Jesus Christ Could not Be Tempted

Q: What does the Bible say about the impeccability of Jesus Christ?

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ could not be tempted by sin, as demonstrated in James 1:13-14 and Hebrews 4:15. The doctrine of the impeccability of Jesus Christ asserts that He was not able to sin, a belief rooted in Scripture. James 1:13-14 states that God cannot be tempted by evil, and Jesus, as fully God and fully man, embodies this truth. Therefore, any notion that Jesus had the capacity to sin undermines His divine nature and character, as He is presented as holy, harmless, and separate from sinners (Hebrews 7:26). This understanding shapes our view of Christ's nature and His role in redemption, confirming that He was indeed the sinless Savior.

Q: How do we know Jesus could not be tempted?

Jesus could not be tempted because He is incapable of desiring anything that is sinful or forbidden, as stated in James 1:13. Scripture affirms the incapacity of God to be tempted with evil, a truth that extends to Christ because of His divine nature. As expressed in James 1:13, God Himself cannot be tempted, and since Jesus is God incarnate, this same truth applies to Him. Additionally, Jesus always did the will of His Father and possessed a human nature free from the corruption of sin. Thus, although He faced external temptations, He was not internally drawn to them as a sinful man would be. This distinction is crucial for understanding both His humanity and His ability to rescue sinners from their fallen state.

Q: Why is the concept of Jesus' impeccability important for Christians?

The impeccability of Jesus assures us that He is a perfect and effective Savior who can redeem us from sin. Understanding the impeccability of Christ is vital for Christians as it affirms His sinless nature, which is essential for our salvation. If Jesus were capable of sin, He would require redemption Himself and would be disqualified as an adequate sacrifice for our sins. The biblical teaching that He was without sin (Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22) underscores our confidence in His ability to intercede for us and to secure our salvation. Therefore, His impeccability guarantees the effectiveness of His atoning work, offering believers assurance and hope.

