A Sin of Commission, A Sin of Omission

After talking to the serpent, “the woman [Eve] was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too” (Gen. 3:6; see 3:1-7). When Eve was talking to the serpent, Adam was there the whole time. He wasn’t the one who got involved. His wife did. He thought he was neutral and clean. He listened. He didn’t say anything. The silence of Adam “allowed” his wife to be seduced and overcome by the serpent. Adam failed his role as a companion. He saw a trap, but he remained silent. Eve was surely responsible for her own action. God didn’t let him get away with it, for Adam was there, and he was the head of the family. God said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit…” (3:17) Instead of telling her not to eat it, he listened and joined in.

In Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears say:

Eve believed Satan over God and chose pride over humility by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in sin against God. Hers was a sin of commission, whereby she did what God forbade. Tragically, we further read that while all of this occurred, Adam stood by silently, failing to lead his family in godliness. This was Adam’s sin of omission, whereby he failed to do what God created him to do—lovingly lead his family and humbly serve God. Adam then joined his wife’s sin of commission, bringing shame, distrust, and separation between Adam and Eve, and between them and God. this included hiding from God and one another and covering themselves, as sinners have done in varying ways ever since. (p. 147)

Sin includes both omission, where we do not do what we ought, and commission, where we do what we ought not do. (p. 151)

Genesis 3:11-12:

“‘Who told you that you were naked?’ the Lord God asked. ‘Have you eaten the fruit I commanded you not to eat?’”

“‘Yes,’ Adam admitted, ‘but it was the woman you gave me who brought me the fruit, and I ate it.’”

When Adam was expected to say the right thing at the right time, he was silent. When he covered up his sin/problem, he spoke up.