The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 1300, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.

Question

God cannot sin, so how could Christ have been tempted by Satan to sin?

Answer

Now, as I said before, you know, when you ask about how and why questions and you’re dealing with the nature of God, you have a very difficult time in answering. “How does God do this?” or “Why does God do this?” are extremely difficult questions. But I do think the question shows one thing that we must make clear. It says, “God can’t sin, so how could Christ have been tempted?” Now watch: you must understand that there is a difference between being tempted and--what? Sinning.

Listen, can you be tempted and not sin? I hope so! I mean, if you can’t, we’re in real trouble! Of course! I could be tempted and not sin. Why? Because temptation is not sin! Temptation is to bring about sin. And in I Corinthians 10:13, listen, “There has no temptation taken you, but such as common to man and God is faithful; who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able. But will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.”

Listen; there is a difference between temptation--saying you never are tempted at the place where you cannot have victory! The difference I think is clearly indicated to us in a simple passage of Scripture; well, there’s many really, but I think one simple one, James 1 (and there’s a couple of things we could look at), but James 1:13, “Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God.’ For God cannot be tempted with evil; neither tempts He any man, but every man is tempted when he is driven away of his own lust and enticed.”

Now, temptation is the enticing (and it isn’t God that does it)… Temptation is the enticing. Verse 15: “Then, when lust conceives, it bringeth forth,” what? “Sin.” You see, the incitement of the lust is not the sin; it is when the lust conceives and begins to actuate that you have the sin. “And sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.”

Now, God cannot be tempted in the sense that God never falls into lust. But Jesus Christ, in his humanity, was tempted. God is not tempted. Jesus Christ, in humanity, was “tempted in all points like as we are, yet,” what? “Without sin.” And you see, it isn’t a question of why; I don’t know why and I don’t know how and that’s just what the Bible says! Read it: Hebrews 2:18, Hebrews 4:15. He was tempted and yet without sin; that’s the fact.

How He could have been tempted is simply answered this way: God can’t be tempted in his deity, but Jesus could be tempted in his humanity. And just because He was tempted does not mean that He sinned! In fact--watch this--if He was tempted--and you better believe He was tempted intensely, right? If Satan wanted to get anybody, He wanted to get him--and if He was tempted and never gave in, that meant that He endured the absolute limit of all temptation. He would have suffered temptation beyond the point that we would ever know it. Why? Because we give in. We get tempted up to a certain point and whoa, we give in. But Jesus never gave in, which meant He took the full fury of every temptation to its limits! So when it says, “He was in all points tempted,” that’s what it means. He was tempted; that’s a fact. How; that’s a mystery.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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