THE GOD OF JESUS: PART TWELVE
Could Jesus Have Sinned?
Apostle James writes that God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13). The implication is that God by nature is unable to be tempted by evil. It is impossible for evil to lure or entice God. Because Jesus is believed to be God, it's argued Jesus was unable to be tempted to sin when presented with temptations to do so. Therefore, Jesus was inherently unable to sin. It is believed temptation had no effect on Jesus. It is believed that when tempted by Satan, nothing Satan said or did could actually tempt Jesus because Jesus was God and by nature unable to be tempted or sin. It's believed Jesus was immune to temptations presented to Him. Yet we read the following in Hebrews.
Hebrews 4:15: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Being confronted with temptations and never sinning presupposes having the potential to yield to temptation and sin. If Jesus was by nature unable to yield to temptation and sin, this statement in Hebrews would be superfluous. It would be meaningless to say Jesus was tempted and yet without sin if Jesus was inherently unable to be tempted or sin. Of what significance would it be to say Jesus was tempted in every way without sinning if Jesus by nature was unable to be tempted and sin? It is apparent Jesus had to ask for help from God to resist temptation to sin as we all do.
Hebrews 5:7-9: During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
In Hebrews, chapter 5, the writer explains how a priest experiences the same weaknesses as those unto whom he ministers so he can identify with what they go through. The writer goes on to explain that Jesus, our High Priest, offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to his Father who was able to save Him from death and was heard because of His reverent submission. While Hebrews 5:7-9 is often seen as alluding to Jesus’ petitions to the Father to save Him from the ordeal of the crucifixion (Mark 14:32-42, Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46), the overall context of Hebrews implies Jesus had to petition His Father throughout his life for the strength to remain obedient in the face of temptation and thus avoid sin death. In Hebrews 2:17-18, Jesus is seen as suffering when tempted so He can help us who are tempted.
Hebrews 2:17-18: For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
These three passages in Hebrews portray a Christ who had to resist temptation as we all do in order to avoid sinning. If Jesus had to resist temptation as we do to avoid sin, it should be obvious Jesus had the ability to be tempted and sin. Jesus was tempted in every way we are and yet without sin. To be tempted and not sin presupposes having the ability to yield to temptation and sin. Jesus suffered through a great deal of persecution during His ministry. He suffered the insults of His trial and crucifixion. He could have retaliated and sinned in the process. He did not do this. Peter writes that when He suffered, He did not threaten anyone (1 Peter 2:23).
To suffer when being tempted or tried involves practicing restraint and not reacting in an unrighteous manner. While Christ was born with the power to resist all temptation to sin, He still had to exercise that power when confronted with temptation and trial. Jesus had to put forth effort to remain sinless. While the NT narrative only reveals trials and temptations presented to Jesus by His Jewish persecutors and Satan, the fact that the writer to the Hebrews reveals Jesus was tempted in all ways we are tempted suggests Jesus faced many other temptations which He had to successfully resist in order to avoid sin.
These passages in Hebrews plainly indicate Jesus faced temptations like other humans. The Greek word translated “tempted” is pirazo and means to be tried, tested, proved or tempted. It is the same word used in the account of Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness. The testing, trials and proving Jesus experienced were not like passing a math test, overcoming the trial of a health problem or proving an ability to run a mile. Scripture clearly says Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. This clearly shows Jesus' temptations and trials were associated with resisting sin which presupposes an ability to sin.
Scripture shows Jesus struggled against surrendering to trial and temptation just as we do. While we often yield to temptation, Jesus never did. Jesus never allowed temptations He faced to overpower Him because God gave Him sufficient ability to not allow temptations to overpower Him. Scripture clearly teaches Jesus experienced the same struggles we experience. This would be a rather hollow teaching if Jesus was inherently unable to be tempted or inherently unable to sin. Jesus had the human ability to be tempted and sin. However, He never once made a sinful choice. He was so led by the Spirit of God that when confronted with temptation to sin, such temptation had no effect on Him. This is why the Scripture says Jesus was tempted as we are but without sin.
