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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