In this chapter we will continue looking at the objections raised by sincere Christians against the idea that Christ assumed our fallen human nature when He became a man. As outlined in the previous chapter, the third of these objections is:
3. Christ could not have resisted temptation had His human nature been sinful in all respects as is ours.
As mentioned in chapter 14, this was the very objection raised against the 1888 message. Note again how Ellen G. White responded to it in the Review and Herald of February 18, 1890:
Letters have been coming in to me affirming that Christ could not have the same nature as man, for, if He had, He would have fallen under similar temptations. If He was not a partaker of our nature, He could not be our example. If He was not a partaker of our nature He could not have been tempted as man has been. If it was not possible for Him to yield to temptation, He could not be our helper. It was a solemn reality that Christ came to fight the battle as man, in man's behalf. His temptation and victory tell us that humanity must copy the Pattern (emphasis supplied).
In Romans chapters 2 and 3, Paul demonstrates that both Jews and Gentiles "are all under sin" so that "there is none righteous, no, not one" (3:9, 10). Therefore, so far as sinful human nature is concerned, "There is none who does good, no, not one" (verse 12).
Yet the same apostle also informs us that the very thing that sinful human beings, in and of themselves, cannot do, God did through Christ! (See Romans 7:14-25.) The very thing that the law could not do because of weakened human nature, God did! (See Romans 8:3.) God did it in Christ's humanity which was "in the likeness of sinful flesh." And he did this so that the "righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us [believers] who [like Christ] do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3, 4).
Christ's sinless living did not prove that sinful human beings, in and of themselves, can resist temptation and live above sin. Instead, His sinless living demonstrated that sinful human beings, indwelt and controlled by God's Spirit, can overcome all the powers of the devil that he musters through the sinful flesh. This is what the New Testament teaches. Speaking of Himself as a man, Christ made it clear that He could do nothing of Himself (see John 5:19, 30) and that He lived "because of the Father" John 6:57). Even His works all proceeded from the Father (see John 14:10, 11). Luke, after relating the temptations of Christ in the wilderness, concludes: "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit" (Luke 4:14). Speaking of Christ's death, the writer of Hebrews says: "By the grace of God" Christ tasted "death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).
It is only in this context that Christ could resist all temptations and thus make it possible for the born-again believer to live above sin. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises [in Christ]: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4, KJV).
Paul makes it clear that humans, in and of themselves, cannot resist temptation, but he makes it equally clear that what is impossible with man is possible with God: "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts" (Romans 13:14).
Thus in the light of these texts, if any dare to say that sinful humanity cannot resist temptation or live above sin as long as they walk in the Spirit, they are elevating the power of the devil and sinful flesh above the power of God. Paul declares, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). And he adds, "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).
This is the glorious truth of the gospel which gives all believers everlasting hope in this world of sin. The ultimate power of sin is the grave. So anyone who can conquer the grave proves they can conquer sin. God allowed the sins of the whole world to put Christ in the grave, but they could not keep Him there. Christ's resurrection is the greatest proof that all our sins were conquered in Him.
4. Christ is the second Adam; therefore He took the sinless spiritual nature of the first Adam. This is the fourth objection raised against the idea that Jesus assumed our fallen, sinful human nature at the incarnation.
It's true that Christ is the "last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45), but the New Testament clearly qualifies in what sense Christ is like Adam. To go beyond this qualification is to take liberties not warranted by God's Word.
In Romans 5:12-21, Paul compares and contrasts Adam and Christ. This passage makes it clear in what sense Christ resembles Adam. It is not in nature, but in representation. All mankind was present in the first Adam when he ruined his posterity by his representative sin. In the same way, God united all men to Christ, qualifying Him to be the second or "last" Adam (see 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:3). By Christ's representative obedience, all men were legally justified unto life in Him, just as by Adam's sin, all mankind were made sinners (see Romans 5:19). It is only in this sense that Scripture makes a comparison between Adam and Christ. What Adam did affected the whole human race, and what Christ did, likewise, affected all mankind (see Romans 5:15,18). To go beyond this comparison and identify Christ's human nature with Adam's sinless nature before his fall, is to add to Scripture an idea that is not present in the texts.