Jesus was born with the same ability we all have to yield to temptation and sin. In the case of Jesus, however, temptation to sin had no power over Him because of the mighty presence of God’s Spirit in His life. John 3:34 reveals that God gave the spirit to Jesus without measure thus showing Jesus had a full measure of God's Spirit. God enabled Jesus to always be successful in not allowing temptation to actually tempt Him. This enabled Jesus to successfully resist all external and internal temptation. Jesus was able to accomplish this not because He was God but because His Father God gave Him the wherewithal to successfully resist all temptation.
Age of Accountability:
If humans are not born sinners but become sinners by the choices they make, what about babies and children? Do babies and small children sin? Is there an “age of accountability” below which a person is not held accountable for sin or where behavior is unclassified? Paul taught that all men have sinned (Romans 3:23, 5:12). Does Paul's “all” include babies and young children? Paul taught that all humans die in Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22). Does Paul’s “all” include newborns and aborted babies?
When a two-year-old boy is told by his mother not to take cookies out of the cookie jar and the child succumbs to his desire for a cookie and chooses to take a cookie, is this two year old held accountable before God as a sinner. By Scriptural definition this two year old has committed a sin. He has disobeyed God’s command to honor one’s parents. If when the mother asks the child whether he took the cookie and he lies by saying he didn't take the cookie, he disobeys Gods command not to lie.
Did the child take the cookie and deny taking it because of having a sinful nature that predisposes him to disobey his parents and lie about what he did? Does the child do these things because he is a sinner from birth or does he become a sinner by doing these things? In lying about taking the cookie the child reveals that he knew it was wrong to take the cookie. However, he succumbs to the temptation of the cookie and in the process commits sin.
Having a desire to have a cookie is not a sin. The desire to protect oneself from punishment for taking the cookie is not a sin. The sin was making the choice to take a cookie against the mother's orders not to do so and then choosing to lie when asked about the matter. Did the child make the sinful choices he made because he was born with a sinful nature? Could the child have resisted the temptation to take the cookie and to lie about it? If the boys three year old brother is faced with the same temptation but chooses to obey his mother and not take a cookie, does this mean the three year old doesn't have a sinful nature?
The point I am making is that it is not a sinful nature that caused the two year old to sin. It was the sinful expression of his God given emotions and desires that resulted in sin being committed.
It should be evident that we become sinners by making sinful choices and not that we make sinful choices because we are born with a sinful nature. Sinful choices are made when we express our human nature in ways contrary to righteousness. Our human nature is a rather complex mix of emotional attributes, passions and desires that can either be expressed righteously or unrighteously. When expressed unrighteously is when sin occurs.
All humans express their human nature in sinful ways from time to time. Some sin a great deal during their lives and others sin little, comparatively speaking. But we all sin and therefore are all in need of Christ’s atonement. At what point a baby or young child is seen as committing sin and/or is accountable for sin is not spelled out in Scripture unless you believe all humans are born sinners which would make this discussion of an age of accountability superfluous.
Jesus taught that we must receive the Kingdom as little children in order to enter it. Jesus equates being humble as a child with being great in the Kingdom (Matthew 18:3-4, Mark 10:14-15). In Isaiah 7:16, a child is spoken of who was not at an age to know how to choose the evil from the good. In Deuteronomy 1:39, small children are spoken of as not knowing the good from the bad. What any of this means relative to an age of accountability is uncertain.
Does not knowing the good from the bad remove accountability for doing bad? What about disabled adults who cognitively don’t know the good from the bad? Does ignorance of the law remove the penalty for breaking the law? No it does not. Breaking of law has natural consequences whether we are aware of such law or not.
If we are to take Paul’s statements about all sinning and all dying in Adam as meaning all humans who have ever lived, then it would appear that all humans are seen as sinning and being held accountable for sin whether or not they are cognizant of their sin. Having an inability to comprehend certain behavior as sinful does not negate the sinfulness of such behavior or remove its consequences.
However, if it should turn out that babies or children under a certain age are not held accountable for sin, it takes nothing away from what Christ did in facilitating salvation for all who are accountable for sin. In either case, eternal life is a gift from God and not dependent on anything we humans do or don’t do. Since the Scriptures do not present a clear teaching as to an age of accountability for babies and children, we should not be dogmatic on this matter.
