Today's passage of Scripture is Deuteronomy 9:3 which reads: "Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee."

Today's words from a theologian are from Adam Clarke. He said: "If you go forward in the spirit of the original apostles and followers of Jesus Christ, trusting not in man but in the living God, he will enable you to pull down the strong holds of sin and Satan, and that work by which he is pleased will prosper in your hands."

Our first topic for today is titled "What Are the Implications of the Bible Being the Word of God? (Part 3)" from the book, "Understanding Theology in 15 Minutes a Day" by Dr. Daryl Aaron.

The Bible Is a Unity

Because the Bible ultimately comes from one source and mind (God’s), it reflects a perfect harmony of thought. Thus it contains no contradictions, as there are no contradictions in God’s mind. One portion will never contradict any other; a biblical text will always agree with and complement all others.

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Our second topic for today is titled "Theology of the Edenic Era: Fall and Judgment" from "The Moody Handbook of Theology" by Dr. Paul Enns.

The Temptation and Sin

God placed man in the garden and gave man the opportunity to obey Him and lead the human race into eternal blessing (he could have been confirmed in righteousness by eating from the Tree of Life). It was a test concerning Adam's loyalty and obedience to God.

The solicitation to sin came to Eve through the serpent. The fact that the serpent could tempt Eve suggests evil was present (although man had not yet sinned). It must forever remain a riddle as to where sin came from; it is one of the mysteries of life. Although it was the serpent speaking, it was Satan who engineered the temptation. It was possible because he was "crafty". The serpent opposed the glory of God and sought to disrupt man's fellowship with God and man's rule over God's creation. Satan, through the serpent, raised doubt about God's word; he lied by saying that man would not die, expressing it in strongest terms, "You surely will not die.†Eve submitted to the temptation, sinning in the manner common to the human race: through the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Adam also participated in the sin; although Eve was deceived, Adam realized what he was doing, hence, the greater judgment. For this reason Adam is constituted the first sinner.

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