In my ordination council I was asked by
someone about Christ: could He sin? I
gave a common answer: if He was tempted it could only be a temptation if He had
the ability to sin. I was advised by the
council, after much discussion, that I ought to study this more as I would find
my answer was not particularly orthodox.
The issue is theologically
stated something like this: was Christ …
passe peccary (able to sin, it was possible)
non passe peccary (not able to sin, it was impossible)
passe non peccary (able not to sin, humanly able to resist
sin)
non
passe non peccary (not able not to sin, unable to fully resist sin)
The first and last describe man in his fallen
state. The third speaks of the born-again
believer. The issue with Christ is
between the first two. I have come to
have a good resolution on this matter, good in that it satisfies my mind.
Christ laid aside His majesty, meaning the
independent use of His attributes. He
only used His deity at the direction of the Father. He never used His deity to achieve His
sinless life. He lived by the word and
Spirit as we are called to do. At the
same time, He did not lay aside His deity.
He was fully God (holy, unable to sin) and fully Man (weak, able to
experience the enticing power of temptation.
The key is: He experienced temptation more than we ever will because He
never gave in to the temptation. He experienced
it to the end, until the devil finally “departed from Him until an opportune
time” (Lk. 4:12).
We have considered this often over the years,
but feel compelled to mention it again.
1 John 2:16 tells us the sum total of all that is in the world: the lust
of the flesh (hedonism), the lust of the eyes (materialism), and the pride of
life (self-actualization). All three of
these were attacked by Satan’s incitements in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3). It looked good (materialism). It was good for
food (hedonism), and it would make them like God (self-actualization). Adam did not stand up to the temptation. He was “able to sin,” and some would say he
was “not able not to sin.”
In Matt. 4:1-11 and Luke 4::1-11 we have the story of Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the desert. All three passions were present again. Satan said to turn the stones into bread (hedonism). Then he promised Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He would worship him (materialism). Then he told Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the temple; all the people would see when God protected Him and would worship Him (self-actualization). He experienced all the attacks of Satan that we experience.
Therefore, we have a great High Priest who is
able to sympathize with our weaknesses, having been tested in all points
like we are.
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