was appointed by God to function as the head or authority over woman. Man is designed with specific qualities that make him uniquely able to wield the Sword of the Spirit. Woman on the other hand are better at countless other tasks, such as nurturing young children, breast feeding (obviously), etc..

Liberalism & Legalism:
- Notice that Lucifer's effort to create doubt in God's Word is still used as a classic method of stirring up two unbiblical extremes, liberalism and legalism.
- While Satan has used men throughout history, who have abused their God appointed position of power and authority, women from Eve until today, have also been used of Satan to undermine God's Word. Women's LIB (i.e., liberation - freedom) often starts with good intentions, but then goes beyond a legitimate effort to correct abuse by male authority. Women's LIB efforts throughout history have frequently sought to liberalize Scripture, and gain a form of liberation that denies the God designed rank, role, and responsibility for women. We will discuss this more when we get to the curse later in Gen. 3, where God says the woman's "desire" shall be for her husband, yet "he will rule over you". For now, it is helpful to remember that James 1:25 describes God's authoritative Word as the "law of liberty". True freedom comes only as we submit to God and His legally binding Word, choosing to joyfully embrace the rank, role, and responsibility He has assigned to each of us.
- Liberalism reduces God's rules. It attempts to take away from God's Word, by getting people to doubt and reject either all or part of it.
- Legalism adds more rules and expectations than God did in Scripture. It goes beyond God's Word, actually making God seem harsh, unreasonable and unloving.
- Both extremes are prohibited in Scripture:

Rev 22:19 "... If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life"
- Luk 8:12 ". . . the devil comes and takes away the word . . . . "
 Joh 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy . . . . "
- See also, Prov 30:5-6; 1 Cor 4:6 **

B. Replacing God's Right Relationships with our own Religious Rules is Self-Righteous Works, which is Sin

- Legalism can be subtle, yet inisidious.         
- Eve goes beyond God's prohibition of eating from the tree of knowledge, by adding a legalistic extreme of not touching.
- Beware of the tendency to use legalism to defend against liberalism's temptation to doubt God. Legalism causes us to imagine God as harsh and extreme, instead of loving and perfectly balanced as He really is.
- Prov 14:12 Sometimes it seems like it would help to set rules beyond what God sets in order to be sure that we don't disobey. That's OK if our rules are merely preferences or guidelines. But when we start to claim they are God's Law, then we are claiming God is someone He is not. We put false words in God's mouth and paint a distorted picture of Him. That is idolatry. Many of the cruel, demonic religious rituals in the world have developed from doctrines of demons that add to God's expectations and demands until the portrait it paints of God is a frightening monster, not a loving Father.

- Liberalism also is often very subtle. (v. 6 . . . So when the woman saw that the tree was good . . . . ")
- Eve shifted from rigid legalism to liberalism, as she initiates the first women's liberation movement. She replaces her submissive relationship to Adam and God, with a new set of rules in which she became her own authority, her own god.
- Remember how Saul, in 1 Sam 15, did what he wanted in order to please himself, then claimed he did it for God. It didn't fool the LORD.
God desired simple obedience, not a ritual that was subtly arranged to please self. (1 Sam 15:9, 22-23; Isa 58 - false fast)
- Divorce is one example where some churches have become liberal and others legalistic. As John MacArthur has so simply put it, it's easier to go to one of the extremes and claim that God allows either all divorce or no divorce at all. Why is that error easier? Because to hold to God's truth that some divorce is allowable requires pastors to listen to each case carefully and prayerfully (Prov 18:13, 17), and then counsel according to the unique needs of that case (Col 4:4-6). But that is uncomfortable and requires a lot of time, so churches tend to adopt one of the two extremes. The result of such unbibilical policies, is the dishonor of God and the unnecessary hurt of many people.
- A related issue is the biblical package of elder / deacon qualifications and the Greek phrase, "a one woman man". The phrase plainly means a man whose life over a long period of time has demonstrated sexual fidelity. But instead of careful examination of each man's actual history when considering them as elders or deacons, many churches simply adopt a blanket policy against a certificate of divorce. Then by failing to examine the men's sexual history, they often end up ordaining pastor-elders and deacons who have committed adultery, but have never been divorced. For more information on this issue, see

Eldership (Booklet by Alex Strauch. Requirements, responsibilities, rewards)
Elder Qualifications  (Modeling our Father's Family Character, & Ministering Our Father's Word)
"The Husband of One Wife" He Is Sexually Pure [1 Timothy 3; Titus 1, A Qualification for Spiritual Leadership / Eldership   
        John MacArthur, SHEPHERDOLOGY, pp. 189-190.]
Elders & Deacons: Vital Distinctions (Shepherd's: Spiritual Ministry / Deacons': Physical Ministry)

- Above all other doctrines the cornerstone truths of CREATION are where Satan attacks the most. Using human "theories" (educated guesses) from the fields of science and philosophy, Lucifer aims his guns at the very foundation of Biblical Christianity. Even in Christian Home Education curriculums, Scripture is often undermined when the author compromises and distorts Creation truths by capitulating to the false light of man's theories about the age of the universe, the origin of life, macro-evolution, etc..
(In addition to the Creation section of our SOULCARE site, the following, excellent article from Creation Ex Nihilo magazine demonstrates how important this danger is: "Geology and the young earth Answering those 'Bible-believing' bibliosceptics", by Tas Walker. [First published in: Creation Ex Nihilo 21(4):16­20, September­November 1999 ]
- Churches and ministries have allowed many other important issues or good preferences to become similar tools of Satan. When liberalism is chosen as the way that seems right, then God's clear mandates and boundaries are ignored, twisted, or rejected all together. At the other extreme, when legalism is embraced, then pet preferences are elevated to the status of Holy Writ. Both errors eventually and ultimately produce the fruit of dishonor to our Father and His Son, our Lord Jesus, and destruction to many lives and relationships.

God's Solution is:
To depend on our Father's Word in humble, child-like, submissive faith:

-Jesus modeled for us the right way to deal with the Devil's offer of dialogue in Mat 4. Jesus, the Son of God, appealed to His Father's written, objective Word in submissive, faithful obedience.
God's Way Home is always The Way of His Son, hypotasso faith.
- Even Michael , the awesome archangel who guards Israel (Dan 10), would not debate with the Devil (Jude 9). Michael instead simply appealed to the Lord and His Word, and refused to go head to head with the evil one. To debate with the Devil is an arrogant and ridiculously foolish choice.
- As we've seen in our earlier study, Lucifer, while infinitely less than God, is more than a match for any human. He is not only exponentially more intelligent, but an unsurpassed, seductive and manipulating con artist.
- James 4:7 tells us to "Submit therefore to God, resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." This simply means to turn your face to the Father , your ear to His Word alone, and your back to Satan. We must study God's Word, memorize it, meditate on it, obey it submissively, and teach it to one another, while ignoring Satan's twisted temptations (Ezra 7:10; 2 Tim 2:1-4).
- We must L.E.A.D. one another to restoration and maturity in the Way of God's Son. Through Loving, Equipping, Accountability, and Discipline our church can bring glory and not dishonor to our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

* For more information about Biblical Discipleship Counseling vs. psychologized "Christian" counseling, see the related articles on Counseling and New World Deceptions at:
http://www.soulcare.org/articles.htm#Counseling
http://www.soulcare.org/articles.htm#Deceptions