What would happen if Eve had not taken the fruit? ~ Sarah Smith
God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden and gave him instructions, which included the prohibition of eating the fruit from a certain tree (Genesis 2:16-17). Eve likewise was aware of the prohibition of eating the fruit from a certain tree (Genesis 3:1-3). Adam and Even knew that God had said that if they ate the forbidden fruit they would die. Satan, having taken the form of a snake, told Eve that she and Adam would not die if they ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:4). Eve disregarded God’s instructions, believed the devil’s lie and ate the forbidden fruit; then, she gave the fruit to Adam who also ate it (Genesis 3:6). Eve was deceived and ate the forbidden fruit first (1 Timothy 2:14) and Adam apparently realized what he was doing when he followed his wife’s lead.
The first pair died in two ways when they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. They died spiritually or were separated from God (Genesis 3:23-24; Romans 6:23). They began to die physically as well (Genesis 3:22-24; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Not the guilt of Adam and Eve’s sin, but the consequence of their sin physical death passed to all humanity (Romans 5:12-14).
Theoretically, had Adam and Eve not sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, they would neither have been separated from God nor would have their bodies begun to die; they would lived forever as they were in the Garden of Eden or for as long as God may have wanted them to remain there, for example, as opposed to moving them to heaven. Neither sin nor death would have entered the world among humans.
Realistically, though, had Adam and Eve not eaten the forbidden fruit, humans being creatures of choice, either they or their offspring through the generations (even up to our day) eventually would have made the wrong choice sinned. The apostle Paul wrote respecting the frailty of humans and how that not one person who has ever lived except Jesus Christ was wholly sinless (Romans 3:23; Hebrews 4:15).
Therefore, we cannot be too hard on Adam and Eve. Had sin and death not entered into the world on that occasion, then it would have entered on another occasion. We would have fared no better. Yet, the fact that we humans fall short of sinless perfection does not excuse our sins (Romans 6:1-2). Jesus died that those who conform to his Gospel can be saved from their sins (Matthew 26:28; 1 John 2:2; Romans 6:17-18; Hebrews 9:15; Romans 1:16).