In the flesh versus in the spirit:
Paul makes it clear that to behave righteously or unrighteously is a choice. Humans are not inherently predisposed to do one or the other. What we inherently are predisposed to do is make choices. In Romans 6:15-18, Paul compliments the Romans for having turned from being slaves to sin (choosing sin) to being slaves to righteousness (choosing righteousness). Sin and righteousness are manifested through behavioral choices not through inherent predispositions. Jesus indicates this to be the case when He said; "If anyone wants to do His (God's) will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority" (John 7:17, NKJV). Let’s now consider Romans 8:8-9.
Romans 8:8-9a: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you (KJV).
When Paul tells the Romans they are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, he is not telling them they are no longer in their fleshly body or no longer have their God given human nature composed of emotions/passions and desires they were created with. He is not telling them they have lost their human nature. He is telling them they are no longer exercising their God given human emotions/passions/desires in a sinful way. God didn’t design humans to have sinful nature. Adam’s sin didn’t change God’s design of the human heart so that it became inherently sinful. Sinful nature results from expressing our human nature in ways contrary to righteousness. Sinful expression of mans natural and normal human emotions and desires became ubiquitous after Adam and Eve were tossed out of the garden. We see this in what led God to bring the flood upon the earth. Did God destroy his human creation because they were inherently sinful or because they allowed sinful behavior to dominate their lives?
Genesis 6:5-7: The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved (Hebrew: way-yin-nā-ḥem) that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain (Hebrew: atsav). So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved (way-yiṯ-‘aṣ-ṣêḇ) that I have made them."
The Hebrew word translated grieved in this passage is way-yin-nā-ḥem and literally means to be sorry and regretful over something. The NET bible translates way-yin-nā-ḥem as “regretted.” In the phrase “his heart was filled with pain,” the word "pain" is translated from the Hebrew word atsav and means to experience emotional pain and depression, embarrassment and to be offended. The NET Bible translates atsav as “offended.” These Hebrews words are used a number of times in the OT and by context can be seen to reflect these definitions. It is apparent that God became truly sorry He had made man when he saw to what extant man became evil.
Was God surprised by the extent to which man became evil? If God created man with an inclination to sin, why would God be sorry and regret having made man? If, as some believe, God created man to be a sinner, wasn’t man simply carrying out God’s will? Why then did God become grieved with His creation? Furthermore, if God willed that man be born with an inclination to sin, how could He instruct man to obey Him and then punish man when man didn’t obey Him? It is counter-intuitive to require that a person ought to do something and then disallow the freedom of will and choice to do it or create barriers that make it difficult or impossible to do.
It appears much more reasonable to conclude God created man with basic emotions/passions and desires with the ability to choose how those attributes are expressed. It appears reasonable to believe that from the beginning God intended for man to choose righteousness. When man consistently chose unrighteousness, God became sorry that He had created man. Prior to the flood, man’s evil choices became so dominant that a virtual culture of wickedness developed. God destroyed His human creation not because they were born predisposed to sin but because they became predisposed to sin by the choices they made. After the flood God reflected on human behavior and concluded he would not ever again curse the ground because of man’s sinning ways as it was apparent that man will always make sinful choices to one extent or another (Genesis 8:21).
God foresaw from the beginning that in creating man with the type of emotional attributes he did and the free will to choose how these attributes are expressed, man would express these attributes in a sinful way to one degree or another. It is apparent God did not anticipate the extent to which his creation would make sinful choices and He became grieved that He had made man. He decided to destroy man but preserved his creation through Noah and essentially started the human race all over again.
A common Christian teaching is that God is omniscient which means He knows everything that will ever happen before it happens. Nowhere does the Bible teach God is omniscient. The word omniscient doesn’t appear in Scripture. God being grieved over His creation would make no sense if God knew in advance how sinful man would become and that He would have to destroy His creation in a flood. When it was reported to God that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah had become very great, God is seen as going down to see if what He had heard is true.
Genesis 18:20-21: Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
God going down to confirm what He had heard makes no sense if God already knew in advance that what He had heard was true. This account goes on to show God having a conversation with Abraham where Abraham questions God about destroying the righteous with the wicked.
Genesis 23b-26: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Abraham continues to try and save the cities from destruction by asking God if he would spare the cities if as little as ten righteous could be found and God agreed to spare the cities if as little as ten righteous could be found. Apparently not even ten righteous could be found and the cities were destroyed.
The implication here is that God did not know in advance whether there were any righteous in the city and it is only after searching the city was it determined that there wasn't even ten righteous. Some believe God was only humoring Abraham and God knew all along that there were no righteous in the cities. However, such a conclusion is without Scriptural evidence and is seemingly based on the assumption that God knows everything in advance which Scriptural evidence shows not to be the case.
In 1 Samuel 15:11 it is recorded God was grieved that He made Saul to be King over Israel because Saul failed to do His will. If God knew in advance that Saul would not do His will, why did He appoint him King over Israel? In Genesis 22:11-12, we see God testing Abraham and when Abraham passes the test God says; “Now I know that you fear God.” It is apparent God did not know this beforehand. God is seen as testing Israel in various ways to see if they will obey Him (see Exodus 16:4, Deuteronomy 8:2, Judges 2:21-22). Such testing would be superfluous if God knew in advance how Israel would respond. The following passage, where God is quoted, speaks for itself as to the issue of God knowing everything in advance.
Jeremiah 32:35: They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.
God did not predetermine that man must sin. God created within man the ability to make choices as to how the emotions and desires He created within man are expressed. Having made man the way he did, God knew that man would not always make righteous choices and predetermined that the consequence of unrighteous choices would be eternal death. God also predetermined to provide a savior to atone for sin and in so doing make us righteous before God despite our sinful behavior.
The righteousness of God is not imputed to us in exchange for the supposed imputed sinfulness of Adam. God’s righteousness is imputed to us in exchange for Christ's sacrificial death that delivers us from the eternal death we have all earned by failing to live by God's Spiritual standards. A careful reading of the Scriptures reveals that God's Spirit has always been available to those who seek after it. It is man's failure to seek after God's Spirit and the righteousness it brings that has resulted in the massive amount of sin extant in the world.
Some will point to what Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans as evidence God predetermined that all humans must sin so He can have mercy on them all.
Romans 11:32: For God has bound (Greek:sugkleio) all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all (NIV).
Galatians 3:22: But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner (sugkleio) of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
The Greek word sugkleio, translated “bound” in the NIV rendering of Romans 11:32, is variously translated as “concluded” (KJV), “committed” (NKJV), “shut up” (ASV) and “consigned” (ESV). In the Galatians passage sugkleio is variously translated as “concluded” (KJV), “confined” (NKJV), “shut up” (ASV), “imprisoned” (ESV and NET). The Greek Lexicons define sugkleio as to “enclose, hem in, confine or imprison.” Luke uses this word to describe the enclosure of a large number of fish in a net (Luke 5:6).
Is Paul teaching that God, when creating man, predetermined that man sin so that God can have mercy on all men and deliver man from the sin He predetermined man commit? Has God intentionally consigned man to sin and made man a prisoner of sin so He can have mercy on man? Did God specifically create a “sin nature” in man so He could deliver man from the very nature with which He created man?
Romans, chapter one debunks such an idea. In this chapter, Paul describes in detail how wretched man had become. Paul repeatedly shows that because man has rejected the way of righteousness and has consistently chosen to disobey God, God has given man up to even more wretchedness (Romans 1:18-28). God is essentially saying to man that since man chooses to behave contrary to righteousness, God is going to step back and allow man to have his way and suffer the consequences.
God has bound all men over to disobedience and made the whole world a prisoner of sin not because God intended and predetermined that man sin. God has done this because man has chosen to live contrary to righteousness and God has allowed such choice. Because man has consistently chosen to live contrary to God’s will, God has given man up to even greater sin (Romans 1:18-28) resulting in the whole world becoming a prisoner of sin. God is seen as consistently condemning sin. To conclude that God on the one hand condemns sin and at the same time pre-determined that man sin is an absolute oxymoron. It is a ludicrous conclusion. The Scriptures make it clear that it is God’s will that man live righteously but if man chooses to be disobedient, God not only allows it but stands aside and gives man great latitude as to how far He allows man to go in his disobedience.
Psalm 81:10-12; I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
When God created man, He created human attributes which included various emotions and desires. God created man with the power of choice as to how the human nature He created could be expressed. There is no indication God created man with a predisposition to express human nature in a sinful way. He pronounced his creation of man to be very good (Genesis 1:31). The doctrine of original sin implies that when Adam sinned, man's nature was changed to a sinful nature and all mankind inherits this sinful nature through procreation. This doctrine virtually gives Adam the power to have changed what God made very good into something very evil. This is not what the Scriptures teach.
The Scriptures associate sinful nature with the deeds done by the body. The sinful nature is something we produce by sinfully expressing the emotions and desires and free will God created in us. Paul makes this evident when he defines the sinful nature as the misdeeds of the body which can be displaced be deeds engendered by the Spirit. It is not our human nature that is changed. It is our expression of our nature that is changed.
Romans 8:13-14: For if you live according to the sinful nature (Greek sarx which means flesh), you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Paul speaks of putting to death the misdeeds of the body. He associates misdeeds of the body with the sinful nature/flesh The NIV renders the Greek sarx as "nature" whereas most translations render it as "flesh" which is how this word is defined in Greek. However, whether rendered "nature" or "flesh", when Paul speaks of the sinful sarx, he is speaking about sinful expression of human emotions and desires and not that the literal flesh that clings to the human skeleton is sinful.
If the human body with its fleshly construction is sinful in and of itself, Jesus would have had a sinful body as He obviously was a flesh and blood human. Also, Paul would be instructing the Roman Christians to literally kill their fleshly bodies if indeed the fleshly body is sinful. Obviously, this is not what Paul is teaching. Paul is not instructing the Romans to put to death their flesh but to put to death the sinful expression (misdeeds) of the emotions/ passions/desires that make up their fleshly body.
Original Sin and the Nature of Jesus:
Hebrews 2:17, records that Jesus was made like his brothers in every way. Paul told the Philippian Christians that Jesus was made in the likeness of man.
Philippians 2:5-8: In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (homoiōmati). And being found in appearance (schema) as a man (anthrópos), he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
The word rendered “likeness” is a tense of the Greek word homoiōmati. Thayer’s defines this word as “that which has been made after the likeness of something.” The word rendered appearance is the Greek word schema and means fashion or form. The word rendered “man” is anthrópos and is the basic Greek word for defining a human man or woman. Here is what the writer to the Hebrews said:
Hebrews 2:14-18: Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity (Greek: autos which means “same thing”) so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human (ἀδελφοῖς, adelphois: Greek for brothers) in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered (πέπονθεν, peponthen: Greek: to be afflicted) when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
The word rendered “tempted” is a form of the Greek word peirazó. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines this word as having the general meaning of “to put to the proof.”
Hebrews 4:15: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted (peirazó) in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Paul told the Roman Christians that God sent Jesus in the likeness of sinful man (Romans 8:3). In the Romans passage the Greek word translated “man” in the NIV is sarx which is better translated “flesh" and is rendered as such in most translations. The Greek sarx appears 151 times in the NT and by context can be seen to simply mean the fleshly body and/or the fleshly nature which can be expressed sinfully or righteously.
The English rendering of “like” and “likeness” in these three passages is from a basic Greek word which means to be like something. This word can mean being exactly like something, similar to something or an image of something. The Scriptures show Jesus to be flesh. Paul said Jesus was of the seed of David according to the flesh (Romans 1:3). Peter spoke of the flesh of Christ not seeing corruption (Acts 2:31). Paul speaks of being reconciled to God through the fleshly body of Christ (Colossians 1:22). Paul wrote to Timothy that Christ was manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). Peter wrote that Christ suffered in the flesh (1 Peter 4:1). In 1 John 4, John speaks of Christ coming in the flesh.
Since Jesus is consistently seen as being flesh in Scripture, it appears reasonable to conclude that when Paul writes that Jesus is in the likeness of man, He is truly in the likeness of man and not merely a facsimile of man. Being in the likeness of man means Jesus had the same emotions/passions and desires as all other humans. What differentiates Jesus from all other humans is that He never expressed these God created human attributes in a sinful way.
What does Paul mean in Romans 8:3 in saying God sent Jesus in the likeness of sinful flesh? Sinful flesh is often associated in Scripture with behaving sinfully. We know from Scripture Jesus never sinned. So, what is Paul saying in Romans 8:3?
Romans 8:3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh (sarx), God sending his own Son in the likeness (homoiōmati) of sinful flesh (sarx), and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh (sarx) (KJV).
The Greek sarx is defined in Thayer’s as “what can be stripped off from the bones, as the soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood of both men and beasts." The word rendered “likeness” is a tense of the Greek word homoiōmati. Thayer’s defines this word as “that which has been made after the likeness of something.”
Paul wrote to the Corinthian's that Christ took our sins upon Himself on the cross and virtually became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). The context of Romans 8:1-3 is God sending Jesus to condemn sin in the flesh by becoming a sin offering. Paul appears to be saying to the Romans the same thing he said to the Corinthians. Jesus took upon himself the sins of humanity and suffered sin death on our behalf. Jesus had sinful flesh only in that He became sin for us at the time of His crucifixion.
Jesus never acquired a sinful nature because He never expressed the emotions/passions/desires of his fleshly nature in a sinful way. Therefore, Jesus did not have to put to death sinful flesh for Himself. Jesus was led by the Spirit of God from birth. Jesus always expressed His human/fleshly nature according to the Spirit. He was totally led by God's Spirit throughout His life. Jesus never experienced sinful nature because He never sinned. He lived His whole life according to the Spirit. Jesus was successfully able to resist all temptation to sin because God gave Him the power to do so. God insured Jesus would never sin by equipping Him with the power to never sin.
The presence of God was so pronounced in Jesus that he was always able to submit His human will to the Father's will. When faced with the crucifixion, Jesus asked the Father to spare Him the ordeal He was about to face but concluded his prayer by saying "Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39). Jesus was a son of God from birth because He was led by the Spirit of God from birth. We become sons of God through spiritual transformation which leads to expressing our human nature in a Godly way as opposed to expressing it in a sinful way. We experience a spiritual rebirth which changes how we think and therefore how we behave. Spiritual rebirth places us in the kingdom (John 3:5-8). Being in the kingdom is all about expressing righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
No human other than Jesus has been given the power to express the tenets of the kingdom as perfectly as Jesus did. No other human has been given the level of power Jesus had to consistently express righteous behavior. Jesus was given this level of power so He could remain sinless and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. All other humans, including those transformed by the Spirit of God, have sinned and need to be reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Christ.
Did God Die In Jesus?
God is eternal and cannot die. Trinitarians acknowledge God cannot die but believe God died as a human incarnation of the Son distinction in the Godhead. Functionally the Son of God is seen as being humanly born, able to suffer and able to die while all the while remaining ontologically one with the Father and Spirit. In His role as a human sacrifice for sin, Jesus is seen as remaining sinless because, while functionally a human, He remained fully God and therefore did not have the ability to sin.
Scripture, however, shows Jesus remained sinless not because He was God in the flesh but because God gave Him the power to be sinless. As already discussed, Apostle Peter wrote that it is through Divine power that we can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. Peter shows this to be equivalent to participating in the Divine nature.
2 Peter 1:3-4: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
We know Jesus had a full measure of God's Spirit which allowed Him to participate in the Divine nature. It is evident He participated in the Divine nature from birth. That is why Jesus would not sin and did not sin. It was not that Jesus could not sin but that He would not sin. It must be understood, however, that having fullness of the Spirit of God and participating in the Divine nature of God does not equate with being God, either for us or for Jesus.
There is no need for a doctrine of Immaculate Conception to mitigate what is believed to be a sinful birth for Jesus. There is no need to postulate Jesus had to be God in the flesh in order to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. Just the opposite is true. Jesus had to be a total human in the flesh so He could experience what we experience and face temptation as we face temptation. Jesus had to experience what we experience in order to be a merciful and faithful high priest, representing us before His Father God. Jesus even had to experience our sin. He did this when He took our sin upon Himself on the cross.
When we see Jesus in this light, it makes what He did truly extraordinary. When we understand that Jesus was totally human and struggled to overcome temptation so He could be the sinless sacrifice for our sins, it should elevate our love for Jesus to new heights.
