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QUESTION 2:
Could Jesus have sinned and if He couldn't, how could He be tempted?

ANSWER:
The questioner more than likely has this scripture in mind. "For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like we are without sin." Hebrews 4:14.

What we must understand about the temptations of our Lord is that they were from without and not from within. In Matthew 4, the devil tempted the Lord in the wilderness, but there is not a thought that this was from within Him. The devil was appealing to the lust of the flesh. "...If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Matthew 4:3. As far as the devil was concerned, it was real, there was nothing in the Lord to respond to it.

There are three basic reasons why our Lord could not sin:

• He was God in the flesh. "...And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,..." 1 Timothy 3:16. " ... the second man is the Lord from heaven..." 1 Corinthians 15:47. God cannot sin. Jesus was God incarnate.
  
  
• He could not sin because of how He was born. David said: "Behold I was shapened in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." Psalms 52:5. This is not true of our Lord. " ...The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow three: and that holy (pure, spotless, undefiled) thing that shall be conceived of, shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:35. He was born of God.
  
  
• He could not sin because of what was written of Him. "He knew no sin." (2 Corinthians 5:21). "He committed no sin." (1 Peter 2:22). "There was no sin in Him." (1 John 3:5). The latter means there was no capability of sin in Him. This is why He could offer Himself without spot, to God, for us. (Hebrews 9:14).
  
  

Have you trusted Him?

All comments and questions to:Harold Smith

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Updated January 2008, by Shelly Allen