What Was the Sin Whereby Our First Parents Fell from the Estate Wherein They Were Created?

Answ. The sin whereby our first parents fell
from the estate wherein they were created,
was their eating the forbidden fruit.

O. What was the cause of Adam’s abusing his freedom of will ?* A. The temptation of Satan, 2 Cor. xi. 3.

Qj WTiom call you Satan? A. The prince of fallen angels or devils, Matth. xxv. 41. Rev. xx. 2.

Q. When did Satan tempt our first parents? A. Soon after they were created, and perhaps that very same day.

Q. Why did the devil tempt them so soon? A. He is full of malice, set upon mischief, and will lose no opportunities of committing it, 1 Pet. v. S. Job i. and ii.

Qj What moved Sataa to tempt man? A. His

enmity against God, and envy at man’s happiness.

Q. Whether did he first tempt the man or the woman?

A. The woman in her husband’s absence, Gen. iii. 2.

O. Why so? A. Because she was the weaker vessel.

Q. By what instrument did Satan tempt the woman?

A. By a serpent, Gen. iii. 1. 2 Cor. xi. 3.

Q^ Why made he use of a serpent as his instrument?

A. Because the serpent being naturally subtile, and perhaps beautiful, the woman might not suspect any thing uncommon in its speech, 2 Cor. xi. 3* Gen. iii.l. t F

Q. To what did Satan tempt our first parents?

A. To eat of the forbidden fruit, Gen. iii. 1, — 5.

Q. How did he tempt them to eat of this fruit?

A. He suggested that there -was reason to question God’s command; and promised safety and advantage in eating it, Gen. iii.

Q. What advantage did he promise to them in eating this fruit? A. He said they would be as gods,

knowing good and evil, Gen. iii. 5.

Q. How did he confirm this false promise of advantage?

A. By declaring that God knew the truth of what he said, Gen. iii. 5.

O. What success had the devil in this temptation?

A. The woman coveted, took, and ate of this fruit; and gave to her husband also, and he did eat, Gen. iii. 6.

Q. Was the eating of this fruit a great sin?

A. Yes; for it broke all the commandments of God, and was attended with many grievous aggravations.

Qj How did our first parents eating the forbidden fruit break the first commandment? A. By unthankfulness, and unbelief, in distrusting and discrediting God, and believing the devil; by making a god of their belly ‘, and by pride, in seeking to render themselves as wise as God.

Qj How did it break the second commandment?

A. God’s ordinance of abstaining from that fruit was not observed, and kept pure and entire, Gen. ii. 17.

Q^ How did it break the third commandment?

A. God’s attributes were hereby profaned his truth called a liar, his majesty and holiness affronted, his power and justice contemned, and Satan’s profane appeal to him approved. Gen. iii. 5, 6.

Q. How did this sin break the fourth commandment?

A. It corrupted all the powers of their nature, and ren« dered them incapable to keep holy the Sabbath.

Q. How did this sin break the firth commandment?

A. The wife tempted her husband to sin, and he, by yielding, encouraged her in wickedness; both rebelled against their only parent God, and squ ndered away the eternal happiness of their children which was intrusted to them.

Q^. How did the eating of this fruit break the sixth commandment? A Hereby our first parents murdered themselves and all their posterity, soul and body,Rom.v,12.

Q. How did it break the seventh commandment?

A- The luxurious desire of this fruit begot in our first parents every unclean lust, Gen. in. 6. Matth. xv. 19.

Q. How did it break the eighth commandment?

A. It was a sacrilegious theft and robbery of what was the sole property of God, Gen. iii. 11.

£). How did it break the ninth commandment?

A. The eating of this fruit to render themselves happy, falsely witnessed that God had envied their happiness; and brought the infamous character of covenant-breakers upon themselves and all their posterity, Gen. iii. 1, 4, 5.

Q. How did it break the tenth commandment?

A. They were discontent with their lot, and coveted that which God had denied to them, Gen. iii. 6, — -11.

Q. How was this sin of eating the forbidden fruit highly aggravated? A. It was committed upon a small temptation; by a man lately made after the image of God, and endued with sufficient strength to resist temptations, expressly warned to avoid this sin, and honourably admitted into covenant with God; and m Paradise, where he had great abundance of pleasant fruits and other delights, Gen. i. ii. and iii.

Q. Wherein did man’s first sin begin? A. In Eve’s listening to Satan as a teacher, Gen. iii. 1, — 6.

Q. What should this teach us? A. To resist the

first motions of lusts and temptations; and to go out against them only in the strength of Christ, Eph. vi.

Qj Did this sin of eating the forbidden fruit deserve the temporal, spiritual, and eternal death of Adam, and all his natural seed? A. Yes; being infinitely evil, it

well deserved infinite punishment, Rom.vi.23.

Qj. What makes sin infinitely evil? A. Its being committed against an infinitely great and holy God, Is. lix. 13.