“And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim (Jehovah Gods) caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:9). The word knowledge or science, in the Hebrew, is DAAT, or to know sexually, have intimate relations. Jehovah Elohim (Jehovah Gods) prohibited Adam from eating from the tree of the knowledge of sexual knowledge, for if he ate, he would die (Gen. 2:17). This rule was made before the woman was created, so this proves that it is not licit to man to know sex before marriage. For Jehovah Elohim, whoever practices sex outside marriage, dies. In the New Testament, too, sex outside the marriage bonds, kills (1 Cor. 6:10; Matt. 19:10; Rev. 21:8; 22:15: Gal. 5:19-21).

So, to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are two ways of practicing sex.

1. Good is juvenile virginity, and evil is fornication, for fornication is sex practiced by unmarried persons. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons, etc, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8).
2. Good is abstinence, or self-control; evil is looseness of costumes. “These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit” (Jude 19; Gal. 5:22).
3. Good is modesty and discretion; evil is shamelessness and amoral and scandalous debauchery. “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modesty and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments” (1 Tim. 2:9). In the times of Paul, it was the costume for harlots to braid their hair.
4. Good is for men to curb the fury of the flesh, and evil is to be the slave of carnal and uncontrolled passions. “…for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). Paul declared, “But I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27).
5. Good is respecting the other person; evil is corruptive seduction. “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses” (2 Tim. 3:6). “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches a leads My bondservants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality” (Rev. 2:20).
6. Good is self-respect, and evil is masturbation and lustfulness. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are” (1 Cor. 3:16,17).
7. Good are good habits; evil is perverted practices. “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame” (1 Cor. 15:33,34).
8. Good are the fruits of the Spirit; evil are the works of the flesh. “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident; which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousings and things like these, of which I forewarned you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:19-23).
9. Good is the holy marriage; evil is the filthy marriage. “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4).
10. Good is the offspring; evil is criminal abortion. “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression. But woman shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint” (1 Tim. 2:14,15).

11. Good is marriage; evil is prostitution and fornication. “ But because of immoralities, let each man have her own husband. Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband” (1 Cor. 7:1,2).

       12. Good are children receiving instruction in the home; evil are the bastards let to live on the streets. “…Jehovah said to Hosea: Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking Jehovah” (Hos. 1:2).

13. Good is the marriage chastity, and evil is divorce. What is chastity? Chastity is purity. The virgin woman is in a state of chastity. In the holy marriage, the married couple remains in a state of chastity. This chastity is symbolized in the wedding bands. The holy marriage is the wedding of virgins that remain in a state of chastity. This marriage chastity is broken by divorce or adultery. Jesus said: “…whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Matt. 19:9). There are two virginities: of the body and of the spirit. The true is the virginity of the spirit, which comes to light in the new creature, by the new birth, through faith in Jesus Christ. “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

14. The problem with men and women is that no one seeks good, and no one does good, as it is written: “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is non who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is non who does good, there is not even one” (Rom. 3: 10-12). How could Paul say this if everyone sought what is good? The problem is that everyone seeks after his or her own private good, and this hurts his or her neighbor. Private good is selfish. It does not suffer with the other person’s pain. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, said, “Common good is more sublime than private good”. The good that a man does is to achieve something. Robespierre, a French lawyer, was against the death penalty and heartily defended the unhappy convicts. When he reached power, he set up a regimen of terror and was the worst killer of innocent men. He fell off from power and ended up in the gallows, to where he sent his victims. The common good appears only when someone renounces their private good. This Jesus did, being rich, and making himself poor, so that, by his poverty we might get rich (2 Cor. 8:9). Paul understood what was salvation, and said, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). A marriage is perfect only when its marriage partners are submitted to God. Respect and purity is solely to be found in the hearts where Jesus dwells.

By Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira