The Doctrine of Salvation
How
"Righteousness by Faith"
Really Works
"Righteousness by Faith"
Really Works
Part B:
How did Christ Live?
How did Christ Live?
Lesson 8:
How was Jesus Tempted?
(13:38)
How was Jesus Tempted?
(13:38)
Lesson 8
Slideshow Transcript
Slideshow Transcript
On the basis of the previous three lessons, we can now come to some practical conclusions. We want to know what difference all of this makes for our daily lives. We are all tempted constantly, both by outward and inward temptations. How does Jesus' life help us with our daily struggles? Here is where we can apply this study to the overall concept of righteousness by faith - how it really works.
How was Jesus tempted?
- Hebrews 4:15 - For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
A. Jesus was tempted in similar ways to us.
B. Jesus did not sin because He did not have our temptations.
C. Jesus was tempted in the same ways we are tempted.
B. Jesus did not sin because He did not have our temptations.
C. Jesus was tempted in the same ways we are tempted.
We begin this study with the most important text on this subject. Here we learn that our High Priest (Jesus) is very close to us and very sympathetic to our struggles. He can be "touched" with our weaknesses, because He struggled with those same weaknesses. Jesus was tempted in all points as we are tempted.
Since most temptations arise out of the drives and impulses of our fallen nature, if Jesus did not take our fallen nature, then -- although He could be tempted on different things than we are tempted on -- He could not be tempted in all points on which we are tempted. He could not have been tempted on our temptations of selfishness, pride, anger, discouragement, lust, covetousness, appetite, carelessness, rebellion, and a host of other temptations which arise out of our fallen nature.
Does Hebrew 4:15 say that Jesus lived without sin because He avoided 90% of our temptations by not taking our fallen nature? No! The text says Jesus lived without sin in spite of being tempted in all the same ways that we are tempted.
What an encouragement this should be to us as we must live our entire lives fighting against a nature that wants to destroy us. Because Christ lived as one of us with our fallen nature and never sinned, we have the hope and assurance that sin and failure are not inevitable results of being born into a sinful world with a fallen nature.
Since most temptations arise out of the drives and impulses of our fallen nature, if Jesus did not take our fallen nature, then -- although He could be tempted on different things than we are tempted on -- He could not be tempted in all points on which we are tempted. He could not have been tempted on our temptations of selfishness, pride, anger, discouragement, lust, covetousness, appetite, carelessness, rebellion, and a host of other temptations which arise out of our fallen nature.
Does Hebrew 4:15 say that Jesus lived without sin because He avoided 90% of our temptations by not taking our fallen nature? No! The text says Jesus lived without sin in spite of being tempted in all the same ways that we are tempted.
What an encouragement this should be to us as we must live our entire lives fighting against a nature that wants to destroy us. Because Christ lived as one of us with our fallen nature and never sinned, we have the hope and assurance that sin and failure are not inevitable results of being born into a sinful world with a fallen nature.
What did Jesus always do?
- John 5:30 - I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
- John 6:38 - For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
- Luke 22:42 - Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
A. Jesus did what His will told Him to do.
B. Jesus did His Father's will.
B. Jesus did His Father's will.
Why would it be necessary for Jesus to make these statements if His own will was perfect and could be trusted implicitly as part of a perfect (unfallen) nature?
Adam before his fall did not experience this conflict between his will and God’s will, because they were in perfect harmony. If Jesus had taken Adam’s nature before his fall, would we not expect Jesus to seek both His own will and His Father's will, since with an unfallen nature their wills would be in agreement?
Instead, we find these astonishing statements of Christ repeated several times during His ministry. Jesus clearly saw a difference between His own will and His Father's will. If Jesus did take our fallen nature, then these statements are appropriate and easily understood.
Our will is part of our fallen nature, and by itself our will leads us to make sinful choices. In fact, our will is probably the biggest problem with which we must deal on a daily basis.
When the will is surrendered to God, we obey. When the will is not surrendered to God, we disobey. It is only by denying our own wills that we can have a relationship with God. (Luke 9:23) The reality is that we must pray the prayer of Christ every day of our lives: “Not my will, but Your will, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
The following insight may be helpful here. "The human will of Christ would not have led him to the wilderness of temptation, to fast, and to be tempted of the devil. It would not have led him to endure humiliation, scorn, reproach, suffering, and death. His human nature shrank from all these things as decidedly as ours shrinks from them... What did Christ live to do? It was the will of his heavenly Father." (Signs of the Times, Oct. 29, 1894)
Jesus' will and His nature, in and of themselves, were not in harmony with the will of God. It was the daily work of Christ to deny that will and His fallen nature which He had inherited from His mother, and instead to live by faith -- trusting and doing -- His Father's will. The daily experience of Jesus in righteousness by faith is exactly the experience we must have.
The key element of our daily Christian walk is to surrender our will and desires to God, and to replace our fallen wills with God's will, which can be accomplished by faith in the word of God and in the Spirit of Christ controlling (making the choices for) our lives. Then everything else in the Christian walk will fall into place rather easily. It really is easy to obey God when the will is surrendered to Him.
Jesus came to this earth to show us how to deal with our weaknesses and our temptations. Since our primary weakness is our faulty will, Jesus had to live at our level with our fallen nature and our faulty will. In order to be our example, He had to live the way we live.
esus our Saviour truly experienced our feelings and desires and temptations. He knew what it was like to feel the temptation to rebel against God, and like us, that temptation arose from within His nature. Jesus had to experience this battle of conflicting wills as we do. He had to "fight the battle as every child of humanity has to fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss." (Desire of Ages, p. 49)
Adam before his fall did not experience this conflict between his will and God’s will, because they were in perfect harmony. If Jesus had taken Adam’s nature before his fall, would we not expect Jesus to seek both His own will and His Father's will, since with an unfallen nature their wills would be in agreement?
Instead, we find these astonishing statements of Christ repeated several times during His ministry. Jesus clearly saw a difference between His own will and His Father's will. If Jesus did take our fallen nature, then these statements are appropriate and easily understood.
Our will is part of our fallen nature, and by itself our will leads us to make sinful choices. In fact, our will is probably the biggest problem with which we must deal on a daily basis.
When the will is surrendered to God, we obey. When the will is not surrendered to God, we disobey. It is only by denying our own wills that we can have a relationship with God. (Luke 9:23) The reality is that we must pray the prayer of Christ every day of our lives: “Not my will, but Your will, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
The following insight may be helpful here. "The human will of Christ would not have led him to the wilderness of temptation, to fast, and to be tempted of the devil. It would not have led him to endure humiliation, scorn, reproach, suffering, and death. His human nature shrank from all these things as decidedly as ours shrinks from them... What did Christ live to do? It was the will of his heavenly Father." (Signs of the Times, Oct. 29, 1894)
Jesus' will and His nature, in and of themselves, were not in harmony with the will of God. It was the daily work of Christ to deny that will and His fallen nature which He had inherited from His mother, and instead to live by faith -- trusting and doing -- His Father's will. The daily experience of Jesus in righteousness by faith is exactly the experience we must have.
The key element of our daily Christian walk is to surrender our will and desires to God, and to replace our fallen wills with God's will, which can be accomplished by faith in the word of God and in the Spirit of Christ controlling (making the choices for) our lives. Then everything else in the Christian walk will fall into place rather easily. It really is easy to obey God when the will is surrendered to Him.
Jesus came to this earth to show us how to deal with our weaknesses and our temptations. Since our primary weakness is our faulty will, Jesus had to live at our level with our fallen nature and our faulty will. In order to be our example, He had to live the way we live.
esus our Saviour truly experienced our feelings and desires and temptations. He knew what it was like to feel the temptation to rebel against God, and like us, that temptation arose from within His nature. Jesus had to experience this battle of conflicting wills as we do. He had to "fight the battle as every child of humanity has to fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss." (Desire of Ages, p. 49)
Why was Jesus tempted in this way?
- Hebrews 2:18 - For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
A. Jesus was tempted to convincingly
refute Satan’s accusations.
B. Jesus was tempted to help us.
C. We don't know why Jesus was tempted.
refute Satan’s accusations.
B. Jesus was tempted to help us.
C. We don't know why Jesus was tempted.
Not only did Jesus Christ prove beyond a doubt that Satan’s claims of an unjust law were wrong, but also to help us in overcoming our temptations and not sin. The word "succour" means to help, strengthen, and encourage. Jesus went through the depths of temptation to show us a way out of failure and despair -- how to overcome sin and live a victorious life. He came to live at our level to give us hope. Because of His victory over His own nature and will, He can help us with our identical struggles.
What should be our attitude?
- Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
A. We should be afraid to approach God.
B. We don't know if God will help us.
C. We know that God is gracious -- with both
forgiving grace and empowering grace.
B. We don't know if God will help us.
C. We know that God is gracious -- with both
forgiving grace and empowering grace.
Because Christ is truly our elder Brother, and has gone through our daily struggles, we can have full confidence that in His name (by His authority) we can approach the very throne of God, and know that our needs will be supplied.
