Genesis 3: The Fruit We Were Never Meant to Edit

Genesis 3 — “The Fruit We Were Never Meant to Edit”

Genesis 3:1–7

Genesis 3 marks a turning point in the biblical story—not because humanity suddenly encounters evil, but because humanity decides to define good and evil apart from God.

The tree in the garden is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Whether its fruit was literal, symbolic, or both, Scripture makes clear that the issue was not hunger or curiosity—it was authority. Who gets to say what is good? Who gets to say what is evil?

God had already spoken clearly:

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.”

The command was simple, generous, and sufficient. Yet when the command is later repeated, something subtle changes:

“Neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”

God never said that.

Somewhere between God’s voice and human obedience, His word was expanded, filtered through human caution, interpretation, or fear. Scripture does not pause to assign blame—but it shows us the danger. When God’s word is no longer received as spoken, it becomes vulnerable to distortion.

The serpent does not begin with denial. He begins with confusion. And once the word is blurred, obedience becomes negotiable.

This pattern echoes throughout Scripture.

God repeatedly warns His people:

“You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it.”

Adding to God’s word implies He did not say enough. Subtracting from it implies He said too much.

Both replace trust with control.

The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil represents more than information—it represents self-authored morality. It is humanity’s decision to determine right and wrong internally rather than receive them relationally from God.

This stands in contrast to another kind of fruit Scripture describes.

In Galatians 5, Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This fruit is not seized. It is borne. It grows not through knowledge alone, but through abiding obedience.

The tree in the garden offered wisdom without dependence. The Spirit offers life through dependence.

Jesus confronts this same temptation in the wilderness. When tested, He does not expand God’s word, soften it, or reinterpret it. He simply says:

“It is written.”

Not more than what is written. Not less than what is written.

Jesus succeeds where Adam failed by trusting the Father’s word without editing it.

Genesis 3 confronts us with a timeless question:

Will we obey God as He has spoken—or as we have revised Him?

We rarely reject God’s word outright. More often, we adjust it. We add restrictions and call it holiness. We remove commands and call it grace. We elevate our interpretations and call them wisdom.

But life is found not in mastering the knowledge of good and evil, but in trusting the God who speaks.

The gospel tells us this: Though we took the fruit, Jesus gives us His Spirit.

And where God’s word is received—not edited—His Spirit still bears fruit.