All it takes is one word added or removed to change a command God has given to cause us to fall. In the garden with Adam and Eve, they were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or that they would surely die, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17 NKJV emphasis added). The adversary, Satan, changed this by just adding one word!
Satan first questioned God’s command, “…Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen 3:1). After that, Satan changed God’s command with one word, “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die’” (Gen 3:4 emphasis added). All it took was ONE word added, and it changed everything.
Today, we see the same thing. The adversary changes God’s commands to try to get us to fall. These are a few of the things that the adversary has tempted man to change, and it has caused a great number to fall:
- Baptism is not for the remission of sins—instead, God’s words say that baptism is “..for the remission of sins…” (Acts 2:38).
- The church of your choice, there is not one church—instead, God’s words that there is but “one body,” which is the one church that Christ founded (Eph 1:22,23; cf. 4:4).
- Marriage is not needed—instead, God’s words of “marriage is honorable” (Heb 13:4).
- Modesty is outdated—instead, of God’s words of being adorned with modest apparel (1 Tim 2:9).
God’s word is what we ALL need to be heeding. The adversary is cunning (Eph 6:11). Study to make sure EVERYTHING you do is according to God, and do not let the adversary trick you by changing even one small word!
