Could Christ have sinned?

[reddogs]

Was it all a charade or could Christ have sinned?

Matthew 4:1
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

 

[Michael74]

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 1 Peter 2:22 KJV

 

[KevinK]

"To be tempted" does not equal "was actually tempted".

So short answer, no.

 

[JohnDB]

Jesus overcame...
That means that He had the ability to sin... But He did not sin.

The "Son of Man" Coulda said "enough already" and been done with the whole lot of us...but He didn't.

 

[for_his_glory]

John 1:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Being that Jesus is the word come as a light into the world, no, He could not sin even when being tempted as He is the life of God.

 

[reddogs]

"To be tempted" does not equal "was actually tempted".

So short answer, no.

That makes no sense, either you are tempted or you are not. Christ was made man and He inherited the fallen human nature of Adam, with its physical and mental weaknesses and was tempted on all points.

 

[KevinK]

That makes no sense, either you are tempted or you are not. Christ was made man and He inherited the fallen human nature of Adam, with its physical and mental weaknesses and was tempted on all points.

No, I don't think it's the same. "To be tempted" means for the intention of being tempted. It doesn't mean that intention was successful. I fear you are missing a Biblical truth due to a semantic issue.

An example, perhaps: "I went to the river to fish." It doesn't mean I actually caught anything.

 

[reddogs]

No, I don't think it's the same. "To be tempted" means for the intention of being tempted. It doesn't mean that intention was successful. I fear you are missing a Biblical truth due to a semantic issue.

An example, perhaps: "I went to the river to fish." It doesn't mean I actually caught anything.

Ok, so was Christ temped or was He just pretending to be a human. It was not a play or drama, He went through the reality of mankind, He was made fully man and yet was fully God at the same time.

 

[KevinK]

Ok, so was Christ temped or was He just pretending to be a human. It was not a play or drama, He went through the reality of mankind, He was made fully man and yet was fully God at the same time.

Well, let me answer this way: As a man, He felt temptation; as God, He chose against it.

 

[reddogs]

Well, let me answer this way: As a man, He felt temptation; as God, He chose against it.

So as Christ is our example, He had to use the power not of self but from on high, the Father, which is available to us.

 

[KevinK]

Yes, it is why none of us can save ourselves. We all need the Christ, or it ain't gonna happen.

 

[reddogs]

Yes, it is why none of us can save ourselves. We all need the Christ, or it ain't gonna happen.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

So as fully man, Jesus felt the full force of all temptations. The ones that we feel and cause us to stumble, Christ felt to the highest level and prevailed.

 

[JohnDB]

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

So as fully man, Jesus felt the full force of all temptations. The ones that we feel and cause us to stumble, Christ felt to the highest level and prevailed.

I was thinking about the book of Hebrews as the answer to this discussion... especially this verse. Also the verses that describes Jesus in submission to his Father in heaven.

Where much of the story of Jesus being Tempted in the Wilderness by Satan is not understood because of the nature of the writing; the temptations are real.

Few understand why turning rocks into bread was a sin to begin with... Jesus was hungry after all. And it wasn't like it was going to become a gourmet meal...it was just some bread/basic food. For a starving person? Where's the harm?

And since people today don't understand the temptation they don't believe it to be a genuine trial to overcome.

But...
The truth is something different.
The temptation was real...hard to get past. More difficult than most people are capable of doing. (Hey, I admit that I like nice things too...the bread was just like giving a mouse a cookie)

 

[reddogs]

I was thinking about the book of Hebrews as the answer to this discussion... especially this verse. Also the verses that describes Jesus in submission to his Father in heaven.

Where much of the story of Jesus being Tempted in the Wilderness by Satan is not understood because of the nature of the writing; the temptations are real.

Few understand why turning rocks into bread was a sin to begin with... Jesus was hungry after all. And it wasn't like it was going to become a gourmet meal...it was just some bread/basic food. For a starving person? Where's the harm?

And since people today don't understand the temptation they don't believe it to be a genuine trial to overcome.

But...
The truth is something different.
The temptation was real...hard to get past. More difficult than most people are capable of doing. (Hey, I admit that I like nice things too...the bread was just like giving a mouse a cookie)

All I can add to that is Amen.

 

[WIP]

Ok, so was Christ temped or was He just pretending to be a human. It was not a play or drama, He went through the reality of mankind, He was made fully man and yet was fully God at the same time.

You're mixing up two different uses of the term "temptation."

• Temptation can be an act of attempting to entice another. If a pedophile offers a child a piece of candy, he is tempting the child.
• Temptation can also be a response to a presented temptation. When the candy is offered to the child by the pedophile, the child could be tempted to indulge or not. For example, if the child hates sweets, the child would not be tempted (not desire) to take it even though the pedophile presented the temptation.

The Scripture you referenced says that Jesus was tempted by the devil. In other words, the devil offered the temptation or attempted to tempt Jesus. To Jesus, however, sin is bitter and He was not enticed into accepting or giving in to the devil's temptations.

 

[KevinK]

You're mixing up two different uses of the term "temptation."

Exactly. "Tempt" is one of those verbs that can be transitive or intransitive, with very different meanings. "He tempted me" is completely different from "I was tempted to...."

 

[reddogs]

Well, I think the Bible is clear, He was tempted as all men "in every respect". So if Christ can prevail, it is a example for us to follow.

 

[OzSpen]

That makes no sense, either you are tempted or you are not. Christ was made man and He inherited the fallen human nature of Adam, with its physical and mental weaknesses and was tempted on all points.

reddogs,

Christ did not inherit the fallen nature of all other human beings because it takes the sexual intercourse of 2 sinful human beings to create a person with a sinful nature.

Heb 4:15 (NIV) states: 'For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin'.

Because he did not sin, one of his essential attributes was not sin. He could not have a sin nature and be without sin. Jesus' nature was not sinful.

Heb 7:26 confirms Jesus' pure nature as opposed to a sinful nature: 'Such a high priest truly meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens'.

These verses from Hebrews confirm Jesus did not have a sinful nature, he could be tempted as we are but he did not sin. He had a pure nature.

Oz

 

[reddogs]

reddogs,

Christ did not inherit the fallen nature of all other human beings because it takes the sexual intercourse of 2 sinful human beings to create a person with a sinful nature.

Heb 4:15 (NIV) states: 'For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin'.

Because he did not sin, one of his essential attributes was not sin. He could not have a sin nature and be without sin. Jesus' nature was not sinful.

Heb 7:26 confirms Jesus' pure nature as opposed to a sinful nature: 'Such a high priest truly meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens'.

These verses from Hebrews confirm Jesus did not have a sinful nature, he could be tempted as we are but he did not sin. He had a pure nature.

Oz

God made man and woman and set up the way for them to have offspring, so I think He knew how we are made. Jesus was fully human or He could not be our example, and we would not have a way to refute Satan's premise that Gods law was unjust and too harsh and man could not overcome sin.

 

[Cygnus]

That makes no sense, either you are tempted or you are not. Christ was made man and He inherited the fallen human nature of Adam, with its physical and mental weaknesses and was tempted on all points.

Christ didn't inherit the fallen human nature of Adam. People forget the Holy Spirit was involved with the pregnancy of Mary.