Is there evidence of Adam and Eve’s repentance and faith after the fall?

Obviously, Adam and Eve experienced a profound sense of guilt and shame, which Scripture teaches. Even though they fled from God and hid from God, two things stand out in that narrative.

One, the first act of redemption recorded in sacred Scripture was when God condescended to make garments to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. If you look at that whole concept of nakedness from Adam and Eve to Noah and through the whole of sacred Scripture, you will see the motif over and over again that salvation is communicated through the metaphor of covering. On the Day of Atonement, when the high priest would take the blood of the animal and sprinkle it on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, the blood became a covering for the iniquities of his people. The work of Christ in our redemption is that He provides us with the clothing of His righteousness to cover our filthy rags and our nakedness. Since God instituted that principle of imputation, or covering of sin, with Adam and Eve, that strongly suggests to me that they were redeemed. That would have presupposed their repentance.

Two, in the curse of the serpent that is part of the judgment of God for the fall, there is the promise of the protoevangel. That is, from the seed of the woman would come One who would crush the head of the serpent while its heel was being bruised. That was a promise of redemption given to Adam and Eve, and to their descendants, based on grace.

This transcript is from an Ask R.C. Live event with R.C. Sproul and has been lightly edited for readability. To ask Ligonier a biblical or theological question, email ask@ligonier.org or message us on Facebook or Twitter.