Rethinking Adam's Salvation

I would like to offer some possible evidence from the scriptures that Adam was not ultimately saved. I think that it’s a common assumption that he was, since God immediately moved to cover his sin and Eve’s after the fall (Gen. 3:15, 21-24). As I’ve pondered this question over the years, however, I’ve come across a few things that make me doubt that Adam was saved.

1. The most disturbing thing that I noticed was that, even though Adam and Enoch were contemporaries (www.arksearch.com/nabefore.htm), Enoch was said to walk with God (Gen. 5:22, 24), not Adam. Furthermore, if Adam died in 3070 B.C. at 930 years old (Gen. 5:5), then Enoch walked with God for 243 years while Adam was still alive, if Enoch was born in 3378 B.C. and began to walk with God 65 years later, as scripture says that he did (Gen. 5:21-22). Also, during this time, Enoch was prophesying of God’s coming judgment, as recorded in Jude 14-15.

2. In Hebrews 11, the “Hall of Faith” begins with creation then skips to Abel (Heb. 11:3-4). What about Adam? Wasn’t he the first faithful one? (Note also that God skips from Abel to Enoch (what about Seth?) and then from Enoch to Noah (what about Lamech?)). So it appears that all of the Sethite patriarchs were not godly; only a few of them were (i.e. Abel, Enoch, and Noah).

3. In Mt. 23:35, where Christ refers to the righteous bled shed since the foundation of the world (Luke 11:50-51), he begins with Abel, not Adam. The context in Mt. 23, compared with Luke 11:50-51 shows that Christ is referring to the prophets, but why is Abel listed and not Adam? Didn’t Adam prophesy? Apparently not. Three righteous men before the flood are mentioned: Abel, Enoch, and Noah, and all of them are said or implied to be prophets, or at least preachers (cf. Jude 14-15 re: Enoch and 2 Pt. 2:5 re: Noah; Noah likely prophesied of coming judgment like Enoch before him).

One might argue that the covering with skins (Gen. 3:21) and expulsion from the garden (Gen. 3:22-24) prove that Adam was saved, but I think that this view doesn’t consider an important truth about salvation in the old testament. Whereas believers in Christ are promised eternal security due to their position in him (Rom. 8:28-39; Eph. 4:30; Col. 3:3; 2 Tim. 1:12, 4:18; etc.), no such promise is made to saints in any other dispensation, past or future. Saints in these ages are expected to have faith and persevere in good works (e.g. Ezek. 18:24; Mt. 24:13; Heb. 3:6, 11; James 2:21-24; etc.). Hence God’s admonition to Cain in Gen. 4:7, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door…” So Cain’s standing before God had something to do with what he did, not just what he believed (cf. Rom. 10:5). His works, though not meritorious in and of themselves (Is. 64:6; Rom. 3:20; Tit. 3:5), figured in his salvation, to perfect his faith (Jas. 2:22; 1 John 3:12). He refuses to obey a clear command of God (blood sacrifice for sins) and ends up lost (note Jude 11: all three men are lost; cf. Jude 13; 2 Pt. 2:15-17; Num. 16:31-32). He does not persevere in good works like Abel did.

In light of points #1-#3 above, I’m doubtful that Adam preserved in good works either, but he may have turned away from God, despite the Lord’s mercy and grace toward him after he fell. In a way it seems appropriate, in a way, that the rebellious head of mankind and ruler of all the earth, who knew that he was just that (Gen. 1:28; 2:19-20; Ps. 8:4-8), should end up lost, though he did not have to (Gen. 4:7; 1 Tim. 2:6). Adam freely chose to rebel against God, and he hopefully chose to obey God the rest of his life, but the evidence does not seem to support this. After Adam’s expulsion from the garden, the only other references to him are his siring of Seth and his death (Gen. 5:1-5. In light of all the evidence above, it may be that the head of fallen mankind ended up in perdition, while the head of redeemed mankind ends up in glory (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21-22; Col. 3:4; 1 Tim. 3:16).