Genesis 3:22-24 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

The statement in line 22 was made about Adam and Eve in the garden after they disobeyed God and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Up until that time they were sinless and nothing they did was a problem for God. There was only one command, don’t eat that.

Notice carefully the issue presented, that they still had the ability to eat of the tree of life and become eternal beings in paradise. An eternal being with sin upon them would be a permanent risk of contaminating God’s holiness. In this one sense holiness means separation from that which is common.

In verse 24 the flaming sword kept the way to the tree of life. If you think it is to keep mankind from entering in to partake of the tree of life, you would be wrong. It is to keep the way open but to ensure that sin could not enter in to paradise. People are not the problem, sin is the problem.

Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Word of God is the Sword of Salvation. Its primary task is to separate (divide) so that sin is not allowed entry to the tree of life.