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NASB | Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [Luke 4:1-13] |
Subject: What was reason for the virgin birth? |
Bible Note: Hello stjohn, Welcome from another Northwest native:-) I think the defining verse is Heb. 4:15, which states, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" Nowhere does scripture teach or even imply that Jesus had a sin nature. Being tempted is not the same as possessing a sin nature. The Immaculate conception bypassed -so-to speak- the imputation of sin. Had He been merely "born of a woman", without the "Holy Spirit coming upon her" ,He could not have fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. Remember, for Jesus to be our Mediator, He had to fulfill 3 qualifications: 1. He must be a man (Heb. 2:14-16); 2. The Mediator between God and man must be sinless; 3. He had to be Divine As to His sinlessness, A.A. Hodge remarks: "Under the law the victim offered on the altar must be without blemish. Christ, who was to offer Himself unto God as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, must be Himself free from sin. The High Priest, therefore, who becomes us, He whom our necessities demand, must be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. (Hebrews vii. 26.) He was, therefore, "without sin." (Hebrews iv. 15; 1 Peter ii. 22.) A sinful Saviour from sin is an impossibility. He could not have access to God. He could not be a sacrifice for sins; and He could not be the source of holiness and eternal life to his people. This sinlessness of our Lord, however, does not amount to absolute impeccability. It was not a non potest peccare. If He was a true man He must have been capable of sinning. That He did not sin under the greatest provocation; that when He was reviled He blessed; when He suffered He threatened not; that He was dumb, as a sheep before its shearers, is held up to us as an example. Temptation implies the possibility of sin. If from the constitution of his person it was impossible for Christ to sin, then his temptation was unreal and without effect, and He cannot sympathize with his people." [Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology] Speaking the Truth in Love, BradK |