Because Christ took our fallen nature, and was tempted in all points as we are, all fear is gone, and we can know that there is power (the indwelling Spirit of Christ) for us to overcome all of our seemingly impossible problems.
Because Christ took our fallen nature, and was tempted in all points as we are, all fear is gone, and we can know that there is power (the indwelling Spirit of Christ) for us to overcome all of our seemingly impossible problems.
Conclusion:
Jesus overcame sin by depending on His Father's power. He did not use His own divine powers or the power of an unfallen nature. "He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us." (The Desire of Ages, p. 24)
The power of a perfect (sinless) nature is not offered to us. For Adam it was natural to do right. For us it is natural to do wrong. If the power of Adam's unfallen nature had been possessed by Jesus, that would have been a mighty power that is not freely offered to us.
Jesus' victory was remarkable, not because as the Son of God He had special powers, but because as a human He did not sin like every other human. Jesus lived a life that Satan said could not be lived. He lived a life that was supposed to be impossible to live. If Jesus had lived a sinless life on any level other than our fallen level, Satan’s accusations would never have been proven false.
If Jesus took a perfect nature He would have bridged the gulf between God and unfallen man, but the gulf between unfallen and fallen man would still need to be bridged. If, however, Jesus took our fallen nature, then He bridged the whole gulf between God and fallen man in our dire need for God.
The practical result of this study for us is that we now know how salvation works. We can experience righteousness by faith by looking to Christ -- believing in Him – what He did and how He did it. He overcame through prayer and daily surrender. He let the Holy Spirit of God control the daily decisions of his life. And every member of the human family can access the same power of God just as Jesus did.
Christ "laid hold on the throne of God, and there is not a man or woman who may not have access to the same help through faith in God. Man may become a partaker of the divine nature." (Selected Messages, 1;409)
Our Saviour and Lord is both our Substitute and our Example. He gives us the assurance of salvation by providing both the forgiveness of our sins (past) and the power to live above sin (now). He has demonstrated how we can overcome our tendency to rebel against God’s will and live a sinless life in harmony with God by surrendering our will to Him.
Jesus proved that with God the impossible is possible. Because of Jesus, our future is bright with hope. Because of Christ's victory in our fallen nature, the way is now prepared for God to do the impossible in us. What is totally impossible from a human perspective is simply God's opportunity to accomplish the impossible once again in each one of us.
If we really want to know what righteousness by faith is and how it works, all we need to do is to take a long, thoughtful look at Jesus. It is so easy for us to allow the stress of daily living to obscure our view of Jesus. Will you to keep your eyes on Jesus?
The power of a perfect (sinless) nature is not offered to us. For Adam it was natural to do right. For us it is natural to do wrong. If the power of Adam's unfallen nature had been possessed by Jesus, that would have been a mighty power that is not freely offered to us.
Jesus' victory was remarkable, not because as the Son of God He had special powers, but because as a human He did not sin like every other human. Jesus lived a life that Satan said could not be lived. He lived a life that was supposed to be impossible to live. If Jesus had lived a sinless life on any level other than our fallen level, Satan’s accusations would never have been proven false.
If Jesus took a perfect nature He would have bridged the gulf between God and unfallen man, but the gulf between unfallen and fallen man would still need to be bridged. If, however, Jesus took our fallen nature, then He bridged the whole gulf between God and fallen man in our dire need for God.
The practical result of this study for us is that we now know how salvation works. We can experience righteousness by faith by looking to Christ -- believing in Him – what He did and how He did it. He overcame through prayer and daily surrender. He let the Holy Spirit of God control the daily decisions of his life. And every member of the human family can access the same power of God just as Jesus did.
Christ "laid hold on the throne of God, and there is not a man or woman who may not have access to the same help through faith in God. Man may become a partaker of the divine nature." (Selected Messages, 1;409)
Our Saviour and Lord is both our Substitute and our Example. He gives us the assurance of salvation by providing both the forgiveness of our sins (past) and the power to live above sin (now). He has demonstrated how we can overcome our tendency to rebel against God’s will and live a sinless life in harmony with God by surrendering our will to Him.
Jesus proved that with God the impossible is possible. Because of Jesus, our future is bright with hope. Because of Christ's victory in our fallen nature, the way is now prepared for God to do the impossible in us. What is totally impossible from a human perspective is simply God's opportunity to accomplish the impossible once again in each one of us.
If we really want to know what righteousness by faith is and how it works, all we need to do is to take a long, thoughtful look at Jesus. It is so easy for us to allow the stress of daily living to obscure our view of Jesus. Will you to keep your eyes on Jesus?