Open your Bibles to James chapter
1. Reading this morning from the
King James Version, we'll read through the 15th verse. We'll
be looking only at verses 2, 12, 13, and 14 in our lesson this morning. James, a servant of God and of
the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered
abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy
when you fall into divers temptations. We have the noun form of the
word, the Greek word, in verse two. Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect
work, that ye may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering, For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed. For let not the man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree
rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made
low. because as the flower of the
grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen
with a burning heat, but it is withered. But it withered, the grass and
the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it
perisheth. So also shall the rich man fade
away in his ways. Now notice the next three verses. Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation. This is the second noun form
of the word. Verses 2 and 12, we have the
noun form. For when he is tried, he shall
receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them
that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted. Here we have the verb form. I am tempted of God. Another verb form. For God cannot
be tempted. Now that is not a verb. Here we have the adjective. God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man. Again, we have the verb form. But every man is tempted when
he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust
hath conceived, it bringeth for sin, and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth for death." We have, as I've already stated,
in verses 2 and 12, the noun form, parosmos. Then we have, in verses 13 and
14, four references to the verb form, paradso. And then we have the adjective
form, and it is apairastas. It begins with an alpha, so we
have the negative form. It is important that we understand
the meaning of the word that is so commonly used in the King
James Version, especially temptation. I'm not going to take the time
this morning, I'll do that in a subsequent lesson, one to follow
this one, in which we will give four major objections presented
by those who believe in peccability, and then we will give the answers
to those objections. At that time, I'm going to give
you some quotations. some recent quotations, some
contemporary writers. I was made to rejoice because
I had not read this by Dabney. Most of you know that Dabney
has a work on theology. He was a Presbyterian. But not
all modern-day Presbyterians believe what Dabney believed
and taught. But I was looking at what Dabney
had. in his work on systematic theology, and I'd like to give
you one statement by him this morning. He said, and I quote,
to say that God feels the sin of concupiscence would be blasphemy,
end of quote. I agree 100% with Dabney. Let
me give it again. He has some excellent things.
He doesn't have an exhaustive work on impeccability, but one
is not left in doubt as to where he stood on the subject of the
impeccability of Jesus Christ. He said to say that God feels
the sin of concupiscence would be blaspheming. Now I have some things in print
similar to this. But I like what he said, and
I always rejoice when I come across a work where a man is
upholding, defending the character of Jesus Christ, my Lord and
my Savior. What about the title for our
lesson this morning? I've given it the title, making
it a complete sentence. Christ was never tempted to sin. You might ask, well, preacher,
what about Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4, Hebrews 4.15, and other
related passages, Hebrews 2.14-17. Come back and make the statement
again and beloved if I cannot prove it from the original Greek I'll never say anything about
it again, but you see I'm sure of where I stand In fact, I'm
dogmatic I'm doubly dogmatic I'm so dogmatic on the subject
that I will not attempt to have one bit of fellowship with any
person who believes differently. And I want to give the reasons
for that too this morning. I say it's a matter of life and
death. Life or death. I want to begin with a very simple
sentence. Temptation has no power over
a perfect person. But it does over a depraved person. Think it through for a moment.
Temptation has no power over a perfect person. My question
is, was Jesus Christ perfect? Since Jesus Christ was perfect
while He walked among the sons of men, then temptation had no
power over Him. But temptation does have power. over a depraved person. Jesus Christ, during the days
of His flesh, was holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners, Hebrews 7 and verse 26. I believe every
word of that verse. to suggest that Jesus Christ
had a nature subject to sin is nothing short of blasphemy. If a person would not listen
to me, exalt the perfection of Jesus Christ, I'll tell you,
I'll just walk away and shake the dust off of my feet because
I don't want to cast pearls before swine. Beloved, I'm strong this
morning, but I'm going to get stronger. On the other hand, depraved men
are capable of sin. because they have a mind that
is ready to receive an evil suggestion. Yes, even the Christian has a
mind that is capable of receiving a sinful suggestion. We're told in James 1.14 that
man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust. Now the Greek word for lust in
that verse is epithumia. What does the word mean? It means
lust, but it means more than lust. It means desire. It means
craving or longing. Thus it could be read like this.
Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own desire or craving. So a person is tempted when he
is enticed by his own craving for that which is forbidden or
unlawful. No one who understands the biblical