Nowhere in the Bible do we find Christ in anyway compared with Adam in terms of nature. On the contrary, Christ, is called the Son of David and of Abraham (see Matthew 1:1; Romans 1:3), both of whom had sinful flesh. He is referred to as being made "in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7). Scripture says of Him that "in all things He had to be made like His brethren" (Hebrews 2:17). Clearly then, we cannot say that Christ took Adam's sinless nature in the incarnation simply on the basis that He was called the second Adam.
Any attempt to preserve Christ's perfect sinlessness at the expense of the full significance and power of the gospel is to undermine the truth of the gospel. Those who teach that Christ assumed only the pre-Fall nature of Adam must of necessity teach that He did not have to contend with the power of sin dwelling in sinful flesh. But such a teaching destroys a vital truth of the gospel. The gospel offers sinful man not only legal justification, but also God's power unto salvation from sin itself (see Matthew 1:21; Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:17, 18, 24).
To appreciate this salvation, we must understand sin in the light of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. At the heart of this controversy lies the issue of God's law, founded on the principle of selfless love {agape), a love which "does not seek its own" (1 Corinthians 13:5; cf. Matthew 22:36-40) versus the law of sin, founded on the principle of the love of self (see Isaiah 53:6; Philippians 2:21). These two opposite principles met and fought each other in the humanity of Christ. On the one hand, Satan, working through Christ's flesh, desperately tried to entice Christ's mind to consent to self-will. But on the other hand, the Holy Spirit working through Christ's mind, never yielded. Thus every attempt on Satan's part failed, for Christ's response was always, "Not as I [self] will, but as You will" (John 4:34; 5:30; Matthew 26:39).
This battle began the moment Christ was old enough to choose for Himself, and it ended at the cross when Satan, using the full driving force of temptations arising from sinful flesh, tempted Christ to come down from the cross and save Himself (see Luke 23:35-37). But Christ refused to yield and was obedient "even unto death" (Philippians 2:8, KJV). Thus Satan's kingdom, along with his principle of self-love, was totally defeated forever (see John 12:31; Romans 8:2, 3). This victory is a vital part of the good news of the gospel. "Be of good cheer," Jesus says, "I have overcome the world" (John 16:33; see also 1 John 2:16; 5:4 for John's definition of the "world").
Some who hold to the idea of Christ having a sinless human nature may object that Christ did not need to take our sinful nature in order to be tempted. This is true, of course. Adam has already proven that sinless human nature can be tempted and sin. But this is not the issue involved in Christ's temptations. It is a mistake to identify and equate Adam's temptation and fall with our own temptations and failures. When Adam sinned in Eden, he committed an unnatural act, for his sin was a contradiction to his sinless nature. His act of disobedience was inexcusable and therefore unexplainable.
On the contrary, when fallen, sinful man yields to temptation, he is doing something perfectly natural to his sinful nature. Those who teach that a person need not have a sinful nature in order to be tempted, and who therefore argue that Christ could be tempted and subject to the possibility of falling even though His human nature was sinless, may be making a correct statement per se. But the fact is Scripture clearly states that Christ was "in all points tempted as we are" (Hebrews 4:15, emphasis supplied). This means that Christ had to be tempted through His flesh even as we are, because for us, temptation is defined as being "drawn away of... [our] own desires and enticed" Games 1:14).
The real issue in Christ's earthly life was not that He could be tempted or that He was subject to the possibility of falling as did Adam. The issue was: Could Christ, in sinful human nature, resist Satan and defeat temptation— the principle of self-seeking? For, you see, our real problem is not only that we are born with certain sinful tendencies, but that we are in slavery to sin and the devil (see John 8:34; Romans 3:9; 6:16; 7:14; Acts 8:23; 2 Peter 2:19; 1 John 3:6-8). This was not true of Adam or his nature before the Fall. Hence Adam's temptation and fall in Eden must never be identified with our temptations and failures. The sinless Adam had no "self that needed constantly to be denied or crucified. But Christ had to deny Himself all His life; His self-will had to be crucified daily (see Luke 9:23).
