The Temptation of Christ – Hebrews 4:15
by Floyd Chappelear
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995
In 1984, a debate was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, concerning the need to be sinlessly perfect in order to walk in the light (I John 1:7). The brother in error (John Welch) contended that one must be totally sinless in order to continue to be “in the light.” It was pointed out that if that was the case, then nobody could walk in the light because of all sin (Romans 3:23). “Jesus didn’t sin,” was the half-hearted retort given in time. To this, it was pointed out that Jesus was more than “just a man, for He is God” (John 1:1-3, 14). From this inauspicious beginning was born the need to prove that “Jesus was a man, just a man, an ordinary guy like you and me. ” [Taken from a sermon preached in Shively, Kentucky, 1990. The statement has since been retracted, but the concept was adhered to when John asserted in a debate in Bowling Green, Kentucky, that “Jesus was a man as I am.” John is a man, just a man, an ordinary guy like everybody else, so Jesus is, too.]
Unfortunately, error has a tendency to get “worse and worse” (cf. II Timothy 3:13). This is because error, like rivers, follows the course of least resistance and moves downhill. In a most recent debate, spawned by the heresy concerning sinless perfection, the Jehovah’s Witness doctrine that Jesus was “created” by God was espoused by the same man (fourth negative, Louisville, Kentucky, June, 1995). By the end of the debate, he was contending that Jesus’ spirit was “mortal” and died on the cross somehow (he didn’t say “how” to my recollection). Again, the Watchtower Society also declares that Jesus had no immortal soul — even as we have no soul that survives death.
In defining the word “fear,” it was suggested (boldly declared?) that Jesus was "deranged" when he endured the cross (third night, first affirmative). On the contrary, the Bible says that he endured it “with joy” for he saw what the inescapable outcome would be (read Hebrews 12:2). (There was no “risk” that He would fail.)
Why would men fall to such depths of heresy? The Witnesses embraced their materialism because it was consistent with their denial of punishment. Among us, some have a problem with the full implications of grace as it relates to imperfect saints. Thus, when men adopt an error concerning the hereafter, it is not that unusual that they have problems with the present and the past as well.
Of particular concern to some men is the statement found in Hebrews 4:15. The scripture says that we have a high priest who was “tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin.” This verse has caused severe problems to some, even to the point of going from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Some contend that this means Jesus was tempted with every sin that we are tempted with. Oh? Was Jesus ever tempted to repeat a sin? If not, then his temptation was at least in that respect different from ours. One does not need to go to such an extreme to explain what Hebrews 4:15 means.
The Key to Understanding
The key to understanding Hebrews 4:15 is I Corinthians 10:13:
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
Having read it, we ask, “How was Jesus tempted?” Well, he was tempted as all men are - to the point of being able to bear it, but not one whit beyond! Note: He was not tempted above what He was able to bear, but neither are any of us! Was His temptation nevertheless different from ours? Of course it was.
Jesus, for instance, was offered all the kingdoms of the world if He would but bow down to Satan (Matthew 4:8-9). We all remember the tale of the Devil and Daniel Webster, who was offered more than he could resist in exchange for his soul. Frankly, such a temptation as Jesus experienced may be more than most men could stand, but we don’t have to worry about such an offer being made to any of us. Why? Because Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are - up to the point of what He could bear and not beyond!
Frankly, I cannot for the life of myself figure out why men must de-deify Jesus, declare him to have “divested himself of deity, put himself at risk of failure, etc., to simply believe that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are tempted. He was not tempted beyond what He was able to bear, but we are not either!
Why, Then, Do We Sin When He Did Not?
The answer to that is found in James 1:13-16:
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
One needs to observe that there was nothing different in the way any man or Jesus was tempted. Man, however, is different than God. Jesus, who is God (John 1:1-3), was not tempted “with evil” because His innate nature was one of holiness. Jesus was never drawn away by his own lust and enticed so that sin was borne.
How, then, do we refrain from sin? Well, the answer is most obviously not in the alleged fact that Jesus was exactly like we are. (His "form" or nature was Deity, whereas ours is flesh. See Philippians 2:5-8. The flesh was only the apparent "form" of Jesus.) On the contrary, it is in our becoming like He was. Note Philippians 2:5-8:
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God [bearing the fullness of the Godhead; Colossians 2:9], thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man: And being found in fashion of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
The key to keeping oneself from sin is that we are to become like Him, not that He has become like us. When we are true servants, humbling ourselves in obedience, then we will not give ourselves to the lusts which bring forth sin (cf. Romans 6:16-19).
Brethren, we do not need to dethrone Jesus from His exalted glory as God. He gave up that glory for a while when He was "fashioned" as a man, but we note that it was the glory He gave up, not anything that pertained to His being God (John 17:5; Mark 8:38). “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