teaching concerning the person of Jesus Christ could entertain
a thought that the Holy One could desire
anything either unlawful or forbidden. I want you to see it as it is.
I'm going to give to you next Sunday, in the message that will
follow this one, one of the most subtle, I gave a portion of it
to our folk on Wednesday evening, a few Wednesdays ago. a message
that has come out in the Reformed magazine that comes out of England. In quotation marks, Grace Man,
if you please. I'll not call his name. Now, it's one of the most subtle presentations
of peccability that you'll ever come across. then I'll give you some other
contemporary statements. So Jesus Christ could never entertain
a thought that he could desire anything that would be either
forbidden or unlawful. He always did the will of his
Father. That's why we have the statement
by James, God cannot be tempted. That's what it says, God cannot
be tempted. Let's look at the word temptation
now for a few minutes. The word temptation does not
always carry the same connotation in every passage where it is
used. I said it doesn't always carry
the same connotation in every passage where it is used, and
will not go outside of the context of James 1 to prove the point. We know the word temptation comes
from pyrospous, which I've already stated means
trial, proof, or temptation. And the noun is related to the
verb pyrodzo, which means to test, to try, or to tempt. Both words may be used in either
a good or in a bad sense, which I will prove from the context
of James 1. For example, the noun is used
in verses 2 and 12. And the verb is used four times
in verses 13 and 14. Now look at James 1, 2, and 12. Let's look at these. We're going to spend some time
now. We're not going to go fast. This is too important. My brethren, count it all joy
when you fall into divers' temptations. It's a plural word. and literally
means in various trials. You wouldn't use the word temptation
here to explain it. I'm going to prove that. But
I'm going to prove it to the point it cannot be contradicted.
Notice the very next verse. Knowing this, that the trying,
trying, don't forget that. Here's the proof of it. That
the trying of your faith worketh patience. Now, would it not be better to
take this noun form and say, my brethren, can it
all joy when you fall into manifold or various trials? Wouldn't that sound better? Would
that not be a better translation? So stay with me. You say, well now, by what authority
do you have to change the word in the King James Version from
temptations to trials? Beloved, I've given you the meaning
of the Greek noun. And I have just as much authority
to use trials as those who translated the Greek and used the word temptations. In fact, I have more authority. Because I'm going to take it
in the light of its context. The third verse proves the point. Because he says, knowing this,
that the trying, the trying of your faith. He's talking about
the trying of the Christian, or Christians. The tests to which
they are subjected. Then look at verse 12. Blessed
is the man that endureth temptation. Here's the noun form again. Our blessed is the man who remains
steadfast under trial. It's singular, under trial. You
say, well, by what authority? When you look at the Greek, it's
not anthropos, it's oneir. It's the stronger word for man
that is used in the Greek. And oneir is the word which means
one who is mature. Full grown if you please. So
by the Holy Spirit, James uses the stronger of the two words. He uses oneir rather than anthropos. So blessed is the man who remains
steadfast under trial or testing. I'll use the word trial. Stay with me. Now the Christian
endures, he remains steadfast under an outward trial. Now don't forget the word outward
that I'm using and I'm magnifying it. So the Christian endures,
he remains steadfast under trial, but he should resist, resist
an inward temptation. Do you see the difference? The difference is between the
outward and the inward. The Christian endures. He perseveres. He remains steadfast
under trial. Whereas on the other hand, as
a Christian, he is to resist temptation. One is outward and
the other is inward. Trial refers to an outward experience. And temptation refers to the
inward allurement of that which is evil. One is to be endured,
that which is outward, and the other is to be resisted, that
which is inward. Does that make sense? Beloved,
I can't break it down any more than that. Now let's take this a little
further. You do find in the Scriptures where God tempted Abraham. Remember where that's found?
First of all, when we go back to the Old Testament, in Genesis
22, 1, but we have a quotation of that in the 11th chapter of
Hebrews. And they took this word and translated
it temptation. But it ought to be tried. God
didn't tempt Abraham. God tried Abraham. For God tempteth
no man, neither can he be tempted. Do you see what I'm talking about? So it should be God tried Abraham.
God didn't tempt Abraham. There was no solicitation to
do something evil that came from God in reference to Abraham.
But God did try Abraham, and believe me, if we had time this
morning, but it would take entirely too much time, we could go through
the New Testament, we could take that word tried, you and I are
tested, we are tried, and I'm thankful that we are tried. Blessed
is the man that endures trials. Going back to verse 2. Blessed
is the man. Do you complain about trials?
Well, God pronounced a blessing upon those who were tried. So God did not tempt Abraham. He tried Abraham. God is incapable not only of
being solicited to sin, but of soliciting any man to sin. It doesn't take a smart person
to understand that. God is incapable of being solicited
to sin. He is also incapable of soliciting
any man to sin. On the other hand, we know that
God does try or test man to prove Him and to prove to Him what
He really is in the sight of others. That is, other men. God
knows what He is. God knows exactly what you and
I are. But He tests us in order that
we might prove to others what we are. What we are. I'll give you a
few references that you might jot down. 1 Peter 1, 6. 1 Peter
4, 12. Revelation 2, 2 and 10. And Revelation 3, 10. In these you find where God tests
His people. He tries His people. So outward trials are from God. Listen to me carefully now. Outward
trials are from God. But inward temptations are from
the evil passion of depraved men. That's an important statement.
Outward trials are from God, but inward temptations are from
the evil passion of depraved man. Well, let's go a little
further. It cannot be denied that God
decreed sin, and this throws a lot of people. There are a
lot of ignorant Christians who don't know what to do with that
statement. and they throw up their hands, they don't believe
it. And in not believing it, they don't believe what the Bible
teaches. I said God decreed sin, but He neither solicits nor forces
anyone to sin. Do you see the difference? If
God had not ordained sin, I'll give one biblical example which
should suffice for this time. Jesus Christ would never have
been crucified by the hands of wicked men, as we're told in
Acts chapter 2 and verse 23. Now, what's the difference between
Satan's solicitation to sin and God overruling? So let's look
at that for a moment. You and I know that God does
not solicit people to sin. He cannot be solicited to sin.
and he does not solicit people to sin. Satan, on the other hand,
solicits people to sin, but God overrules and makes the evil
acts of men to work out for man's good and God's glory. And isn't
that wonderful? It is interesting to observe
the attributes of God that are advanced by sin. Let's just think
about that for a second. I'm talking about the attributes
of God being advanced by sin. Let me illustrate. God's mercy
pardons sin. Secondly, His justice punishes
sin. Thirdly, His wisdom orders sin. And fourthly, his power overrules
sin. Now there are four attributes.
Mercy, justice, wisdom, and power. The source of sin is not God. The source of sin is man's depravity. God created man upright. Have you ever heard someone blame
God for what he did? Why, prisons are filled with
people who blame God. So the source of sin is man's
depravity. But God is not the author of
his depravity. Man is the cause of his own depravity. Adam fell and all his posterity
fell in him. So man is the author of his own
sin. Let's go a step further. Those
who claim that Jesus Christ had the capacity to sin, and I read
this statement frequently in the writings of men today, are
forced to admit that he became less than God in the incarnation. I'll think that one through for
a moment. Anyone who says that Jesus Christ had the capacity
to sin has to admit, he is forced to admit that Jesus Christ became
less than God in the incarnation. And that's why we have done an
in-depth study of the hypostatic union, the kenosis theory. By
the way, that one will be published too. Philippians 2, 5 through
8. But we're not dealing with that
this morning. I'm here to say that such thinking,
such thinking by those who believe in peccability is in direct opposition
to scripture which states God cannot be tempted with evil. Now let's look at the adjective
that James uses here. The adjective is apairostas. And what does it mean? Listen
to this. Inexperienced in temptation. Inexperienced in temptation. But more than that. I'm giving
you the Greek on it. And the many men who have studied
the Greek for years and years, incapable, I like this, incapable
of being tempted. That's the Greek adjective that
James uses. God cannot be tempted with evil. And we have an adjective
which means that God is incapable of being tempted with evil. One doesn't have to know the
Greek to know what it says. Even in the King James Version,
God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man. So such thinking by those who
believe in peccability is in direct opposition to the Scriptures.
God can never be induced to act inconsistently with any attribute
of His holy character. And it's blasphemy to even suggest
such. The human nature of the Son of
God in His incarnation did not exist apart from the divine person. Here we get into the hypostatic
union. If Jesus Christ had the capacity to sin, The divine person
then had the capacity to sin. You see, when Jesus Christ assumed
the human nature, He didn't assume a human personality. He assumed
a nature, that holy thing, Luke 135. And the holy human nature
was united. He assumed this holy human nature. but it was always in connection
with the divine person. Therefore, Jesus Christ did not
become less God in the incarnation. There can never be any conflict
between two absolutely holy natures, the divine nature and the holy
human nature. The Bible says Christ was made
in the likeness of men, Philippians 2, 7, but it never says He possessed
a sinful nature or was nothing more than a mere man. I affirm
that Jesus Christ was more than a mere man. That's why I spent
the time last Wednesday evening in showing the distinction between
A Trinitarian person, a human person, and a theanthropic person. A Trinitarian person has only
one nature. A human person has two natures.
A theanthropic person has three natures, and only Jesus Christ
in the Incarnation, the God-Man, has the divine nature. a human soul and a human body. Now let's still go a step further.
Beloved, this is a matter of life or death, as far as I'm
concerned. It's either a matter of redemption
or no redemption, as I'll conclude with that thought this morning. which means desire, craving,
or longing, by which man is tempted, is not of God. It is his own lust which is the
fruit of the fall. And Jesus Christ assumed a human
nature that was not contaminated by the fall. That's why we have
the virgin birth. They all tie in together. Evil that is in man is his own,
his own. Within man's heart are evil desires,
are evil longings. They are there by nature. The devil does not introduce
