Question: God said that if Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, they will die. But why didn’t they die instantly after they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree? Doesn’t this make the serpent’s lie of “Thou shall not surely die” a truth in a sense?
Answer: This is a very significant question. There are three ways to understand what happened at the Fall and all of them help answer your question:

1) As soon as Adam and Even ate of the tree they did die – spiritually. They turned from God and lost their spiritual life. They became, “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1, 5; Colossians 2:13; 1 Timothy 5:6).

2) As soon as there was sin there was a Savior. Jesus stepped in to our place and took upon Himself the consequences of our fall. This is seen in the sacrificial system of animals that God gave to Adam and Eve pointing to Jesus, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

3) Sin brought death to Planet Earth, Adam and Eve and all mankind. Physical death came with their sin and it began the day they chose to eat of the fruit. Death has passed to all of us through their act. So in the day they ate they did actually, physically experience something God never intended for any of us, death, the enemy of God (1 Corinthians 15:26; Revelation 21:4).

All of the above dimensions of death are encompassed in Paul’s explanation of the Genesis account:

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned… But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:12-19).

Death, says Paul, entered the world through the sin of Adam, and “spread to all men.” The word “spread” means that death as a process moved into action among the human race. Concurring with Paul, if we read Genesis 2:17 in the original Hebrew it is clear that God did not indicate that sin would cause instantaneous death, but rather that it would start a process of dying that would lead to death. Giving this sense, the Young’s Literal Translation reads, “in the day of thine eating of it—dying thou dost die.” Following Paul’s reasoning it becomes clear that he is addressing both the first death (which is temporal) and the second death (which is eternal) as the one overall effect of the fall of Adam. But then Paul explains that Christ intervened to suspend the effect of the Fall in order to bring salvation to the fallen race.

Question: Do you believe that we can overcome sin?

Answer: Yes, we believe in overcoming sin, in fact, to believe otherwise is to toss the Bible. This is because every book and epistle of the New Testament teaches that we can overcome sin – with no exceptions. (Matthew 5:48; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 6:36; John 14:15; Acts 20:32; Rom 8:4; 1 Cor 1:8; 2 Cor 10:5; Gal 5:16; Eph 5:27; Phil 3:15;; Col 3:5-10; 1 Thess 5:23, 24; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 3:17; Titus 3:11, 12; Philemon 5, 6; Heb 12:1, 2; James 1:4; 1 Peter 4:1; 2 Peter 1:10; 1 John 2:1; 2 John 6; 3 John 3, 4; Jude 24, 25; Rev see below). The real issue is not whether the Bible teaches that we can overcome—it does—but the question is whether WE will believe that we can overcome. Many do not and for good reason—they don’t know how. It can be very frustrating to be told you must do something but not know how to do it (Remember algebra). Therefore the real question is not—can we overcome sin— but rather HOW can we overcome sin.
And the answer to that question is both simple and profound. Hebrews chapter 12 gives us the clearest understanding:

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:1-3).

The solution to overcoming sin is looking unto Jesus. The problem is we don’t. Abiding in Christ, connecting to Christ, united with Christ, this is the secret of success.
Let’s explore this further in the book of Revelation. The call to overcome is given to each one of the 7 churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. This means all of God’s people are called to overcome, but most of them have a problem. The first church of Ephesus has lost its first love (Jesus). The last church of Laodicea has Jesus outside knocking on the door waiting to come in. The point is that we can only overcome by connecting with Jesus. This truth is further illustrated in Revelation 5 where John is told to behold the Lamb who has done what no man in heaven, earth or under the earth can do—He has “prevailed” (overcome, Revelation 5:3-5). In the very next chapter this same truth is illustrated symbolically by the white horse and its rider:

“And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Revelation 6:2).

The white horse represents God’s church (Zechariah 10:3) and Jesus is the rider. When Jesus takes the reins of our lives and we take His white robe of righteousness we go forth conquering and to conquer (Revelation 6:2). The word conquer is the same Greek word for “overcome” in the message to the 7 churches. It is also the same Greek word “prevailed” in the picture of the Lamb who takes the book in Revelation 5:5. So Jesus is the one who has overcome or prevailed. We overcome only as we are united with Him because our overcoming is by His righteousness not ours. It is faith in His blood (life and death Leviticus 17:11) that gives us the victory. This is further illustrated in Revelation 12:11 where it says:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11).

It is as we connect with Jesus, as we abide in Him, as we allow Him to direct our lives that we overcome—not us but Jesus in us. The devil knows this. Therefore he does all he can to take our focus away from Jesus. The pleasures of sin, life’s cares, perplexities and sorrows, the faults of others or our own faults and imperfections, to any or all of these the devil tries to direct our minds, anything to separate us from beholding Jesus.

So yes, every book of the New Testament teaches that we can overcome. But even more important, every book and almost every chapter of the New Testament points us to the gospel of Jesus Christ, His life, His death, His resurrection. Even Revelation 13—the mark of the beast chapter—directs us to the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). In the end the call to overcome is all about looking to Jesus, abiding in Him, supping with Him (Revelation 3:21). Contemplating Christ is the secret of success for the believer. Amen.