Christian Living

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

That is a great question. I remember the first time I heard that question; I was in high school in a youth group meeting when another fellow student asked the leader this question. I honestly don’t remember the answer given at the time, but I just remember thinking it was very insightful to ask that.

I mean, it’s true. Jesus said, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). We know He’s talking about freedom from sin because just before that in John 8:34 He says that everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Lately, I have this feeling that’s been eating me up inside about God. I am a saved Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior by faith alone. But just recently I’ve been pondering this: why won’t God interact with me more? Like, if I were to sing a song of praise just in my bedroom or something, I could know He heard me, but I don’t get any special feeling nor does He give me a sign or anything letting me know that He loved my singing or something. Maybe I’m going too much by my feelings, but I just feel like He should be doing things with me.

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Yes, I believe you could say that God tested Adam and Eve’s obedience in the Garden of Eden. The Bible never says it in those exact terms, or at least I’m not aware of any such description, but you certainly get that impression from reading the account in Genesis.

Ultimately, it was a test to see if they would trust God or not. Obedience flows out of a healthy trust in God. He told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they trusted God that He knew what was best for them, that He told the truth to them, and that He loved them, then they wouldn’t have disobeyed.