Here are outlined two distinct classes of people; those who walk according to the course of this world and those who have been "quickened together with Christ" and led by the Spirit. The spirit that works in the children of disobedience written of in verse 2 is the spirit of evil enmity. Being delivered from it (and the effects of it) is a matter of wholly yielding ourselves to the Spirit of God; submitting to the godly enmity. Notice that those to whom Paul is speaking are those who "…in time past…walked according to the course of this (the) world, but now ‘in Christ Jesus’ are made nigh by His blood." To draw near to God and Christ, one must move away from Sin and its influences. Matthew 6:24 clearly tells us that we cannot serve two masters.

Romans 6:16-23 tells us;

   This is the same choice spoken of in Ephesians chapter 2 and the choice God gave Adam and Eve in the garden concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They chose to yield themselves as servants of Satan and Sin.

   Read Genesis 3:7.

   Here we find the nakedness spoken of in Revelation chapter 3.

   Read verse 8.

   Prior to this, they found only joy in the presence of the Lord, now  they hid themselves from Him. Why? Something was out of harmony.  Something had caused a separation where before there had been only blessed communion.

   Read verse 9-11.

   Did Adam say, "Yes, I have and I'm sorry." No, that is not what he said. Consider again what God said; the question was "Have you eaten of the tree from which I told you not to eat?" Instead of just admitting that he had, Adam gave quite a different answer.

   Read verse 12.

   It came out at last, "...I did eat." But, notice what he went through before he finally admitted it. He blamed God for giving him the woman, he blamed the woman for giving him the fruit, and then last, he admitted that he had eaten of the tree. Why didn't he just confess that he had done wrong? Why did he not just say, "Yes, I did it?"

   Let's continue at verse 13: (Read)

   God now addresses Eve. What is her reply? Did she say, "I took some of the fruit from the tree and eat it and then I gave some to Adam, I'm sorry." No, this was not the case, she too attempted to place the blame somewhere else. The question was? "What is this that thou hast done?" But what was her answer? "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." She answered the question the same way Adam did; blaming everyone else first; implying that someone else was to blame, not her. In both cases they actually attempted to place blame on God. Isn't this what we sometimes do in situations of extreme frustration?

   Now, I ask again, why didn't they just admit that they had done wrong? They simply couldn't. They could not give a straight answer to a simple question. Why is this?

   The mind that they now possessed was incapable of telling the truth. They had accepted the mind of Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44). Satan's mind held them in bondage; enslaved them under his power. They had not only accepted Satan as their thought leader, but in accepting Satan's mind, they had rejected God's mind and the "truth" was no longer in them. They were no longer "in the image of God" they were now in the image of Satan. They had taken unto themselves his character; one that is directly opposed to God.

   The hatred that Satan had for God was passed on into Adam's mind and he didn't know what was happening. Up to this time he had known only good. Now he was being subjected to knowledge of both good and evil and he didn't know how to deal with it, so he lied, trying to place the blame on someone or something else. It wasn't his fault. Oh yes, he was responsible for his disobedience. But, from the time that choice was made and Adam transgressed, he was no longer in control of his own mind, for he had surrendered it to the prince of darkness.

   Immediately, Jesus came to the rescue. According to the plan previously set forth in the holy council of the Godhead, godly enmity was placed between the seed of Satan and the Seed of the woman. The controversy that began then still rages today. It is raging in the mind of every man, woman and child on the face of the Earth.

   What the Lord did, by placing the godly enmity, was reinstate Adam's freedom to choose whom he would serve; to whom he would yield his allegiance. The image in which man was created was not immediately restored to him; God could not do that. Whether the godly image would again be restored in man must be man’s decision. Man must choose whom he will obey. Within the enmity spoken of in Genesis 3:15 was also a promise of a Saviour, the "Seed." God placed in Adam, a hatred for Sin. Through this act of love, God gave Adam a knowledge and realization of His goodness and longsuffering care and, with this, hope for the future.

   Read James 4:4.

