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NASB | Hebrews 4:15 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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. |
Subject: How can Jesus be tempted if He is God? |
Bible Note: The doctrine of the trinity was the attempt to defend three Biblical teachings all at the same time: monotheism; the divinity of the Father, Son, and Spirit; and the Scriptural distinctions between the Father, Son, and Spirit. The doctrine developed over a period of over 200 years and continued to be refined for hundreds of years after. Its development was an attempt to understand the nature of God in terms of Greek philosophical concepts, Every man will always come short and develop deficiencies in his theology. Understanding this, we need to watch ourselves lest we elevate a certain creedal statement, a certain author’s explanation, or our own understanding of God to the place of untouchable orthodoxy. Just as the doctrine of the trinity developed over time, and the individual’s theologies developed over time, so too our understanding of God develops over time.There is only one God. This is the emphatic teaching of the Old Testament. The Jews were the people who knew their God if anyone did John 4:22, and they had no concept of persons within the Godhead. In the book of Isaiah God makes some very strong statements which I believe do not allow for a Trinitarian understanding. In Isaiah 44:6-8 God makes the statement, I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me . . . Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. Could scripture be any plainer than this? In verse 24 he states, I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone. If language means anything then by Myself" and alone mean that there was no other person present. If God is not claiming that he is absolutely one here, then what stronger language would one suggest to convey this? Why would God be so emphatic about oneness, if in reality he were three persons? Would not these statements be misleading? In the next chapter he states, I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known MeThat men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these Isa. 45:5-7. Once again, if God were really three persons, could he use such emphatic language as this? If we take this to be one of the members of the Trinity speaking here, would it be honest for him to say, "There is no one besides Me? Would he not be forced to admit that there are indeed two other persons in the Godhead? In 46:9 God says, Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me. In this statement, there is one person speaking (notice the singular pronouns) and that singular person says that there is no one like him. I do not see how it is possible to see a Trinity in these passages we have looked at. Surely the coming of Christ did not in any way compromise this strict Monotheism taught in the Old Testament. There is only one God. That God is our father. If Jesus is that God then Jesus is our father. As to his deity, Jesus Christ is God the Father. Isaiah 9:6 clearly calls him the Father. Some have argued that this should be translated "Father of Eternity," but not one major translation translates it that way However, even if we adopt the translation "Father of Eternity" does that diminish the force? Jesus is called the Father. I Corinthians 8:6 tells us that, to us there is but one God, the Father. There is no God outside of the Father. So in the sense that Jesus is that God, then Jesus is the Father. Malachi 2:10 asks the question Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us?So we all have one Father, and our Father is God. The reason we call God our Father is because he created us. John 1:3, Colossians 1:16 and Hebrews 1:2 tell us that all things were created by Jesus, thereby making him our Father. |