It is true that the fundamental issue in every temptation is the same, for temptation is simply being enticed to say No to God and live independently of Him, to follow self-will instead of God's will of love. In that sense, no fundamental difference may exist between Adam's temptation and ours, but a world of difference exists in the actual struggle against the temptation itself. For if sin is saying No to God or living independently of Him, then our basic definition of a sinful nature must be one in which there is a bent toward self-love and independence from God.
Paul brings this out clearly when he describes mankind's sin problem in Romans 1:18-23. By very nature, sinful men and women are self-seeking and self-dependent; sinful tendencies are simply different manifestations of this principle of self-love. This, in fact, is the primary meaning of the Hebrew word translated "iniquity" (see Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:6). The mind controlled by the flesh, what the Bible calls the "carnal" mind, is "enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be" (Romans 8:7).
But this was not true of Adam as God created him. Adam was tempted to sin in a nature controlled by selfless love, and hence his failure is inexcusable. Satan tempts us in a nature that is controlled by "the law of sin"—the love of self—a nature that naturally seeks its own way (see Isaiah 53:6; Philippians 2:21). Adam's sinless flesh was subject to the law of God, and in fact, he delighted in God's law. But our carnal nature is not subject to God's law. It is at war with God's law. There was perfect harmony and agreement between Adam's sinless nature and the Spirit of God who dwelt in Him. But in the case of the born-again believer, the Spirit and the flesh are at war with each other (see Galatians 5:17).
Sinning was unnatural for Adam; it was an extremely hard thing for him to do. But for us, sin is enjoyable to our sinful nature; it is the most natural thing our nature feels like doing (see Romans 7:14-23). Adam could be justified by keeping the law; but in our case, "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight" (Romans 3:20, KJV; Galatians 2:16). Adam's sin cannot be explained for it is the "mystery of iniquity," revealing the power of the devil. With us, it is the opposite. There is no mystery involved in why we sin. But when the righteousness of God is manifested in our sinful flesh, it reveals God's power over sin and the devil and is called "the mystery of godliness" (1 Timothy 3:16). This mystery of godliness was first manifested in Christ, and through Him, it was made available to us by faith (see Colossians 1:27).
The great error of those who claim that Christ did not need to come in our fallen nature in order to be tempted as we are, is this: They identify Adam's situation with ours. Much more was involved in Christ's victorious life over temptation and sin than would have been required for Adam's success had he not fallen. This is a point we need to consider carefully if we are to fully appreciate Christ as our righteousness. When we discover the real difference between Adam's temptation in his sinless nature and our temptations in our sinful nature, we cannot but conclude that if Christ had assumed the sinless spiritual nature of Adam before the Fall, He could not possibly be tempted as we are. This, in turn, will open our eyes to appreciate how great a salvation Christ has accomplished for us.
Let's consider, then, the temptations of Christ in relation to that of Adam. Christ was both God and man, and therefore possessed inherent divine power. Therefore, it would seem that the temptation would be very great to use that divine power independently of His Father. Thus we could conclude that His temptations were far different from, and greater than, either Adam's or ours, since we do not have this divine power at our disposal. But while this may sound convincing, we have to realize that this can be true only in the context of a sinful nature. In the context of a sinless human nature, such a conclusion makes no sense.
You see, if in a sinless human nature, Christ's temptations were greater than ours because of the inherent divine power available to him, then would we not have to admit, as well, that Adam's temptation was also greater than ours, since his natural ability to do righteousness, inherent in his sinless nature, was greater than ours? If so, if Adam experienced greater temptations than we face, would it not also be much more understandable that he should give in to temptation than that we should do so? Would not this make his sin more excusable than ours? But such reasoning flies in the face of the facts and also undermines God's perfect creation.
Further, if it was extremely hard for Christ to be God-dependent because of His own inherent divine power, should not the very opposite be true of us because of our inherent weaknesses? Should it not be very easy for us to be God-dependent? Yet we must all confess that to live by faith, that is, to be God-dependent, involves a constant struggle (see 1 Timothy 6:12), as well as continual self-denial and acceptance of the principle of the cross (see Luke 9:23).
It is true that in tempting Christ, Satan tried to persuade Him to take matters into His own hands and act independently of His Father. But we must keep in mind this distinction: If Christ had assumed a sinless human nature, Satan would be tempting Him to do an unnatural thing, because His human nature would have been naturally unselfish. In order to resist temptation, He would not have needed to deny His own will as He told us He had to do (see John 5:30; 6:38).
On the other hand, if Christ took our sinful nature upon Himself, a nature naturally bent toward yielding to self-will, then Satan would be tempting Him to do a perfectly desirable thing, something extremely desirable to self, when he tempted Him to act independently of His Father. There is a world of difference between being tempted in a sinless nature as Adam was and being tempted in a sinful nature as we are.
The principle of self-love is foreign to God's nature, or for that matter, to sinless human nature which He created. The devil originated the law of self-love (see Isaiah 14:12-14), and he infected the human race with it at the Fall. If Christ had assumed a sinless spiritual human nature, without the inclination to sin, He obviously would not have had to contend with self-love as a part of His human nature; Satan could not have tempted Him through the flesh as he does us.
Jesus declared that He came not to do His own will, that is the self-will of His human nature, but the will of the Father (see John 5:30, 6:38; Luke 22:42). The fact that Christ, as a man, could speak of His own will, in potential contradiction to His Father's will, clearly indicates that He identified Himself in His humanity with the temptations to self-will of those sinful human beings He came to save. And He could do so only by assuming our sinful nature. The Gospels show that the great battle in Christ's life was against this principle of self-will—the stumbling block to holy living that exists in the lives of all sinful men and women.
If Christ's flesh was exempt from the law of sin, the law of self-love, then His flesh need not have suffered each time He refused to yield to temptation. But we read that "He Himself has suffered, being tempted" (Hebrews 2:18), that He was made "perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10), and that He learned "obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8). Christ's victory was attained in His mind, because it was surrendered to the control of the Spirit. But this involved suffering in the flesh, since His flesh was deprived of its own way, that is, of sin. This is how Peter expressed the conflict: "Therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin" (1 Peter 4:1).
What is true of Christ must be true of us, because the flesh He assumed was the likeness of our sinful flesh. Had Adam successfully resisted the devil's temptation, this would not have involved crucifying the flesh or human nature. But for Christ, as it must be with the believer, victory over sin involves the principle of the cross (see Galatians 5:24).
Our Lord's holy life, if produced in a sinless nature like that of Adam before the Fall, can bring no hope or encouragement to believers struggling with temptation. Satan has used this lie—that Christ came in sinless flesh— to destroy in the hearts of millions of Christians all belief that sinless living in sinful flesh is possible. Thus he has opened the door to antinomianism and makes the power of the gospel null and void in their lives.
If Christ assumed Adam's sinless spiritual nature, He becomes Adam's example, but not an example for fallen humanity. In which case, our only hope of holy living would be either through the eradication of our sinful nature (the heresy of "holy flesh" or perfectionism), or by waiting until the second coming when this corruptible puts on incorruption. If this is true, all admonition in the Bible to holy living becomes futile.
But if the gospel is to be vindicated before the end comes, the last generation of believers must restore the truth as it is in Christ so that the world may be enlightened with His glory (see Revelation 18:1; Colossians 1:27). This was God's purpose in the 1888 message.
Our Saviour accomplished far more than merely what Adam failed to do in Eden. Christ produced the perfect righteousness of God in the likeness of sinful flesh. Herein lies the true sinlessness of Christ and the fullness and power of His gospel. God did the "impossible" by producing perfect righteousness in our sinful flesh in Christ Jesus. And if we by faith will obey this truth and allow the Holy Spirit to indwell and dominate us (see 2 Corinthians 2:16), then He will also reveal His power in the "body" of Christ, the church. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4, KJV). This, too, is righteousness by faith.
It is the knowledge of Christ's righteousness produced in our sinful flesh that gives every believer the hope of glory. Let us, therefore, abide in Him, and thus make ourselves totally available to Him so that we may walk "even as He walked" (1 John 2:6, KJV).
Key Points in Chapter 16 Objections Considered – Part 2