   The world is not at all friendly toward God. It is subject to the enmity that entered the human race through Adam's transgression. The worldly mind is carnal and as Romans 8:7 tells us,

   This is surely not the enmity that Christ placed between the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the woman. God would never place something that would cause us to be against Him; something that was not subject to His law. This would defeat the very purpose for placing it there in the first place, especially when it was the "first" promise given on our behalf.

   Many are taught and, therefore, believe that a person is sinful based on whether he or she sins. Conversely, if they do good, they are not a sinner. Because of this belief, many come to the faulty conclusion that all one has to do to make themselves right with God and "earn" eternal life is "be a good person." This flawed thinking also causes many, who have some realization of the fact that they are not altogether good, to determine they are without hope; and this type of thinking causes them to determine that they will never be good enough, so why try? Both of these lines of reasoning lead to futility and are not in the realm of Biblical thought or God’s good purpose that "He purposed in himself." (Ephesians 1:9)

   The central issue is not whether one is good or bad, right or wrong, deserving or undeserving. The issue is whether we believe that God exists, that He loves us, and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. Another determining factor is how we respond to His love. God is not responsible for sin. Sin entered the universe through the selfish mind of Satan and there is no real explanation for it. We know only that it began in heaven. We know that Satan was the perpetrator, but no one knows why he chose such a rebellious course. What concerns us is that God has done all to redeem us from its curse. Many do not understand what the real issue is, but God, in His love and grace, is alerting everyone to the danger that exists because of the evil enmity. In everyone's life, God finds a ways to issue warning after warning. He not only issues a warning of the danger, but also provides a solution; His (agape) love will not allow us to perish until every effort to redeem fallen man is exhausted. He is not willing that any should perish. (2Peter 3:9)

   Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4;

   Satan and his deceptions are being revealed. We will discuss this at further length in Chapter 7. God, in His mercy, is letting Sin run its course so that it will be seen for what it really is. (Romans 7:13) The Lord wants everyone to have the opportunity to choose between life and death. (Deuteronomy 30:15) We can choose to surrender our lives to Satan and serve Sin, which brings death, or we can submit to Jesus and, by the power of His Holy Spirit, serve righteousness, which is life. (See Ephesians 2:15 & 16.)

   To better express the meaning of these passages let's look at some corresponding texts. Even though the word enmity is not mentioned. They will show the purpose of God in giving His Son as revealed in John 3:16.

   Read John 17:14, 15, Ephesians 1:3-10, Romans 5:8 and Romans 5:17-21.

   Within these scriptures is the fulfillment of the promise given in Genesis 3:15.  The Lord promised that He would put enmity between the seed of the serpent and the "Seed" of the woman. Then at the appointed time (Ephesians 1:10) Jesus became that "Seed" and broke down the wall that separated us from the Father and from each other. He came and lived a perfectly righteous life in the flesh. (See John 1:1-3, 14 and Hebrews 2:14 &15) He demonstrated to us the love with which the Father loves us; that is; He loved us enough to let His Son die a horrible death on a cross as a sacrifice for sin, when in fact the sinner him/herself is the one who should die. Christ came to pay a debt He did not owe, because mankind (each of us individually and all of us corporately) owe a debt we cannot otherwise pay.

   Jesus did only good; healing the lame and the sick, making the blind to see, and most important, forgiving sin. He didn't even raise His hand to defend Himself when He was beaten and spat upon. And in this treatment we see evil enmity manifested in the minds of those who murdered Jesus. We actually see Satan killing God who "…was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." (2Corinthians 5:19)

   In all this we see the love of God manifested in Christ as He suffered death, even the death of the cross. By this act evil enmity was abolished in that we now see the love of God in its fullest most perfect expression, Christ, His beloved Son. We also see how much God loves each and every soul for whom Christ died. How can we not love a God who is willing to go so far to win back to Himself those who daily betray Him? Does God truly care for His creation or is He the tyrant Satan claims Him to be? Does He deserve our love and service? These questions are asked as we see God's sinless, yet crucified Son, pleading for our forgiveness and for the forgiveness of those that had just beaten Him beyond recognition, and hung Him on a cross to die.