The Temptation of Jesus

[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by Esaias

All this discussion has been assuming there is such a thing as a "sin nature".

1. How do you and I acquire this "sin nature"?

2. How did Jesus not acquire this "sin nature"?

3. Does having a "sin nature" make sinning inevitable?

4. Does not having a "sin nature" make not-sinning inevitable?

5. How did Adam acquire a "sin nature"?

6. Is Jesus a bona fide human being? Or is He just "God-in-a-body"?

7. Is temptation sin?

[votivesoul]

The wages of sin were not imputed to Enoch, a post-Fall man with this alleged "sin nature", something I don't believe exists either, like Esaias.

There is a law of sin within us, that activates at a certain point in time, usually in childhood or adolescence, that causes us to lust and experience concupiscence. But you can't look at a newborn baby and think to yourself "Ah, what a cute little sinner!".

But there was a king in the OT who, as early as eight years old, which did evil in the sight of the LORD. I forget his name just now. And Josiah, at the same age of eight, did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, so certainly, as young as eight years is a possibility to see either the law of sin or the law of God take effect in a person.

[votivesoul]

As far as some ungovernable compelled desire to sin, without the Holy Spirit, it can still be avoided and resisted.

Jesus told people without the Holy Spirit to "Go, and sin no more". Redemption in the New Covenant wasn't even possible, and yet Jesus gave people commands to do it when we would normally think it was an impossible thing to do.

We have to remember that sin is an imputed thing, and to be a sinner likewise. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute sin. So, think of that for a moment. The LORD may, for whatever reason, not impute sin to someone's account.

[votivesoul]

And then, even with the Holy Spirit, people are still sinning on a regularly basis, even though they have been empowered to not be slaves to sin any longer. So, really, while the Holy Spirit is a salvational necessity, and is the power to live a holy, righteous life, it just goes to show that the gift of It is routinely squandered by people who have received It, because they don't make use of it to Its fullest potential to help them live an overcoming life devoid of sin.

So, without the Holy Spirit or even with the Holy Spirit, for some, it seems to make little difference. They still sin.

The point is, some with the Holy Spirit mortify the deeds of their flesh, and some, without the Holy Spirit, do likewise, albeit through moral effort.

I never drank, smoked, did drugs, dishonored or disrespected my parents, and other such things, before I was born again. Those were choices made without God in my life. Now, I committed other sins, for sure. But I was able to fully resist the temptation to commit the sins just listed above, and I didn't have a regenerated soul at the time.

[houston]

Does not matter what you resisted. You still sinned.

[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by houston

Does not matter what you resisted. You still sinned.

Sure, but if one can be avoided, why not another? And then another? And then another, and so on?

If you were born with a sin nature, what sins were you committing when you were 1, 3, 5 years old? You should have been corrupt and evil right out of the matrix, and yet, you were not. No one was. And sin was not being imputed to you yet, either.

Where there is no law, sin is not imputed. That's out of Romans 5, too. Until the Law of God came alive in your conscience, sin was not imputed. Meaning, you were not a sinner, from God's point of view, meaning, there was no innate sin nature within you, only a law of sin that revived and took hold of you sometime much later from the day you were born.

[houston]

Sure you are. Children sin as soon as they can walk and grab onto things. You tell them “no.” They understand and still do it.

[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by houston

Does not matter what you resisted. You still sinned.

Also, the point is not that I still did sin, but rather, that sins can be rejected and avoided through an act of will that plays out through our decisions.

So, this idea that no one anywhere cannot on any level not sin in any capacity before being born again just isn't true. Or that some sin nature forces us to always sin no matter the context or situation or as if there's simply no choice in the matter.

There is always a choice.

[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by houston

Sure you are. Children sin as soon as they can walk and grab onto things. You tell them “no.” They understand and still do it.

That's not sin. Do you have children?

[houston]

Why/how did this law of sin revive in a person if there is no sin nature?