• “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 23 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden, He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life,” (Genesis 3:22–24).

Some conditionalists use this verse to support their view that the natural state of the soul is not immortal. The reason that the cherubim needed to guard the way to the tree of life because Adam and Eve did not naturally possess an immortal soul; that is, they did not naturally possess eternal life. But, such a reading is not necessary. They have imposed an assumption upon the text.

It is just as valid to say that the reason they were not allowed to return and eat from the tree of life is that they would not have lived forever in their sinful state. Since the pre-incarnate Christ had covered them with animal skins in the garden, the act of redemption and its prophetic representation, was already in place. But since Christ had not yet been crucified and risen, the way to eternal life and not yet been established. Therefore, God guarded the tree of life so no one would eat from it and thereby live forever in that fallen, physical state.

• “God was not threatened by the man’s wisdom when He expelled him from the garden, but it was necessary to prohibit the couple’s access to the tree of life or the penalty of death for disobedience could not be carried out. Although the human couple would die, it was ultimately merciful to deny them the tree; otherwise they would live forever in a sinful and painful world. God graciously provided for their new environment outside the garden (v. 21), and ultimately for their eternal salvation through the promised “seed.”¹Cabal, Ted, Chad Owen Brand, E. Ray Clendenen, Paul Copan, J.P. Moreland, and Doug Powell. The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007.