With regards to the concern for personal ownership,
there will always be the battle between flesh and spirit:
covetousness versus contentment.
It is noteworthy that before anyone sinned and fell
in the garden, Eve demonstrated covetousness.
Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, that
it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree
desirable to make one wise, she took of
its fruit and ate.
James 1:
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted
by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does
He Himself tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is
drawn away
by his own desires and enticed.
15 Then,
when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
So how is it that some speak of "innocence" in the garden?
There was desire, ready to conceive.
1 John 2:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—
is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it;
but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The Gospel concern remains covetousness towards what
others own, and the magnification of sin caused thereby.
In 1 Kings 21, King Ahab desired a vineyard owned by
Naboth, who refused to sell his family inheritance to the
king, so his wife, Queen Jezebel had Naboth murdered!
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite,
saying,
18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel,
who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth,
where he has gone down to take possession of it.
19 You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord:
Have you murdered and also taken possession?
In spite of how often the scriptures speak of idols and
idolatry, the church does a poor job of making clear that
idolatry is born out of covetousness, and that self-
seeking and envy leads to all manner of sins. Genesis 4:7
James 3:16 For where envy and self-seeking exist,
confusion and
every evil thing is there.
Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members
which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion,
evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry.