According to Evangelical dogma, all human beings — past, present, and future — are born sinners; we are dead in trespasses and sins; we are the enemies of God. Two thousand years ago, God took on human flesh and came to earth in the body of Jesus. He was what theologians call a God-man; fully God, fully man. The problem, of course, is that if Jesus was fully God, he couldn’t sin, and if he was fully man, he couldn’t not sin.
Philippians 2:5-8 says:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Hebrews 2:16-18 adds:
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Did Jesus become exactly like human beings? Could Jesus be tempted to sin, as in physically, literally tempted to commit any of the human behaviors Christians label sin?
The answer is no. Can God sin? No. Can God be tempted to sin? No, sin requires having a sin nature — one passed down by the first Adam. Did Jesus have a sin nature? Of course not. Many Evangelicals believe that the human sin nature is passed on through the semen of the father. Since Jesus’ mother was impregnated by the Holy Ghost, Jesus did not have a sin nature. Thus, it was impossible for Jesus to sin. Please see The Impeccability of Christ.) Not one time was it ever possible that Jesus could sin. To sin required Jesus to set aside his divine nature, which he did not do — ever. There was never a nanosecond that Jesus was not God (according to Trinitarianism).
According to James 1:14: every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. A human being is tempted when drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Did Jesus ever see an attractive woman walking down the streets of Jerusalem, and say to Peter, “Damn, she has a nice ass!” Not if he was the sinless son of God. There was no possibility of temptation for Jesus. There was never a time when Jesus would have whistled at this woman and said, “Hey, babe.” Jesus, according to Evangelicals, was perfect in every way, so there was never a possibility that he would have lusted after this woman. James 1:13 makes this point clear: “God cannot be tempted with evil.” Was there ever a moment in time when Jesus (God) was tempted with evil? No, if you believe what the Bible says.
Thus, when we read stories such as Jesus’ forty-day temptation by Satan, what we are reading is a fictional story, one that could not have happened. Jesus was God, Satan was not. There wasn’t a temptation presented by Satan that Jesus could have fallen for. The only way that Jesus could have sinned is if he set his godhead aside and fully became man. This, of course, did not happen, so this means Jesus was not, one time, tempted to sin.
How did your pastors and teachers explain this conundrum to you? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Another issue is that Jesus can’t sin because he’s the king. For example when I pointed out that Jesus was a horse thief (Matthew 21:1-7: and Luke 19:29-35 ), apologists will recant that the horses were his because he’s God, and God owns everything.
I’ve always wondered about the 40 days of temptation in the desert…who wrote that down? I imagine it like Jesus was followed around by a little eyeball like in the Bizarro cartoons dutifully taking notes.
I was also taught that the reason we mere mortals experience pain, the reason we bleed, the reason we suffer, etc. is because of Adam’s sin nature that lives in us. Yet, Jesus, who couldn’t sin, experienced pain, bled and suffered. How is that possible?
Also, regarding Jesus’ 40-day temptation by Satan, wasn’t it just the two of them out there in the wilderness? But somehow, someone else also discretely hung out there with them in order to witness / document what happened. And then, years later, pass the info on to the gospel writers.
Like so many of the logical inconsistencies that arise from the whole of the bible, the issue of the temptation of Jesus is a very valid one. Trouble is temptation is complex. If I’m offered an opportunity to rob a seriously wealthy guy who would hardly realise he’d been robbed, and I could do it without harming anyone, and most importantly I genuinely intended to use the money to benefit the sick and the needy, have I sinned? I’ve certainly committed a criminal offence but morally…? And suppose I resist the temptation to commit some sort of misdemeanour does it matter as to my intent? Suppose I walk into a shop and see a wallet lying. Perhaps I might try and find the owner in the hope of a reward. That’s not pure altruism. Or perhaps I’m about to steal it but realise that someone is watching so refrain from stealing and hand it in.
A book like the bible is useless as a moral guide. Morality is far too complicated for the one line and simplistic injunctions with which the bible is littered, especially when they so frequently undermine and contradict themselves. There’s more to be learned about morality in virtually any book by John Steinbeck, or by Charles Dickens, or even John Grisham, and many others, though ironically I wouldn’t be surprised if loony Republicans haven’t banned most of these books!
I wondered whether the 40 days Jesus spent with Satan was called “temptation “ for lack of a better word—or whether it was translated that way because there is no equivalent.
If Jesus was God, he could not be tempted because he didn’t have the capacity for it. The closest analogies I can think of is a old lesbian I know who says she never felt any desire for a man or boy. She would be unmoved if Brad Pitt or Denzel Washington threw themselves at her feet.
In other words—if I am understanding correctly—God/Jesus can’t sin or be tempted because they don’t have the programming, if you will. But wouldn’t that contradict the claim that God created Man in his image and likeness. Which leads me to another question: Whar does all of this say about Adam and Eve? If, supposedly, they were innocent (I.e., had no concept of, or ability to, sin), how was the serpent able to tempt Eve—and how was she able to lead Adam into perdition?
That topic was never covered in the evangelical church or fundamentalist Christian school I attended. I’m surprised I didn’t think of that when I was an evangelical – I sure thought of other issues! But you’re right, there’s no way Jesus coukd be fully God while being fully human and subject to temptation of sin.
Biblical historians claim that the Bible is heavily edited & cropped, omitting major details to suit their narrative, on top of many mistranslations. As a kid, i was made to read the bible all thr time & my fave being John. Come to find, the new testament is basically a fairy tale, started by a ghost writing hothead doctor , Paul, who never met jesus Over 1000 years after the he lived, who claimed the disciples were liars while he who never met Jesus & claimed to learn this info from his ghost when questioned, all of it. Paul completely changed the rules to allow gentiles to convert ,when the old testament said that god would strike down the gentiles to save the chosen & then all writingd following his texts were based on his lies. They also recently found elder sea scrolls which shows jesus to be married, to Mary, magdeline i think. The Infancy texts also found, describe Jesus as a child acting as a Bright burn type, killing all the townspeople for merely talking bad about him. Those things in the Bible would totally change the view of jesus, so its no surprise they omitted it.
Virgin birth is another contradiction in itself & extremely cruel, given the pain that woman would suffer during birth if true. More likely is some father didnt want his daughter dishonored and claimed such to keep the woman pure, as was the bs thought process back then
What a headache. The Evangelicals I knew said: fully God, fully human. After that it didn’t matter if you asked any questions. Fully God. Fully human. After that don’t worry your tiny little Eve brain. You will have all of eternity to sit with Jesus and He will explain it all to you.
I was a “bit” of a thorn not only in Jesus’ side but leadership as well. My questions go back to “in the beginning.” I always ask if “God” is a 3-omni God, who created Lucifer, angels and such and knew all along they would fall, and later turned Adam and Eve out because the serpent He placed in the garden, caused His whole Creation to blow up, so-to-speak, and later He regretted making humankind in the first place, so went after His own creation by destroying it, (etc.) and (etc.) . . . then He wasn’t a 3-omni God at all. Therefore, not perfect Himself and technically more than a bit of a sinner Himself.
Coming back to Evangelicals and their Trinity. If Triune, then Jesus was there “in the beginning” and a co-equal sinner with “God” the Father.
Yup. Thorny. 😀
I’m certain that there’s a fail- safe clause where Jesus is concerned. No way would his inter- dimensional wars with that fallen rival be left to chance. We aren’t told everything,in fact we aren’t told enough. Heaven is barely described in the Bible. So much is left out, like civilization before the flood. New things are discovered all the time, like how the Natives had cities and pyramids here in North America.