Question: How was Christ tempted in every way we are? | thebereancall.org

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Question: The Bible clearly says we are “the sons of God” (1 John:3:2) and Christ calls us “brethren” (Hebrews:2:11-12). That’s fantastic! I’ve heard it preached that we are sons of God just like Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore as He said He could lay down His life and take it again, so can we. Christ must have surrendered Himself to the death of the cross long before He was crucified; and so must we deny ourselves and take up the cross and follow Him. Of course we fail, but wasn’t it possible for Christ to have failed also? If not, then he couldn’t have been truly tempted, or be an example for us. The Bible says, “He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews:4:15). A major temptation I have faced has been to doubt that I am truly God’s child. I’ve had to renew my faith through the Word again and again that I am indeed a child of God.

If Christ, as the Bible says, was tempted in every way we are, wouldn’t that mean that He also had to keep renewing His faith that He truly was the Son of God? I’m not suggesting that He ever doubted it but wasn’t it a walk of faith for Him so that He had to believe what the Bible said about who He was? I’m confused, and I really want to be led of the Spirit in this matter.

Response: It is commendable to desire to be “led of the Spirit” as to whether to go to a foreign field or to serve the Lord at home, what job to take, where to live, etc. But when it comes to the doctrine of Christ, we don’t speculate and ask God to guide our thoughts—we go to His Word, trusting His Spirit to give us understanding. Not only the best but the only way to dispel your confusion is to see what the Bible says. Yes, of course there are difficult things to understand, and the Bible does say “great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…” (1 Timothy:3:16). But He reveals His truth to us by His Spirit through His Word (1 Corinthians:2:10-13), not to mention that a little common sense is also essential!

Both the Bible and common sense tell us that while Jesus calls us “brethren,” that does not mean we are exactly like Him. We are “of the earth, earthy”; He is “the Lord from heaven” (1 Corinthians:15:47). We become sons of God—indeed, through Christ alone (John:1:12); He is the Son of God from all eternity, absolutely unique, God’s “only begotten Son…” (John:1:14; 3:16; 8:58; etc.). We begin our existence as “flesh and blood” creatures of time (Hebrews:2:14), through sexual union of a man and woman and natural birth, whereas He exists “from everlasting” (Micah:5:2), was born into this world of “a virgin” (Isaiah:7:14), so that as a man “through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews:2:14). His mission on earth was “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew:3:15), to “fulfill the law” (Matthew:5:17-18), and to fulfill “all things…written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms” (Luke:24:44) concerning Him.