them. Follow me now. The devil does
not introduce them. All Satan does is find out where
man is most vulnerable and then bombard him with the very thing
for which he craves or longs for. Does that make sense? The evil suggestion admitted
into one's mind will grow in strength because of the evil
desire or longing already resident in man unless it is resisted
by grace. So even you as a Christian, if
you permit, if you admit any evil suggestion into your mind
and you do not resist it, it will grow and grow until it will become a sin in
act. But don't forget, don't forget,
the sin was already there. I want you to see something,
and this is exactly why, exactly why, Dabney said, to say that
God feels the sin of concupiscence, which means sensual lust, would
be nothing short of blasphemy. So these persons today who say,
Jesus Christ was tempted in all points like me, and therefore
He's in a position to succor or help me. They mean by that,
if I have been tempted by looking upon a woman with an evil desire,
then Jesus Christ went through that same experience. Beloved,
that's blasphemy. So the question now is, did Satan
ever find a weak spot in Jesus Christ? Did he ever find a weak
spot in the Lord Jesus? Since there was no weakness in
him, he could never be solicited to do anything contrary to his
holy character. Therefore, Jesus Christ could
not be tempted, tempted with evil. That's why I said to begin
with that Jesus Christ was never tempted to sin. And I'll die by this. It must be understood that evil
exists in man before it comes forth from him in action. On the other hand, there was
no evil in Jesus Christ. He could not be tempted by any
suggestion or solicitation from without. You know, I turned on the TV.
I'll just stop for a moment and let our minds relax a little
bit. I went across several programs this morning and I got so disgusted. I do it because I don't know
what's going on. Of course, we know what's going on, but it
seems to be getting worse every week. I saw several religious
con artists, and I mean con artists. They don't teach the Word of
God. They don't preach the truth. All of them are after your dollar, your body. And I'm not even going to take
time to tell you some of the rotten, far-out things that I
listened to even this morning. What we need is just getting
down with the Word of God like we're trying to do this morning.
But you know what? You do this in every congregation,
and I'll tell you what, you're not going to have enough to pay
the light bill if you have a big building. People don't want it. They had a couple on this morning
on the PTL club, for instance. This man said, the Lord spoke
to me and told me to give a thousand dollars. And my wife said, well, where
in the world are you going to get the thousand dollars? You don't have it. Well, I'll
borrow it. Well, the banks are closed today. But they were able
to get one open somewhere and he got the thousand dollars.
And so he went and he appeared on the PTL club. Wanted to give
his testimony, his wife wanted to give hers. And I tell you,
there are some people that give not only a thousand dollars,
they will give thousands of dollars to be able to say something on
TV. And so the wife of this crackpot,
and I'm not going to spend time using adjectives, I could use
them, it wouldn't bother me one bit. You see, I don't think that
you should speak so harshly. I believe in calling them what
they are. Marking them out, as the Bible says, and calling them
exactly what they are. If his name is Hymenaeus, call
his name Hymenaeus. If his name is Philetus, call
his name Philetus. Paul did. By the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. But oh, today, you've got to
be so sweet, you know. You don't call names. You just
get on a merry-go-round and you just kind of describe things,
but you just stay away from people. Calling the name, that's being
harsh. She said, I had cancer and the
Lord healed me three times of the cancer that I had. I want
you to think that one through. The Lord healed her three times
of the cancer. I guess she had a relapse after
he healed her and then he healed her again. She had another relapse
and he healed her again. And you could just tell by looking
at her and listening to her, you could just expect that kind
of language to come from her. She looked the part. She was a good display of it. To say that Jesus Christ could
have sinned as to His human nature, as some are saying, but not as
to His divine nature, forces one to the conclusion that there
was a conflict between His human nature and His divine nature. And when one says there was a
conflict between his human nature and his divine nature, they are
assuming that his human nature was tainted with depravity. This was impossible because his
human nature was united to his divine nature, and his human
nature was that holy thing. There was never any conflict.
with Jesus Christ as there is with you and with me." Romans
7, 15-25. I'll not say any more. You're
familiar with that passage. There are several things to consider
in the solicitation to sin. Now this gets down where we all
live. This gets right down, as Vernon
McGee says, where the rubber meets the road. So listen to
this. There are several things to consider
in the solicitation to sin. First, there is the attraction
by the suggestion of something that is desirable. And the devil knows what your
weak spot is, where it is. He knows mine. He knows my weak
points better than I know them. He knows yours better than you
know them. So let's take this step by step.
Listen now. So there is the attraction, first of all, by the suggestion
of something that is desirable. That which is desired, of course,
in this case, would be something that is forbidden, or contrary
to Scripture. Now, in order for the tempted
to have what has been suggested, He would have to ignore a biblical
principle. Would he not? Well, someone might
say, but I didn't know that was a biblical principle. I want
