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The Persecuted Church

 

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How can Jesus be God if God cannot be tempted?

James 1:13 says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone."   How can Jesus be GOD if God cannot be tempted?

 It does not say “he cannot be tempted”- but that “he cannot be tempted by evil”- that is the point of James thought, God does not tempt us with evil (to sin) nor can He be tempted by evil and sin.

 Jesus was tempted at all points (Heb.4:15), meaning Jesus was tempted at all points as mentioned in 1 Jn.2:16- the world—1) the lust of the flesh, 2) the lust of the eyes, and 3) the pride of life (1 Jn.2:16). He was tempted directly by the Devil to do evil by disobeying god and coveting the kingdom. Even Satan the most power creature was unable to tempt Jesus to do sin or evil (Mt.4).

 Temptations often instigate a response from the sin nature in man, but Jesus had no sin nature.

 2 Corinthians 5:20-21: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 1 Peter 2:21-22: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:  "Who committed no sin” Nor was deceit found in His mouth";

 1 John 3:5-6: “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.”

The first Adam became a sinner by sinning, after him the whole human race had no choice, it was passed on as our nature. Jesus as the 2nd Adam had the same choice to become a sinner by sinning. Could Jesus have sinned in his humanity while being God in the flesh? We need to understand that he was one person. If his humanity was separate, it could have willed to do just as Adam did. But his spirit , who he was inside kept him pure. While He had the choice to sin He did not have the ability, he was dead to sin. The humanity of Christ could never be separate from or unsupported from His deity.

He knew no sin (2 Cor.5:21) meaning He gained no knowledge of sin through experience. He came like a man (Rom.8:3) looking like anyone else yet without the sinful nature. He could not react to sin in any way. In our fallen humanity we cannot act apart from our nature. Jesus however did not have the sin nature that we have. He was free to act perfectly in all situations. He acted upon his sinless nature obeying another's will, that of his Father.  He was not able to go against God's will because He did not have the nature of sin to have that possibility. Jn. 8:46 he asks the people "which of you convicts me of sin." Obviously they could not accuse him of any sin in all the time he lived among them. Jesus was born under the law but was kept free from any transgressions of the law. He was the only one who ever obeyed the law perfectly in all its requirements.   Since sin is falling short of God's perfection Jesus was never less than perfect at any time.  

What of all the temptations, were they genuine, did he feel what we do? Each of us can relate to being tempted and have successfully resisted that temptation not giving in to the pull of sin. None of us would argue that the temptation was real and had a purpose in its end.  The temptations that Jesus had were every bit real as ours, maybe more intense since the enemy was working vigorously toward the goal of Jesus' defeat. Since he did not give in, it does not discount how real they were. Temptability does mean one is susceptible to do that temptation. An army can attack another Army but that does not mean it can conquer it. For example, God has all power, He can create and destroy with the blink of an eye. Does this mean if he does not use his power he does not really posses it?

Jesus was made perfect through his suffering (Heb.2:10), In other words it is speaking of his humanity being tested. Heb.4:15: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin."

 "For in that he himself suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted." By becoming a man He can understand our human predicament. He lived it victoriously and can go before the Father representing humanity and pray for our weaknesses.

Heb 7:25-27:  "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God since He always lives to make intercession for them." For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for Ms own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up himself”

He was tempted without sinning because "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor. 5:19-21.) 

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