The Two Adams:
The Scriptures compare Jesus with the first Adam. In Romans 5:14, Adam is seen as a pattern or type of the one to come, a reference to Christ. This would make Christ archetypal of Adam. To be archetypal of something or someone is to be typical of that something or someone. Christ is called the second Adam because he was typical of the first Adam.
The first Adam did not pre-exist. To be the archetypal of the first Adam, Jesus would not have pre-existed. The first Adam was directly created by God. Jesus, the second Adam, was directly begotten by God. The first Adam was born without sin but with the ability to sin. Jesus was born without sin but with the ability to sin. Adam was born with the ability to die and so was Jesus.
As the second Adam, Jesus lived a sinless life and was thus able to be the perfect sacrifice for the sin that began with the first Adam. The Scriptures clearly show that as sin and death came about as a result of the actions of the man Adam, salvation from the consequences of sin came about as the result of the actions of the man Jesus.
Both Adam and Jesus were able to be tempted. Adam yielded to temptation which led to disobeying God's command. Eve was actually the first to sin as a consequence of being deceived by the serpent into believing she wouldn’t die if she ate the fruit of the tree (Genesis 3:3-6, 1 Timothy 2:14). Adam was well aware of God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and what the consequences of eating of that tree would be (Genesis 2:16-17).
It is very likely it was Adam who instructed Eve regarding this matter. There is nothing recorded as to any noticeable change in Eve when she eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree. In seeing no apparent change in Eve, Adam may have reasoned that the serpent was right and chose to eat of the tree as well and behave contrary to God’s command. It appears the change in them took place after they both ate of the tree (Genesis 3:7). Adam and Eve brought death upon themselves because of the sin they committed and humans have continued to bring death upon themselves by committing sin.
Adam was created without sin but became a sinner. He was created with the ability to die but did not become subject to death until he sinned. Jesus, the second Adam, was born without sin and also had the ability to die but never became subject to death because He never sinned. Jesus died not because of sin He committed but because He took our sin upon Himself. As Scripture reveals, death could not hold Jesus because Jesus never sinned. The first Adam succumbed to temptation and sinned. Christ, the second Adam, was able to resist temptation and never sin. Therefore, Jesus became the vehicle through whom death is replaced with life for all of mankind. Because of sin, the first Adam was limited to being a living human Being subject to eternal death. The last Adam, by not sinning, could not be held by death and was resurrected to life and became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:45: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
It was through the disobedience of the man Adam that sin and death came about. It was through the obedience of the man Jesus (the second or last Adam) that sin and death is eliminated and eternal life came about. Since God cannot die, it should be plain that Jesus is not the eternal God. Jesus died. Jesus was made to be like all other humans. The first Adam was directly created by God and was called a son of God. Jesus, as the second Adam, was directly begotten by God in the womb of Mary and became the only directly begotten Son of God. In order for Jesus to be patterned after Adam He had to have had the ability to be tempted like Adam so He could resist temptation and succeed where Adam failed.
Trinitarian theology teaches Jesus was God the Son who added humanity to His Divinity. In reality, just the opposite is true. Jesus was born totally human to which His Father added the necessary attributes of the Divine nature for Jesus to successfully fulfill all of God's will. God gave Jesus supernatural powers to heal the sick, turn water into wine, feed the five thousand, walk on water and calm the storm. Much of this was done to demonstrate Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. Above all, God gave Jesus the power to resist all temptation to sin so He could be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Jesus was God's servant to facilitate the replacement of death with life. In Acts chapter three, Peter identifies Jesus as God’s servant (verse 13 & 26), as God’s Christ (verse 18) and as the offspring of Abraham (verse 25). A careful reading of the Scriptures will show that the Messiah was not God but the anointed servant of the Most High God. The OT indicates the promised Messiah would be a ruler in the mold of Moses and David. Moses and David did not exist prior to their human birth. The OT passages that foreshadow events in the life of Christ do not give any indication the Messiah would be a pre-existent Being.
Because of what Jesus accomplished as the human Son of God and because of His elevation to being the most powerful Being in the universe next to God, Jesus is worthy of the highest level of reverence next to God Himself. While Jesus is not the Most High God, He is above all powers extant under the Most High God and is to be worshiped accordingly.