you to know your ignorance won't help you out. Just not knowing
it won't help you out a bit. So let's, don't forget that please. Now, having been intellectually
enlightened as to the advantage to oneself personally, what does
the person begin to do? He begins to rationalize the
suggestion that has been made. I want you to see the point. Now, let's go back and bring
it up to date. First of all, there is the suggestion or the
attraction of something that pleases the individual. Pleases the individual it's forbidden
It's contrary to a divine principle Then when the mind has been enlightened
about this and Satan makes it appear that this would be to
your personal Advantage if you would simply do it Then the individual
who has received that suggestion into his mind he begins to rationalize Are you with me? He begins to
rationalize. I said this gets down where we
all live. Not a one of you out there, and this includes me up
here, is free from this. So he begins to rationalize this
suggestion. This suggestion and the desire
therefore become so strongly united. See the suggestion that
comes from without. united with the desire or the
longing for that within. They become so united that what
happens? The individual feels justified
in doing, since he's been rationalizing that particular suggestion, and
he feels justified in doing what he wanted to do all along. I want to do that to begin with,
he says to himself. Now what's the result? There
is nothing left for the tempted person to do but succumb to what
was already in his desire. So the devil knows your weak
spot, he suggests something to you, you're intellectually enlightened,
you begin to rationalize that thing, and then your rationalization
results in what? The thing that has been suggested,
coupled with your desire, they become so united that then you
say, Nothing wrong with this, and so you feel justified in
doing what you wanted to do to begin with. Have you ever experienced that?
Come on, be honest about it. Have you ever been there? Don't
forget, James was writing, beloved, not to unsave people in James
1. He was writing to Christian Jews, strangers scattered abroad. Brethren counted all joy when
you fall in the various trials. That's outward. Now, let's come to Jesus Christ.
Let's make an application of this. I think you'll see why that I'm
as bold as I am this morning. One cannot deny that the devil
made some offers to Jesus Christ. For instance, in the wilderness
after he was baptized, Matthew 4, Luke 4, and I'm not going
into those passages this morning. That isn't necessary. As in, no one can deny that Satan
made certain offers to Jesus Christ. But wait a minute, let's
not stop there. Neither can one deny that the
Eternal Son was eternally aware of every detail of the offers
that would be made to Him. You see, it is nothing short
of blasphemy, therefore, to entertain the thought that the Son of God
wanted anything, anything the devil offered to him. He was tested, he was tried for
the benefit of people who saw him. And actually, that if should
be said, since you are the Son of God, The devil knew who he
was. That's in Matthew 4 and Luke
4. I want to bring this to what
I think is the proper conclusion. And I'll never make any apology
for this because it is the truth of God's Word. Some religious
leaders are so full of iniquity that they maintain that the human
nature of Jesus Christ was as fallen and as rebellious as their
own. When they talk about the peccability
of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that the human
nature is corrupt from head to foot, Isaiah 1.6. But it is a sign of spiritual
blindness, spiritual blindness, and I cannot emphasize that too
much, spiritual blindness to imagine that Christ's human nature
was tainted with depravity. That's why His human nature is
called that holy thing. Now I think we can wrap it up
this morning for the first in a series of I don't know how
many yet. The more I read, the more I want to write on this
subject. It's a tremendous subject. Let me show you something now
that will really clarify, if I haven't already been able to
do so. Jesus Christ experienced only
the suffering part of temptation. Only the suffering part of temptation. Are you with me? Man experiences not only the
suffering, but the sinning parts of temptation. In other words, it would be better
to say it like this, Jesus Christ experienced only the suffering
part of trial, whereas man experiences both the suffering
and the sinning parts of temptation. Suggestion can do nothing without
lust or desire or craving or longing. I said suggestion can do nothing,
nothing, absolutely nothing, without desire, without craving,
without longing. Christ had no lust. He had no desire for that which
was evil. He was never tempted by any woman
that passed by, as some idiotic preachers have
suggested. Beloved, I realize I'm harsh,
and I'm going to be harsh. If people can't take it, that's
their problem. This is a serious subject. He did not suffer the sinning
part of, and we'll use the word temptation, which was only a
trial for Him. That which is inwardly, that
which inwardly tempts the heart must come from within oneself. Let me repeat it. That which inwardly tempts the
heart must come from within the individual. And that's why James
said, Man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust,
which means desire. Now let's look at some words.
Let's do a little word study for a few minutes here in verse
14, will you? James 1.14. What do we see in this statement?
We see lust and enticement working together. Desire and enticement working
together. Longing, craving, and allurement
working together. Now do you believe for a second
that they work together in the person of Jesus Christ? The Greek
word for enticed, in verse 14, comes from the Greek verb δελειάζω, which means to entrap, to catch
with a bait. So when you fish, think about
that. Think about δελειάζω. To allure or to entice. That's very descriptive, isn't
it? So the word for entice means
to entrap, to catch with a bait, to allure. You know when you go down and
buy some fishing tackle, you buy allure. You know what allure
is? Well, here it is. Hence it can be said that one
is enticed to sin when he is entrapped, get this, when he
is entrapped by his own craving. Now there it is, spelled it out
for you. This means there is something
in depraved man that is drawn, and we'll look at the verb drawn
in just a moment, to the lure of something within the temptation. I'm giving it to you just like
it is. Let me repeat that. I said this means there is something
in depraved man that is drawn to the lure of something within
the temptation. Now let's look at the meaning
of the verb drawn here. It's ex alco. It means to draw
out. It's used metaphorically in the
scriptures to hurry away or to leap. Now I want you to get this.
And since it means to hurry up or leap, look at this. So this
means there is something in the brave man that just leaps out
after that. which has been suggested to him. That says a lot, doesn't it? That tells us just exactly what
we are, doesn't it? It's also interesting that both
drawn and enticed are present passive participles. We know that the passive voice
means the subject was acted upon. But now listen, in verse 15.
But in verse 15, the apostle goes on to say, Then when lust
hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. The Greek word for conceived
here is an arius, active participle, of salambano. And solombono means to seize,
to apprehend, to conceive, or to become pregnant. Now listen
to this. Notice the language that James
is using. This means, when the suggestion is embraced by the
ascent of the will, sin is brought forth. So James is using the
language of pregnancy and childbirth. Did you know you can even use
this against the pro-abortionist? I won't go into that this morning,
but I already see it when I put out the booklet on abortion is
murder, I'll go into this too. So James is using the language
here of pregnancy and childbirth. So as a child is alive, I'll
give it away now, as a child is alive in the actual moment
of birth, Sin does not begin to be sinful only when it is
manifested in a visible action. It was already there. Already
there. And I want you to know, beloved,
there is life. There is life in the mother's
womb before it comes forth. That's why I said what I did
last Wednesday night, I think it was, David didn't say, That which was conceived in my
mother's womb became me. He said, I was conceived in my
mother's womb. See the difference? I was conceived
in my mother's womb. Not that which was conceived
in my mother's womb finally became David. But David was conceived
in his mother's womb. So Jesus Christ did not have
a depraved will to give assent to any evil suggestion ever made. Therefore, there could never
be any conception which proves Christ was not peccable. Coming now to the conclusion
of our present study. When one understands the biblical
use of temptation, notice I said the biblical use of temptation,
he will have no problem with the so-called temptation of Jesus
Christ. He was not tempted. I said he
was not tempted, but he was tried to prove to mankind who he is, the impeccable Son of the Living
God. You know, I became so interested
in that, I wanted to see, well, what does the English language
say about temptation and about trying? So let me share something
with you. You see, I don't build my theology
on Webster's Dictionary. I build my theology on the original
languages. But listen to this, temptation
in the English language is the act of tempting. It is something
that tempts, entices, or allures. It is the fact or state of being
tempted especially to evil. Now that's Webster's Dictionary.
I took this from Random House. I have also another bridge, but
I took this from Random House. On the other hand, the word test
is the means by which the quality or genuineness of anything is
determined, a means of trial. It is the trial of the quality
of something. Now, Jesus Christ asserted his
own impeccability when he said, John 14, verse 30, listen to
it, "...the prince of this world
cometh and hath nothing, nothing in me." Now, Satan has nothing in me
because, listen to these scriptures, Jesus Christ knew no sin, 2 Corinthians
5.21. That doesn't mean He didn't know
about sin, but the word knew there is just like as you find
in the Old Testament, Eve knew Adam, and she brought
forth a child. So Jesus Christ knew no sin,
2 Corinthians 5.21. And 1 John 3, 5, "...in him is
no sin." Therefore, 1 Peter 2, 22, "...he did no sin." Jesus Christ did not have a sinful
nature. He did not have a human nature
capable of sinning. Listen to what many are teaching
today. I'll answer this later, but I'll give it now, this one
point. Many teach that Jesus Christ had to be peccable, get
this, had to be peccable in order to experience temptation. He had to be strong enough to
overcome it, and He had to be an example of us to us who are
tempted. Well, I don't want to answer
that this morning, I'm saving that one. the conclusion of the peccability
theory. Therefore, renders Jesus Christ,
get this, renders Jesus Christ incapable of redeeming sinful
men because He Himself, if He is peccable, would need redemption. What a horrible conclusion. What
a horrible conclusion.

Jesus Christ Could not Be Tempted

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the impeccability of Jesus Christ?

How do we know Jesus could not be tempted?

Why is the concept of Jesus' impeccability important for Christians?

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Jesus Christ Could not Be Tempted

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the impeccability of Jesus Christ?

How do we know Jesus could not be tempted?

Why is the concept of Jesus' impeccability important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About W.E. Best

Comments

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